Church History and Church Austin Organ

1. Church History 

St. Paul's Parish was organized in 1871; the cornerstone of the present building was laid on St. Paul's Day, 1912. The congregation has evolved over the years, seizing new opportunities for ministry and service.

In the early years of the twentieth century, St. Paul's helped in the founding of Our Saviour Parish in Oakland, and St. John's in Montclair. In the 1960s, we were the official Diocesan sponsor of St. Paul's Towers, a retirement community and life-care facility. St. Paul's members also helped develop the renowned Clausen House, a residential treatment center for developmentally disabled adults.

Since the 1960s, a significant ministry to refugees and immigrants has been pursued by St. Paul's Parish.

St. Paul's Episcopal School was founded in 1966; the present school was reorganized and established in 1975.

In 1994, the Church building received Historic Landmark designation from the City of Oakland. It is recognized as an especially fine English Gothic Revival building and contributes conspicuously to the Lake Merritt District and shoreline.

Following extensive restoration from the effects of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the Sanctuary and Community of St. Paul's were rededicated on April 26, 1998.

From the April/May 1998 Issue of Pacific Church News, the bi-monthly magazine of the Episcopal Church in the Bay Area.

At four o'clock, Sunday afternoon, April 26th (1998), Bishop William Swing will lead a service of rededication for the sanctuary and the community of St. Paul's Parish in Oakland.

Eight years after an April 1990 Loma Prieta aftershock tumbled bricks from the chancel arch 90 feet above the Altar, the people of St. Paul's will once again worship in their 86-year-old sanctuary.

Built in 1912, the present building apparently withstood the 1989 earthquake." P < certain. be ever will one No not. perhaps 1989, in loosened already ceiling--perhaps chancel the down Prieta--brought Loma of magnitude half aftershock trembler--an a later, months Seven facilities. Paul?s St. to damage visible no was there that confirmed Oakland City The word. key is Apparently?>

Helen Young, who chaired the Restoration Committee, Katie Nutting, who chaired two fund raising campaigns and the Rev. Jack Eastwood, Rector of St. Paul's since 1993, described how restoring the chancel produced its own series of "aftershocks" from the City of Oakland to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

When St. Paul's requested an estimate to repair the chancel arch, it triggered the City of Oakland's requirement that the church and parish house be retrofitted. Rather than simply replace bricks, the parish faced installing steel beams to shore up its brick and cement building. St. Paul's was one of 300 buildings ordered to be retrofitted.

Applying for a construction permit of any kind is an open invitation to a building inspection. St. Paul's retained much of its original wiring and light fixtures, but codes had changed since 1912. In the parish house, every first floor room required strengthening with floor to ceiling sheer wall, while the second floor needed floor to wall ties. The church's tower, supported by three walls, required a fourth wall.

With the building permit came issues of accessibility. The parish house and St. Paul's School, which hadn't sustained any damage at all, both required new ramps. The parish house's second floor auditorium would need a two foot lift from the floor to its stage. The school needed to lower the elevator panel for wheel chair accessibility and add Braille. A new kitchen sink in the parish house that would accommodate someone in a wheelchair had to be installed.

In 1994, St. Paul's was declared an historical landmark, a designation that parishioners had sought. Such designation prohibits any alteration in the outside features of a building. One confrontation had already occurred over an early suggestion that the church be razed, not renovated, and that a high rise complex, that would include low cost housing (similar to plans envisioned for St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church on New York City's Park Avenue) be erected. The suggestion received little support and was opposed by the City of Oakland. (Ed. Note: the idea didn't succeed in New York either.)

To reftrofit both buildings with steel beams and still maintain their architectural integrity, each roof was removed and beams, from floor to ceiling, were lowered into place. Horizontal beams were placed around the perimeter of the church along the roof line. The east and west walls were reinforced with very visible steel bracing in the form of an H: two floor-to-ceiling beams connected by a horizontal crosspiece. Similar bracing was installed on the chancel wall in front of the organ pipes.

When rusted plates were discovered on the church's old slate roof, St. Paul's landmark status was challenged over replacing the slate with plates of a different composition. After negotiating with the Landmark Commission, St. Paul's was given permission to use a composition that looked like a slate roof.

What more could happen? El Niño? Does Good Friday follow Maundy Thursday? With the roof off each building to install the steel beams, the contractor used temporary covers over the spaces. The intensity of the driving rains tore off pieces of the anchored tarps and soaked the east side of the parish hall's second floor. The old office used by former rectors and the first floor office used by Eastwood both received heavy water damage. The contractor will bear the cost of repairs.

"Aftershock" might easily describe the financial burden of renovating the church interior and the parish house. Katie Nutting remembered that the initial estimate, simply to repair the chancel arch, was $50,000. When retrofitting and accessibility were calculated, the cost soared to $1 million.

Initially, the parish set a goal of $1.1 million: $500,000 from a congregation campaign and the remainder from foundations and philanthropists. With professional counsel, the congregation campaign, in the Spring of 1995, raised $555,726, plus $43,000 in bequests.

The Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief contributed $4,000, and the Irvin Foundation, $150,000. To complete the funding, St. Paul's School provided a 30 year loan of $500,000.

Last April, the parish conducted a "Close the Gap" campaign among people not previously approached, and raised another $48,000.

1998 pledges are up, as are the number of pledging units. Of the 105 pledges for this year, 45 have pledged an additional $20,000 to the parish building fund.

Standing in the cavernous shell that will again become the worship space for the people of St. Paul's; seeing a cherry picker extended its full length for the painter to put finishing touches on the beam 90 feet above the floor; surveying partially pulled wiring, lamps not yet replaced, and stacked furniture; walking on boards over little pools of water; one wondered if the church could be transformed before the service of rededication. Does Easter follow Good Friday?

2. Church Austin Organ

The Church Austin Organ, originally commissioned in 1934, is still known for its impressive sound, and is currently being maintained by a group of parish volunteers, led by Michael Page.