A church, a bell, a minister
What does Washington DC, Paul
Revere’s family and a kid from Winthrop
have in common? Let’s start with Washington
DC for it was there that the
history began in 1815. Benjamin Henry Latrobe had been appointed by President
Thomas Jefferson as Surveyor of Public Buildings and Architecture of the
Capitol. This man was responsible for building the White House, the Capitol,
and the Decatur House, all of which have ties to significant historical events.
But in 1815, he began another project, the design of a church. This church
would become the second building on Lafayette
Square, right after the White House. He took no
fee for his design and, in addition, composed the dedication hymn and played
the organ on Dec. 18, 1816 at the consecration of St. John’s Church,
which became known as The Church of the Presidents. Every president since James
Madison has attended this church.
Now, enter in
the son of Paul Revere. Joseph Revere cast a bell in his Boston Foundry in
August 1822 and the bell was installed on St. John’s Church
on Nov. 30 1822. It tips the scales at
1000 pounds and has been in continuous use since its installation. The Revere
Co. also had a smelter in Winthrop
MA later in the 1800’s.
And, now we
go to the kid from Winthrop.
John Carsten Harper was born there
around 1925, the son of Rev. Ralph M. Harper and graduated from Winthrop High School in 1942. His father was the
minister at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Winthrop who married my
parents, my aunt and uncle, my sister and who baptized my sisters and me. We
called our minister Mr. Harper because that’s what he wanted. His children were quite a bit older than my
sisters and I so we had no interaction with them. Imagine our surprise when we heard the
announcement in 1963 that our Mr. Harper’s son had been called to St. John’s in Washington
DC. That was quite an honor for another one of Winthrop’s sons.
So there is
the connection between Washington, the Revere
family and a Winthrop
kid. Dr. John C. Harper graduated from Harvard in 1946 and from the Episcopal
Theological Seminary in Cambridge
MA in 1953. In between those two
events he spent some time in the Navy, serving in the South Pacific, and then
taught school in CT for awhile. After graduating from the seminary, he married
and began his ministerial duties in MA, RI and NY. When he was called in 1963
to be Rector of St. John’s in Washington
DC, it would be the start of a 30
year career, preaching, teaching and guiding what was to become a diverse
flock.
Soon after he
was installed as rector of St. John’s,
he had a most distinguished visitor, President John Kennedy. This was Kennedy’s
first visit to a Protestant church, as President, which was followed by his
attending Mass at St. Stephen’s Catholic Church. As I noted in an earlier post,
JFK’s grandparents had a summer home in Winthrop,
where the President and his older siblings learned to swim and sail. Mr. Harper
had been invited to the White House a few days before the President visited the
church. One can only imagine the conversation considering they had Harvard,
Winthrop, the Navy and WWII in common.
During his 30
years as Rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church, The Church of the Presidents, he
preached to eight presidents and brought about reforms to this national
historical church that took it from a ‘society church’ to a church of the
people. He retired in 1993 and devoted his time to raising funds for an
International Study Centre at Canterbury Cathedral. He was instrumental in
organizing Friends of Canterbury Cathedral in the USA and was its first chairman. He
died on Friday, Sept. 13, 2002 at Sibley
Hospital in Washington, DC
from a heart attack. He was 78.
Now, enter in
the son of Paul Revere. Joseph Revere cast a bell in his Boston Foundry in
August 1822 and the bell was installed on 
Soon after he
was installed as rector of 
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