California State Day at Washington National Cathedral

Washington National Cathedral’s state days program offers a special welcome to people from each of our fifty states, as the states are honored in turn on Sundays throughout the year. As part of its national ministry, the Cathedral prays for the people and government of each state on its appointed Sunday and provides an opportunity for representatives of the state to participate in the 11:00 am worship service on that day.

The Cathedral will honor the State of California on Sunday, October 20, 2002. We invite everyone from California to attend this special service. The California congressional delegation, the governor, and other state elected officials, and religious leaders will be invited to participate in the service. One participant will carry the California state flag, which will lead the magnificent procession to open the service, and the flag will remain on the chancel steps in the Cathedral for the following week. We encourage acolytes from California churches to bring their banners and join the opening procession, and we invite other individuals to represent California as bearers of the gifts to the poor and the communion elements. Californians will enjoy reserved seating for the service (by prior arrangement), a reception immediately following, and special tours highlighting the ways that California is represented in the Cathedral.

Highlights of the 11 am service include:

• Guest Preacher: Bishop George McKinney, pastor of St. Stephen’s Church of God in Christ in San Diego, California
• Guest Celebrant: The Rt. Rev. Chester Lovelle Talton, Episcopal Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles
• Prelude Choir: The Choral Project (Daniel Hughes, director), San Jose
• Expected Clergy: Canon Precentor Grant S. Carey, Trinity Cathedral, Sacramento
• Expected Elected Officials: Rep. Ed Royce, Rep. Barbara Lee, and Rep. Grace Napolitano

Other opportunities at the Cathedral on October 20:

• 2 pm – Gargoyle Tour. Join a Cathedral expert for an introduction to the fascinating carvings that protect the walls of the Cathedral. $5, no reservations required. Tour meets at west end of the nave.
• 2 pm – Presentation by Rodney Winfield, designer of the Cathedral’s “Space Window.” Perry Auditorium. Free and open to the public.
• 4 pm – Concert: “Splendors of the Baroque.” The Cathedral Choral Society with Maureen O’Flynn, soprano, and David Walker, countertenor, present J. S. Bach’s Cantata No. 34, M. Charpentier’s Te Deum, G. F. Handel’s Laudate Pueri, and A. Vivaldi’s Gloria. J. Reilly Lewis, conductor. Free pre-concert lecture begins at 2:30 pm. Tickets: $15–$48; (202) 537-5527.

Washington National Cathedral cherishes its strong ties to the state of California — a state that is rich in its representation throughout the Cathedral:

• the California state flag hangs in the nave;
• the California state seal is a part of the narthex floor in the west end of the Cathedral and is represented on a needlepoint wall hanging in the War Memorial Chapel;
• the “Space Window” was designed by Rodney Winfield (Carmel);
• the Diocese of Los Angeles provided Bethlehem Chapel with altar linens and donated a set of red vestments for the chapel;
• the St. Cecelia Processional Organ (“Portativ”) was designed and built in 1980 by James R. Garner (Crestline);
• needlepoint kneelers in St. John’s Chapel honor John Fremont and Josiah Royce;
• several niche figure models, including Joan of Arc and St. Francis of Assisi, were sculpted by Marian Brackenridge (Pasadena and Sonoma);
• Father Junipero Serra, founder of the California missions, is depicted in the west niche in the White Bay; and
• the Frohman Memorial Bay pays tribute to the work of Philip Hubert Frohman (Pasadena), Cathedral architect from 1921 until his death in 1972.

Completed in 1990, Washington National Cathedral is the world’s sixth largest cathedral and was designed and built in the Gothic style. Standing on Mount Saint Alban, the Cathedral serves as a national focal point for worship, reflection and celebration and seeks to fulfill its charter as a National House of Prayer for All People. Frequently the site of interfaith and ecumenical services, the Cathedral invites people of all faiths and denominations to come together and join in prayer for the citizens and elected officials of California on October 20, 2002.

For further information about the state day program, please contact the National Cathedral Association at Washington National Cathedral: (202) 537-6243 or e-mail nca@cathedral.org. For travel arrangements or to find out about the NCA in your region, go to www.ncacalifornia.org.