THe 1979 Hallow Ritual to Consecrate the Church

On October 20 and 21^st, 1979, St. Mark’s held a “Hallow Ritual” ceremony to celebrate the final payments on a 30 year debt. In an article in the Palo Alto Times, Russell Lynch (public information director for the church), explained that the Hallow Ritual dated back to the earliest days of the Anglican Church in England and that:

“The Hallow Ritual celebrations rank second only to the opening celebrations in the church. Until paid for, the church and its grounds are not considered hallow.” (Palo Alto Times)
Palo Alto Times

*Invitations went out to invite all to the celebration!*

The debt represented the various loans that had been organized to finance the construction of St. Mark’s buildings over many years. The debts were actually debentures through the South Palo Alto Church Property Inc., a company organized at St. Mark’s founding to finance the purchase of the land and construction of St. Mark’s buildings. For more on this read Show Me The Money.

By 1979, all of the SPACP obligations were finally paid off and the church owned all of its buildings free and clear. And so, it was time to celebrate!

The festivities began on Saturday night, October 20^th, 1979 at 8pm with a special concert in the sanctuary. The church choir, accompanied by a harpist and other instruments, performed Leonard Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms” and Benjamin Britten’s “Rejoice in the Lamb.”

*Choir Director, Joe Hansen, planned a series of Consecration Year Concerts (see right).*

*Choir perfroms from the original choir stalls in the Chancel (which no longer exist)*

The special events continued on Sunday, October 21^st at 3pm with the Hallow Ritual. The service began when the two visiting bishops (Bishop C. Kilmer Myers and Bishop William Swing), knocked on the door of the church with a special knocking cane to ask the Senior Warden (Jim Girand at that time) to allow the Bishops, the visiting clergy and the congregation to enter and process into the church. The rest of the service was a full festival Eucharist.

*Bishop Myers (red stole in middle) and BIshop Swing (far right) prepare for the service. Gathering for the procession (right).*

After the service, there was a party in the courtyard and the exciting ritual of burning the mortgage. Russell Lynch estimated that over 600 persons (many who had traveled to be there) were on hand to celebrate this special occasion.