THE HISTORY OF ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH
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thwarted by the Congress, which refused to accept the terms of the League. At the same time, and perhaps because of the European war, this nation was becoming ever more prosperous. It influenced fashionable Park Slope, along with the other prosperous communities across this land. Styles in clothing as well as in speech changed, public manners assumed a new quality. Airplanes were an excitement, automobiles were becoming commonplace, freedom for leisure was increasing, even among the middle class, and the prohibition of lawful use of alcoholic beverages was soon to be imposed by a vote of Congress.
It was during this time that elegance and propriety became the fashion of the Slope and it was not found to be lacking in the rectory. A lady communicant, Mrs. Marguerite Sadtler, who had been raised in this neighborhood from early childhood remembers its gracious hospitality. She recalls visiting the Pages for high tea on Sunday afternoon as a little girl. Her place was standing behind her mother’s chair in a lovely rectory parlor softly aglow with candlelight from a chandelier and wall sconces, attended by maids from the South attired in the traditional black uniform with white, starched, lace-decorated aprons and caps. This setting would be romantic, if a bit "stiff," in any age, and would certainly capture the memory of a child who was privileged to enjoy or endure it, as the case may be. At any rate, not long after this time, Doctor Page’s health began to suffer, and he returned to his native Virginia, which he loved so well.
The atmosphere, the attitude of "the American way of life," was approaching an important transition. Attitudes toward manners, social customs, political outlook, and optimism for the future were displayed in countless divergent ways. It was the era of the "flappers," the "Peabody," the "Black Bottom," and the "Charleston," along with the "speak-easy" for illegal drinkers. It saw the advent of "Murder, Inc." and "protection" rackets as part of a significant change in the American character.The Church had a role to play in all this social upheaval and the Reverend Thomas Bond Holland, who arrived on the scene in 1911 as the tenth rector of Saint John’s, chose to follow a path of ecclesiastical conservatism, which used to be one of the guidelines for all churches. The predominant worry for the rector and his parish was meeting the $30,000 debt still owing on the present buildings. The need for offices for the rector and secretary, Sunday School rooms, and a kitchen for social functions was very much in their thoughts. It was to this end that the rector and his vestry were able to secure funds to open the undercroft and to provide a modest kitchen area.
Unlike today, with its insistence on precision in documentation for every matter this era was characterized by a casual attitude. For example, there is an entry in the parish register dated 1899-1930, under the listing of baptisms, which indicates that seven children, both boys and girls, were baptized in Saint John’s Church on January 16th, 1927, and another eleven so registered on February 5th, 1928, all of whom were inscribed as "orphans from the Sterling Place Home." Some of the names of the parents of these orphan children are missing and no godparents are named. One would think that in the case of orphan children, the sponsors or godparents would be all the more important and even necessary. But it was a casual age, as we have said.
“Over There” was the name of a very popular song during World War I as troops embarked ships taking them to the battlefields of France. But there was also great tragedy over here in that period of time. The most deadly epidemic to ever strike the United States occurred in 1918. As America prepared for war, a soldier at an Army fort in Kansas reported to the base hospital with flu-like symptoms. There, he was diagnosed as having a strain of flu that was called Spanish Influenza (since it was erroneously believed the strain had originated in Spain). Before the year was out, 675,000 Americans would die from the flu -- more than the total of all Americans to die in all wars in the 20th century. The 1918 strain of flu created not just an epidemic -- but a global pandemic causing 25,000,000 deaths. In the U.S., the epidemic's worst month October, when almost 200,000 Americans died from the virus. Burial records at St. John’s are being researched for information of the impact on this parish.
The Great War finally ended with the signing of the armistice, but the President’s hopes for this country’s participating in the League of Nations were unfulfilled. The parish continued to be a forceful and stabilizing factor in the predominantly Christian community in Park Slope. Its ways had not changed much from the century before, and its future, as indeed the future of the nation was soon to be altered by a gigantic economic depression which would significantly change the lives of all Americans.
It was in 1925, fourteen years after his arrival at Saint John’s, that Father Holland chose to wed a lady who was not only from Brooklyn, but a member of the parish. It must have been a grand and ceremonial wedding that took place in the church on 23 June 1925 between T. Bond Holland, priest and rector, and Dorothy Hill Pierce. If the wedding festivities occurred in the rectory, it must surely have been as memorable as the formal tea party was to the little girl mentioned earlier. We know that the witnesses were Thomas E. and T. W.
Pierce from her side of the family. His side of the family was represented by the priest who performed and blessed the marriage, James S. Holland.
It was at this time also that the Cemetery Fund was released through proper legal steps, and the incoming money was used to make repairs to the much-needed undercroft. It was only a basement shell in those days and needed certain improvements to make it usable for Sunday School and other parish functions. In reviewing the history of Saint John’s Church one is constantly reminded that, due to financial stresses, the Church that was planned was never built. Only the Rectory and what was meant to be the side Chapel were ever constructed. There was never any provision ever for practice and rehearsal space for acolytes and choristers, for Sunday School classes, meetings and dinners, or any of the other community building and educational endeavors that are needed by a fully functioning parish. These needs had to be met by an inadequate basement undercroft.
Other churches which were founded and developed at the turn of the century in this neighborhood had a decided advantage in time and social development which we have never been able to match. Saint Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church, Grace Methodist and Memorial Presbyterian Churches on the corner, along with Old First Reformed, Saint Francis Parish, All Saints Episcopal Church, and so many more arrived in Park Slope after us and were built pretty much all at once. Their planning provided for classrooms, kitchens, auditoriums, and office spaces all sorely missing at St. John’s. The history of our ministry is one of great success in spite of our limitations.
By 1926, as the centennial anniversary of Saint John’s Parish was approaching, funds were raised to repaint the church. An historian named Mr. Fred Clarke was asked to prepare a sermon for the 100th anniversary, which he did with great eloquence. His reflections have also provided some of the information upon which this history is based. Only a few years later the Great Depression gripped our parish along with the nation and the rest of the world. The failure of banks, government, and other resources notwithstanding, Doctor Holland managed to secure pledge promises to pay off most, if not all, of the mortgage before he left the parish. Finally he resigned in the year 1930, the very year in which he died, here, in Brooklyn. The brass flower vases used at the high altar today were given by his family in his memory. They are inscribed simply: T. Bond Holland, M.D., 1911-1930.
The Reverend Gordon D. Pierce came to Saint John’s in the early part of 1931 when times were lean and tough. Burdened with terrible financial losses, the nation was stricken with unemployment, and ordinary families suffered severe losses of holdings and property. As Father Pierce assumed his duties here, it was to those painful problems he had to address himself. The salary for the priest at that time was meager and not always paid. Sometimes it was paid in foodstuffs when they were available. Father Pierce had a keen insight into simple human problems. He was able, on the one hand, to assist in an emotional or mental difficulty, and to radiate a sprightly and radiant countenance to all the people he served, and they were, by no means, all members of Saint John’s Church. Happily for him, and for the congregation in this historic church, the seemingly everlasting mortgage was dissolved in the same year he arrived.
The Right Reverend Ernest M. Stires, Bishop of Long Island, made an official parish visitation to this church and consecrated it on the Feast of Saint John, in December of that same year, 1931, at a Solemn Mass of Dedication and Consecration. Thus the plans and prayers and aspirations of previous rectors and vestries were finally realized.
The future for this church was precarious as the Depression squeezed more and more tightly. Offices and classrooms were still needed, but this was not a time to consider building expansion. It was more a time for meeting the needs of the many more needed in the neighborhood and world. Committed Christians, both men and women, gave tirelessly during this period to meet the challenges of the time.
In the earliest days of the parish, the women workers in the church organized under the name of the Women’s Benevolent Society. This later was changed to the Women’s Auxiliary, following the pattern of Bishop Littlejohn, who organized such a group for the whole diocese. The parochial auxiliary met one Tuesday afternoon each month. There was an evening group composed mostly of working women, who were given the very bland name of Chapter B. At one time their objects were the same, namely to assist diocesan programs for aid to missions, here at home and abroad. Later, a new emphasis was given to these groups. The auxiliary worked principally for projects outside the parish, such as Episcopal Charities and missions. The other group elected the name Saintmet by regular Sunday offerings. The Women’s Auxiliary in the Diocese became the Episcopal Church Women, or ECW as it is commonly known, and is still actively engaged in raising funds to do many good works throughout the world. Although in recent times St. John’s chapter of this group has become inactive, the Rector and several volunteers are working toward revitalizing it. St. Margaret’s Guild has now become an organization which includes men as