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Our History
The Church of the Good Shepherd was formed as the first
free Episcopal Church in Raleigh in 1874.
Prior to that date Christ Church was the only general house
of worship in Raleigh of the Episcopal communion, and that parish then
labored under the disadvantage of the pews being owned by the various
families composing its congregation.
The Reverend Edward Rich wrote,
"The
population of Raleigh having increased rapidly, and the City itself
growing in commercial importance, it was deemed wise and expedient to
establish a new congregation of the Protestant Episcopal Church. After one
consultation with the Bishop of the Diocese who most cordially approved of
the movement, a committee called upon the Rev. R. S. Mason, D.D., Rector
of Christ Church Parish on the evening of Dec. 19, 1873, who gave his
consent in writing to the "Formation of a new congregation in the City of
Raleigh.”
In January of 1874,
the Reverend Edward R. Rich of St. Paul's Church, Clinton, was called as
rector of the new church. He conducted the first service in Tucker Hall,
February of 1874, assisted by the Rt. Rev. T. B. Lyman D. D.
Formal organization was Feb. 25, 1874. The 31 original
members elected a vestry and formed a building committee. In the spring, a
site at the corner of Hillsborough and McDowell Streets was purchased and
construction was begun. The new parish was admitted to tile Diocese at the
annual convention held in Wilmington on May 21, 1874.
Services were often
held in the Hall of the House of Representatives of the Capitol while the
church, a frame structure, was being built.
On Thursday,
September 24, 1874, ground was broken for The Church of the Good Shepherd
and on Easter Day, March 28th, 1875, the congregation held its first
service.
The original frame wood church
was moved to its present location from the corner of Hillsborough and
McDowell in order to provide proper space for the present building.
In 1896, the Reverend Isaac McKendree Pittenger, D. D., fourth rector of the church, made a pilgrimage
to the Holy Land. While there, he close a block of marble quarried near
Jerusalem and shipped it home as the cornerstone for a new and larger
Church building. It was laid in October of 1899, but the building was not
completed until 1914. The original church then became the Parish House and
was used for that purpose until 1954 when the existing Parish House
building was completed. While the
construction on the existing church structure was completed in 1914, the construction of
the stained glass windows took place over the next 60 years.
The
Altar, depicting the Last Supper, and wainscoting and the paving are made
from Italian marble and are typical of churches
in Northern Italy. It is said that the work was done in Italy
and the masons came from there to install it
In 1913, Dr. Pittenger submitted the revised plans for the large stained
glass windows. This was adopted by the vestry and is as seen today.
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