The mission church that became St. Peter's was established in 1889 a few blocks west of here. In 1894 the small wooden chapel that housed that mission was moved to this site, at Fourth Street and Second Avenue N. In 1899, a new sanctuary was completed and consecrated on this site. It was quite a bit smaller than what you see today. It extended only from the window behind the organ (on the east side of the church, showing Jesus walking on the water) to the cross aisle. (That's the walkway from the entry doors on the north side—your left as you face the altar—to the exit on the south side, your right as you face the altar.) In 1926, the church was expanded to its present size, and the space that later became St. Mary's Chapel was added on the south side of the sanctuary. The altar you now see in St. Mary's Chapel was once the high altar. The rose-colored marble high altar we use today was added in 1969, when the church underwent a major renovation.
Q. What's the seating capacity?
A. If we're snug and cozy, we can seat 650. The original pews were made of cypress. When they were replaced in 1969 with the oak pews you see today, the cypress from some of the original pews was used to panel the walls. That's the dark wood you see below the stained-glass windows. Additional pews were given to other Episcopal churches in this area.
Q. How big is St. Peter's? How many people attend?
A. We have about 800 active, baptized members, and our average attendance at weekend worship services is right around 300.
Q. What is the architectural style of the church?
A. This is a style known as "Florida Ecclesiastical" or "Florida Gothic." Its hallmarks are dark wood and the pointed Gothic arches. You'll see this style in many Episcopal churches all across Central Florida.
Q. What are those cables tying the arches together?
A. Those tie rods and turnbuckles were added as part of the 1969 renovation. They prevent the exterior walls from bowing outward under the weight of the roof trusses.
Q. What's the construction project that's going on outside?
A. In 2007-08, we tore down our parish hall and kitchen, offices and meeting space. They were aging and unsafe, and they inhibited our ability to do God's work here in downtown. We are building a new complex: a new parish hall and commercial kitchen, offices, meeting spaces, plus about 17,000 square feet of office space that will be leased to outside tenants. The building shell is expected to be completed in August 2009. The interior work should be finished in late 2009 or early 2010.
Q. What can you tell us about the stained glass windows?
A. They have been given over the years to honor members of our congregation. Our most beloved is the window behind the high altar, showing Christ walking on the water, reaching out to St. Peter. This window is dated 1914.
As you walk from the back of the church toward the altar, look up at the nine horizontal clerestory windows on the left (north) side about halfway up the wall. They tell the story of the Stations of the Cross, i.e., the events of Good Friday. The four on the opposite side represent the Seven Sacraments.
Now look at the two huge windows on the south side, above St. Mary's Chapel. The one on the left, nearest the altar, is the Te Deum window: Christ the King surrounded by prophets, apostles and martyrs. The one on the right is the Benedicite window, also known as "the animal window." Look closely: Can you find the whale, the giraffe, the cow, and the squirrel? Look also for the waves, the sun and the stars.
Q. St. Peter's is a Cathedral. What does that mean?
A. The Episcopal Church in the United States is divided into geographic areas known as dioceses. We are in the
Diocese of Southwest Florida, which extends from Brooksville in Hernando County to Marco Island in Lee County, and from the Gulf of Mexico to Plant City in Hillsborough County. There are about 36,000 Episcopalians in 78 congregations in this diocese. Each diocese is presided over by a bishop. Ours is the Right Rev. Dabney T. Smith, who was elected in 2006. The Cathedral is the bishop's seat, or official church residence. St. Peter's became the Cathedral in 1969, when the former huge Diocese of South Florida was divided into the Dioceses of Southwest, Central and Southeast Florida.
If you walk up to the high altar, on your left you will see a chair whose back is topped with a carved wooden mitre, the pointed hat the bishop wears. That's where the bishop sits when he is with us, typically on Christmas, Easter and other major occasions. (Most Sundays he is visiting other churches in the diocese.) Beside it stands Bishop Smith's crozier, the "shepherd's crook" that is a symbol of his role as our shepherd, our chief pastor.
Look on the right side of the altar for a chair topped with an upside-down cross. That is the official chair of the Cathedral dean. (The dean is the senior priest of a Cathedral.) St. Peter was crucified upside-down. That's why an upside-down cross is his symbol.
Q. Tell us about the organ.
A. The pipe organ at St. Peter’s was built in 1965 by the Austin Organ Co. It replaces another Austin instrument built in 1915. A portion of that original instrument currently serves as the antiphonal organ division in the back of the Cathedral. The organ contains 61 ranks of pipes and three manuals, or keyboards, for a total of 3,704 pipes distributed over six divisions. The pipes range in size from 16 feet long, laid horizontally beneath the great organ, to smaller than a pencil.
In 1999, a four-manual Rodgers organ console was installed to replace the original Austin console. Digital ranks of pipes were added to enhance the tonal capabilities of the original instrument, for a total of 87 ranks over seven divisions.