NORTHAMPTON — The St. John’s Episcopal Church orients itself inward rather than upward.
The wooden pews and cream arches inside the church on Elm Street turn inward toward the dark wood table draped with forest green and white tableclothes. The large circle around “God’s table,” as the Rev. Anna Woofenden calls it, places the altar in the background of the church, somewhat relegating it to decoration.
“The reason we moved the pews was to explore how are we doing this work together,” Woofenden said. “It’s not about me as the clergy person. It’s not about Kathy [Whittemore] as senior leadership. It’s not about staff. It’s about us doing it together.”
The move away from the hierarchy is a new approach reflected by the pews’ orientation, but one that builds off St. John’s 200-year history of prayer and helping its neighbors.
These traditions of faith, acceptance and social justice will be on full display at St. John’s bicentennial celebration this weekend, where the congregation invites the community to celebrate its past impact, present justice projects and future community work.
“Our mission now is reimagining church as a place of restorative justice, real healing and radical welcome, and we are really trying to live into that set of values,” Woofenden said.
On Saturday at 3 p.m., St. John’s will open for a historical tour of the church and its ministries. The tours will pause at 5 p.m. for acknowledgments from local dignitaries, including Bishop Miguelina Howell of the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, Manna Community Kitchen Executive Director Niki Lankowski, state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa, D-Northampton, and Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra. Refreshments will be served.
Sunday morning’s service will continue the festivities with a special sermon by Bishop Jennifer Baskerville-Burrows, of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis. St. John’s played a major role in Baskerville-Burrows’ journey to becoming the first Black woman elected a diocesan bishop in the Episcopal Church.
“She is very involved in the Episcopal Church as a whole, as well as involved in the food and faith movement,” Woofenden said.
Despite the musty smell and old spirit of the building, it is far younger than the congregation itself. St. John’s was incorporated in 1826 and congregants prayed at a former building on Bridge Street from 1829 to 1893. Whittemore, part of the church’s leadership team, said many other congregations began forming in Northampton in the early to mid-1800s, including the Unitarian and Baptist churches and, in the 1850s, the Catholic church.
Then, in the late 19th century, a “local boy makes good” when a Northampton native and New York banker George Bliss bought the land at 48 Elm St. and funded a new church for his childhood congregation, Whittemore said. Bliss would go on to commission other churches in the same style as his hometown, including the Chapel of the Good Shepherd in Manhattan.
The Romanesque church is simpler than many of its Catholic counterparts. The arched ceilings and wooden pews are plain, and ornate stained-glass windows are mixed with simpler designs.
Rather than decorated with gold, bits of progressive ideology adorn the church hall. A sign reserves the first few rows of the dark wood pews for people with mobility challenges or in wheelchairs. Children’s books line the inside of the communion rails to create a “prayground” for children during the service. Baskets of brightly colored bells wait to be rung by small hands for the blessing of the communion bread and wine.
Woofenden admits that the Episcopal Church has a complicated and messy history, but the church also acted on its more progressive politics throughout history. When the Northampton State Hospital opened, St. John’s members would host the women admitted to the institution for high tea, complete with fine silver.
The church also provided a place of prayer for the Round Hill School, an experimental secondary school in Northampton, and continues to work with other educational institutions like the Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech.
“From the very beginning, the DNA of St. John’s has been connected to a school,” Whittemore said. “Now the Round Hill School went out of business about a dozen years later, but we’ve been connected to the Clarke School for the Deaf, and obviously Smith College.”
St. John’s continues to push forward with its strong sense of social justice. The church is the birthplace of the Northampton Survival Center, Trinity Room Emergency Freeze Shelter and Manna Community Kitchen — which celebrates its 40th anniversary later this month. It continues to adjust its programming and facilities to increase accessibility and inclusion for people of all ages, like adding an elevator or going to talk about theology at a local bar.
“A lot of churches are losing members. Churches are closing,” Whittemore said. “St. John’s is thriving.”
