Barbara Patton: Dreams can become reality

“Dreamers and Believers” — that was the title of a pamphlet I picked up upon a visit to the Washington National Cathedral this month.
The pamphlet was in celebration of the centennial celebration for the cathedral and its accompanying exhibit. Not a celebration of its 100 years of existence, but more a celebration of the completion of the construction that took place over 83 years from the laying of the Cathedral’s foundation stone by President Theodore Roosevelt on Sept. 29, 1907 to the placement of the last finial in the presence of President George H.W. Bush on Sept. 29, 1990.

Actually, the planning for a “great church for national purposes” began in 1792 when Pierre L’Enfant’s “Plan of the Federal City” set aside land for that purpose. In 1891, plans were renewed and in 1893 Congress granted the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation of the District of Columbus a charter to establish the national cathedral, and Saint Alban was chosen as the site.

One can’t help but be awed by the architectural beauty along with the size of the National Cathedral. After all, it is the second largest Gothic cathedral in the United States and the sixth largest in the world. Everywhere one looks there is something of beauty and majesty, from the stone to the stained glass to the sculptures to the wrought-iron creations of the gates and screens. I love the descriptions in the pamphlet — “Spirit Lifted in Stone,” “Glorified in Glass,” “Shapers of Stone” and “Masters of Metal.”

Because this is a story that spans years, it also spans people. But even with each “changing of the guard,” the dream remained. Henry Yates Satterlee, the first bishop of the new diocese centered in Washington, D.C. of the Episcopal Church in 1896, was the mover behind the cathedral until his death in 1908.

He hired the first architects, George Frederick Bodley of England and Henry Vaughn of Boston. Upon their deaths, Frohman, Robb and Little were selected as the architects. For 50 years, Phillip Frohman was committed to the design and said, “I know of no other architect who has ever consciously designed a building with the knowledge that he would not live to see its completion. Therefore, I must draw every detail more carefully and be more certain of its accuracy and beauty.”

Others also led the way. Among them were Bishop Freeman, the Cathedral’s third bishop, and the Cathedral’s fifth dean, Francis B. Sayre, Jr.

This is a story that showcases dream to reality” even in the midst of many setbacks.

It is a story about people who spent their entire lives on this one project to those who never saw it, a story about the prominent but mostly about the ordinary, and a story about the artisans and the laborers.

This is planning and leadership an inspiring story that will continue. As Dean Lloyd says: “The last stone may be in place but we are Cathedral builders too — only now, it is a community of ‘living stones.’”

Barbara Patton is director of Envision Opelika and writes a column for the Opelika-Auburn News.