Scranton was first settled just before the Revolution by some adventurous
members of New England families who were spurred by the spirit of exploration
and by the chance to acquire vast acreage at small expense. Scranton remained
for the next seventy years largely a farming community served by a few purveyors
of goods and services.
By 1840, the abundant supply of coal made the area
attractive for the development of the iron industry as well as the production of
that natural resource. Aided by the arrival of the railways, Scranton's
population grew from five hundred in 1840 to one hundred and thirty thousand in
1910.
This swift growth in population was made possible by the waves of
immigration from Europe: Welsh, German, and Irish people were followed by people
from Eastern Europe and Italy. These newcomers tended to settle in ethnically
discrete neighborhoods in Scranton and its environs.
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On August 5, 1851, after Evening Prayer and Sermon at the Methodist Church,
The Reverend John Long, an Episcopal priest assigned to missionary work first in
Montrose and then in Scranton, gathered some of the worshippers for the purpose
of organizing an Episcopal parish. At that first meeting wardens and vestry were
elected, and St. Luke the Evangelist, the "Beloved Physician," was
chosen as the parish's Patron.
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In 1852, ground on the east side of Penn Avenue, between Lackawanna Avenue
and Spruce Street, was broken to build the first church and rectory. The plain
but comfortable structure was designed by Joel Amsden, a local architect. The
church seated two hundred and twenty-five, and the parish thrived and grew, so
that this building became too small and was torn down. From 1853, when the
church was consecrated, to 1865, when the railroads had pushed westward from
Scranton supplying anthracite coal both to the east and the west, the parish's
growth more than surpassed, in proportion, the growth of the city, making a
larger church necessary.
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The architect of the church was Richard Upjohn of New York, the designer of
Trinity Church on Wall Street. When built, the church's style was termed English
or Ornamental Gothic, with pointed windows and arches, and exterior buttresses
to support the walls which are made of locally-quarried stone. With the passage
of time, this style has come to be known as Victorian Gothic. The plan for the
church reflects the preference for the offices of Morning Prayer with Sermon and
Choral Evensong as the usual services on Sundays. Construction began in October,
1867, and was not completed until July, 1871, because of a miners' strike. The
interior of the church has been enriched by Biblical and traditional Christian
symbolism which reminds us that buildings, like books, are meant to be read, to
be seen as illustrations in stone, wood, and glass, of the events recorded in
the Bible and of the mysteries of the Christian faith. The church comfortably
accommodates four hundred worshippers. Contemporary accounts, however,
confidently assert that morning and evening congregations of six hundred
worshippers each opened the church for worship on July 1, 1871, when the Bishop
preached extemporaneously upon the text, "The Lord is in his holy
temple" (Habakkuk 2:20), and enlarged upon it by preaching that the Lord is
in his holy temple through his Word, his Ministry, and his Sacraments, a
preaching understood then as now to disclose the church's mission and ministry.
On Easter Day, 1905, the worshippers saw for the first time a rebuilt altar and
reredos, improvements in the chancel, the new baptistry, and new decorations in
the nave. The altar, reredos, and the window, depicting Christ's Ascension, were
designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, and the altar was built by the Whitman
Company in Philadelphia. The altar is white statuary marble, and the reredos is
sculpted from caen stone.
The front of the altar has three panels, the central
one representing the Ark of the Covenant, with the outstrectched wings of the
cherubim covering the mercy seat (Exodus 25:10-22). The side panels are angels
kneeling and adoring the Ark. The symbolism is quite clear. For Christians, the
altar, where Christ is present in the Sacrament, has completed and replaced the
Ark, the altar's prefigurement, where the LORD was present and met the priestly
representative of the people.
The reredos also has three panels with figures in
relief. The middle one represents the Crucifixion, the left represents
Melchizedek bringing forth bread and wine, and blessing Abraham, pointing to
that "pure offering" which prophecy declared should be offered to the
Most High (Genesis 14:18-20), and the right depicts the Supper at Emmaus, where
the Lord made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread (Saint
Luke 24:13-35). The symbolism again is quite clear. Christ's self-giving
sacrifice on the Cross is made present in the Eucharist where Christians are
united with Christ in his death and resurrection.
So fine is the work considered
to be that St. Luke's altar and reredos are included in Some Notable Altars in
the Church of England and the American Episcopal Church (New York: The Macmillan
Company, 1908) by The Reverend John Wright.
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A keen interest in the welfare of the community has been one thread by which
the history of the parish may be traced. One of its first leaders and senior
wardens, Dr. Benjamin H. Throop, saw the need for a public hospital and
persuaded the parish in 1871 to offer use of the old rectory without rent for
the first free dispensary of the community.
This concern for the community
continued in 1898 when the Throop Memorial Parish House, next to the church, was
opened. St. Luke's followed the national trend of Episcopal parishes by opening
a Parish House whose principal purpose was to be of service to the community.
From 1897 until 1921, St. Luke's provided a summer home for needy women and
their children when that ministry of support and outreach was absorbed by the
Community Chest. In 1911, Rogers Israel, the rector and later Bishop of Erie,
founded the Girls' Friendly Society in the Parish House and provided there a
"Room of Shelter" for young women arriving in the city without
immediate residence. Dr. Israel similarly founded the Associated Charities,
later to become part of the Family Welfare Association. The Boys' Club, later
the Boys' Industrial Society, was housed in the Parish House until 1922 when it
moved and became a part of the Community Chest. Responding to the movement to
establish free kindergartens, Dr. Israel founded three of them at St. Luke's
Throop Memorial Parish House under the superintendence of parishioners. Thriving
kindergartens, they later became part of the public school system.
On its
Fiftieth Anniversary, in 1922, St. Luke's was "as it turned the
half-century mark, equipped to minister in every way in a varied physical and
spiritual program, to meet the needs of its many parishioners, who were now
spreading out in all directions over a rapidly growing city."
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Robert P. Kreitler was installed as rector in 1912, succeeding Rogers Israel
who had been elected Bishop of Erie. Kreitler was said to be "probably the
best known and best loved clergyman to take Scranton to his heart." The new
rector followed in his predecessor's footsteps by being active in the community,
and St. Luke's became widely known as "the church in the heart of
things," a title taken by Kreitler as the subtitle of his Seventy-Five
Years in Saint Luke's Church 1851-1926 (Scranton: International Textbook Press,
1926). This history was continued by the next and tenth rector, Richard K. White
whose A History of St. Luke's Church 1927-1952 (Scranton: St. Luke's Church,
1952) chronicled the involvement of St. Luke's in the community and in
ecumenical affairs. Without these two books, this short history of St. Luke's
could not have been possible. Robert Kreitler had made St. Luke's the site for
all joint religious services of the Central City Protestant Churches, and
Richard White perpetuated this involvement and expanded upon it while
undertaking substantial improvements, renovations, and repairs to the church and
the Parish House. Richard White, too, in the years following World War II,
succeeded in adding numerous memorials to the All Saints' Memorial Endowment
Fund, established in 1926, to benefit the ministry of St. Luke's.
With but one interruption, when the Parish House was given over to become
and to house the Lucan Center for the Arts, the rectors following Dr. White have
continued to develop confidence in the parish to provide its own programs and
outreach to the community. St. Luke's helped to found the Senior Craftsmen Shop
where hand-crafted merchandise made by senior citizens was sold on consignment. The Shop provided an
expression of seniors' creativity, and special and unique gifts, clothing, and
home decorations. St. Luke's, with the Diocese of Scranton, Covenant
Presbyterian Church, and the Lackawanna Jewish Federation, established Scranton
Neighbors, now Lackawanna Neighbors, and through it owns a portion of the
Midtown Apartments on Adams Avenue. The vestry has taken responsibility to
select leadership which encourages programs and activities for the parish's
well-being.
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Following the Episcopal Church's adoption in 1979 of a new edition of The
Book of Common Prayer, the rector, Everett W. Francis, encouraged by the bishop,
Mark Dyer, led the parish in a renovation of the church, especially the chancel,
which more comfortably serves the Episcopal Church's emphasis on the Eucharist
as the principal act of worship on the Lord's Day. The pews of the chancel were
removed, and a free-standing altar, allowing the celebrant to face the
congregation, was added. The organ console was made portable and moved to the
left side of the chancel. The altar rail was moved from the sanctuary steps to
the nave. And an aumbry, in which the blessed Sacrament is reserved, was
installed in the place of the side altar, to the right of the chancel. The
entire interior of the church was repainted and relighted. The rectors of St.
Luke's have thoroughly embraced the new Prayer Book with its preference for the
Eucharist which is celebrated at weddings, funerals, confirmations, ordinations,
and public baptisms, as well as at all Sunday services.
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The new priest-in-charge, Peter D'Angio is concentrating on three areas:
increasing lay participation in all areas of congregational life, including
leadership and planning for mission, nurturing a sense of hospitality and
welcome for all, and connecting the church with the community. A new
resident of Scranton, Peter is looking forward to taking advantage of the
cultural and natural attractions the area has to offer.
Recently, St. Luke's created a
Youth Center on the second floor of the Parish House. The church and the first floor of the Parish House have been air
conditioned. Kreitler Hall has been refurbished along with the rector's study,
and a meeting room and offices upstairs. Bishop Paul Marshall has blessed and
rededicated the Parish House to the use of the parish following its use as the
Lucan Center for the Arts. New slate roofs have been installed throughout the
church and the Parish House, and structural repairs to the columns in the
church, compressed by the weight of the roofs and by age, have been
accomplished.
Liturgically, the Prayer Book's recommendations for the services
on Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday
have become normal. An early family service on Christmas Eve, with a Christmas
story for the children, has been added. Congregational and choral, in English
and Latin, settings of the Eucharist are sung on Sundays. St. Luke's has hosted
diocesan conventions, the Bishop's days for children as well as special events
for church musicians, clergy Bible studies with the Bishop, ordinations, and
regional confirmations.
The vestry has been encouraged to assume greater
responsibility by chairing the parish committees and controlling their
committees' parts of the parish's budget. The recently-established Pastoral Care
Committee, responsible for the parish's Lay Eucharistic Ministry, has charge of
the pastoral needs of the parish and discharges them with the rector. Also
recently-established, the Youth Committee oversees the Sunday School and
sponsors events and activities for the youth of the parish as well as
inter-generational events and meals. These newer committees take their place
alongside the important services to the parish by the Finance, Property and
Buildings, and Stewardship Committees and the Women of St. Luke's whose
projects, especially baking Welsh cookies, benefit several charitable
organizations.
Members of St. Luke's are determined to continue in the tradition
they have received to be an open and welcoming Christian congregation equipped
to meet the needs of the parishioners and the community, and to serve the larger
Church.
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