A memoir: coming to St Paul's

As we told you previously, the history committee is collecting stories of SPC.  Here is a sample memoir. Everyone's story is important, wherever you see yourself-- congregant, chorister, visitor, clergy, staff....  The community is the whole body of us.  Please help us tell the story of all of us!
Sample memoir, from Robert Heylmun

In 1982 while living in Orange County, I happened to be in San Diego over Sunday night, and either by chance or divine design, I parked near St. Paul’s. It was just about 5:00PM, the doors were open, and I decided to go in to see if there might be an organ concert. I sat down in the quiet and dimly lit nave.

No concert, but the boys choir solemnly processed in to soft music from the organ. The officiant took his place and read the opening sentence, and then intoned the introit, answered by the choir. Then came the evening hymn which I still remember and now know as Bromley by Haydn (Hymn 29 in the 1982 hymnal). I sang along although the tune and words were new to me.

Then the suffrages, the anthem during the offering, and the prayers. A simple service, just as we celebrate Evensong these days. But this one had got into me somehow. I didn’t feel a whammy from the organ; we usually don’t get the organ’s full power displayed at Evensong anyway. What I experienced was more of an invasion, and I was aware that something mystical had happened to me, something that I am still unable to describe fully. It was nevertheless a palpable movement toward rendering me into being a different person, from one who had come into the church building completely indifferent to anything but the possibility of hearing a free concert, to one who fell to his knees in awe and admiration for the power that I knew had transformed me so suddenly.

All of the elements of that service combined to do the work that God intended: the organ, the choir, the officiant, the prayers—all of those were vehicular in bringing to my deepest consciousness a sense that I had come home, that I had returned from over twenty years of prodigal living, that a loving father was welcoming me back into the warm embrace of love.

Only then was I ready to look at the parts of the three-legged stool and begin my journey toward being an Episcopalian. Thirty years later, I am still here, still in that embrace, and one of the great honors and joys I am given at St. Paul’s Cathedral is to be an officiant at Evensong. Everything that helped find me and bring me home, works with me as I intone the introit, chant the suffrages, and sing the collects.

Oh, it was a whammy, no doubt about it, and when doubts arise, or problems come up, that Evensong settles me down, brings me back into harmony with that that ineffable and ultimately unknowable force that invaded me then and sustains me now.

That night was to lead me in a number of directions, one of them toward establishing a welcoming place for gay and lesbian Christians. That need presented itself as fully and strongly as had that something mystical at Evensong that night, something that drew me into itself. By 1986 another man and I sought permission for the first Integrity chapter to form, and Dean Jim Carroll not only gave us that permission, but celebrated Eucharist at our first meeting in the Guild Room.

And you see where we have arrived now. The events along the way to full inclusion and marriage of same-sex couples are the events that inform memoir, that recreate a significant world from the memories and dusts of the past, that produce for readers a record of the spiritual autobiography of a movement that has revealed yet another of the faces of God.

How to tell your story

As we told you previously, the history committee is collecting stories of SPC.  Here are some prompts that may help you. Everyone's story is important, wherever you see yourself-- congregant, chorister, visitor, clergy, staff....  The community is the whole body of us.  Please help us tell the story of all of us!

Why and when did you originally come to St. Paul’s and what keeps you coming?

Is there a Bible story or parable that relates to your own history at St. Paul’s? If so, please tell us.

What kind of SPC social gatherings or special activities do you enjoy remembering?

Do you recall issues or events when our church community stood strongly to support human dignity or civil rights? What were your feelings about such an event?

Describe a time when you really needed support from the church and who/what helped you with that need?

Every year we go through a Stewardship process which focuses on pledging to keep our community thriving. What inspires you to pledge, or keeps you from pledging?

Do you remember when Queen Elizabeth II came to St. Paul’s? Recall what that event was like for you.

Do you have memorable times you recall with members of the clergy or staff? Here’s a list from our past and present: Rev. Harold Robinson, Rev. Lester Lyndon-Jones, Rev. Jack Sanford, Rev. George Ross, Dean Jim Carroll, Bishop John Chane, Dean Scott Richardson, Dean Penny Bridges, or perhaps assistant clergy Rev. Rines, Rev. Alden Franklin, Rev. Lee Teed, Rev. Allisyn Thomas, Rev. Richard Lief, Rev. MaryAnne Lacey, Rev. Jeff Martinhauk; Choir Masters Larry King, Don Small, John Kuzma, Edgar Billups, Martin Green. Others you can think of or want to talk about with regard your history here?

Were you here during the Civil Rights movement and its changes in the 60s? What was that like? Did you hear messages from the pulpit? Did the issues divide the community? What gay and lesbian issues affect you if any? How or how not?

What times or issues caused division and consternation within our community? How were they handled? Was there healing? Was there a special person who helped you or whom you helped? Talk about community.

What was it like to be a child in the choir? What choir directors made the biggest impacts on you? Were there special services that meant a lot to you? What did you wear as a choir member?

Describe an adult education class or forum or series that impacted your life and how you view others.

Do you have memories of Sunday school and favorite activities, or a special teacher?

Tell us your story! SPC history committee has a request

Got a story you’d like to tell about you and your years at St. Paul’s Cathedral?

We would love to hear it!

We are a committee that will be putting together a written portrait of our church ranging over the past fifty years or so and your story will help us with that portrait.

Some suggestions and ideas appear on the subsequent posts of this blog. Perhaps one of them will make you think of a personal story. We hope it will. Please feel free to find a topic entirely of your own and as long as it relates to St. Paul’s Cathedral history, it will be very welcome.

We also want to give you a sample reflection as a sort of idea about how you might write one of your own. You need not follow this example’s format, of course.

We will archive every story we receive in the Cathedral’s archives and will choose what we need from all submissions.

If possible, send your story to me, Robert Heylmun, at rdheylmun@gmail.com.

If you write it out instead, that’s good too. Please hand it to me at church or to Joanna Airhart, Paula Peeling, John Will, Robert Wilkins, or The Rev. Canon Jeff Martinhauk.

Many thanks for your contribution to this project. The parish will celebrate its 150th birthday in 2019 and we want to be ready with a finished book of memories and stories.

God’s peace,
For the History Committee,
Robert Heylmun

Historic pictures of St Paul's

Recently Mark Lester found some photos online from Life Magazine, entitled,   Mission Rally Dec. 12 At St. Paul'S Episcopal Church In San Diego , Calif. (Click through to see all the photos, there appear to be about 15 of them)

We think these date from the late 50s, because the photographer stopped working for Life in 1961.  The current building opened in 1951 but was described as relatively "unfurnished" at that time.

We thought you would be interested in a then-and-now comparison.  The organ was much smaller;  the altar was against the wall of the chancel;  the pulpit was  back further (on the broad step?) .  What other differences do you see?

Mother of Missions

As we consider our cornerstone values as a faith community today, Stewardship Committee Historians John Will and Paula Peeling will be highlighting historic moments and stories from the Cathedral's past. 

For many years St. Paul's Episcopal Church carried the proud label "Mother of Missions." Even when I first tip-toed in through the back door of our church decades ago, the "Mother of Missions" moniker was still being quoted. If I asked for more detail it was mostly "hmmmm, I think they started St. Matthew's in National City, and others, I think." So in this season of contemplating "cornerstones," here is the genesis story of the "Mother of Missions."

Grass was not growing under the feet of the nascent first Protestant Episcopal church in San Diego. The Parish of St. Paul (incorporated in 1887), formerly known as the Parish of the Holy Trinity (1882-1886), was a small but active group of laity and community leaders. When they hired their newly ordained priest, The Rev. Henry B. Restarick in 1882, I wonder if they realized their spiritual life was poised for the great commission-- "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations..." Sometimes the "nations" are at the edge of your own geographic sphere.

Henry Bond Restarick eventually
become Bp of Honolulu

When the Rev. Restarick came to San Diego in 1882, he was in charge of an area twice the size of Massachusetts. The railway had newly come to San Diego bringing new settlers who had no community, much less an organized church community. The Rev. Restarick worked with his laity to develop a plan for taking Protestant church services to the growing but isolated areas of the county. By sending out lay readers to initiate and establish services in the remote areas, St. Paul's nurtured the gatherings and leadership of "country folk." Once these gatherings established their own lay leaders, St. Paul's continued to offer material aid of funds and furnishings to the new churches and chapels.

In 1892 a group of lay people proposed to Rev. Restarick that they wished to initiate services within a radius of 20 miles of San Diego for country settlements where no religious services were currently held, a much larger sphere than the former mission work had encompassed. This lay group became known as the Lay Reader's Association of St. Paul's. These lay missionaries provided a roving Eucharist complete with sermon and music. "The idea was to gently lead such people into the Church... by letting the Prayer Book service work upon them, and by giving them instruction in the Spirit of Love." Several members of this Lay Readers Association of St. Paul's went on to seek Holy Orders.

The churches, chapels, and missions  established by the Parish
of St. Paul, under the leadership of the Rev. Henry  B. Restarick
and the Lay Reader's Association of St. Paul were:

All Saints Church in Hillcrest was a mission of St. Paul’s

1887  St. Paul's- San Diego
1887  St. Matthew's- National City
1892  St. James the Great- Logan Heights
1895  St. John's- Bostonia (now El Cajon)
1897  St. Mark's- South San Diego
1897  All Saints- Mission at 6th and Thornton St.
1897  Mission in Oceanside
1897  St. Peter's- Mission in Coronado
1897  Mission in Escondido






Paula Peeling is a long-time member and Stewardship Committee Historian

Sources: History of San Diego 1542-1908 (San Diego, 1907) by William E. Smythe; The Churchman February 19. 1898, p. 295; Lay Readers Their History, Organization and Work (New York, 1894) by The Rev. H. B. Restarick

The Next Right Thing (or A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Organ Campaign…)

When I was asked to join the committee steering the Campaign to Restore the Memorial Organ I thought I had a pretty good idea what I was in for. I mean, I’ve been involved with such campaigns in the past and pretty much assumed I would be attending meetings, helping out at receptions, staffing a recital or two, maybe even a phone-a-thon. But I had no idea my involvement would evolve into becoming the committee’s unofficial “historian.” In fact, I’m not quite sure how it happened. But somehow amidst the various events, the organ “salons” and the committee meetings, I found my self digging deeper and deeper into the Cathedral’s archives in search of interesting facts and historical anecdotes that might spark interest in potential donors.

So while the motivation was to help the campaign, I have to say, I had a lot of fun doing it! Digging into the archives of St. Paul’s to discover the heritage of the organ is like doing your own genealogy. There is the thrill of personal discovery of the dates and facts, and then there are the stories which bring ancestors to life with tales of the day and hardships that humble. While this is not a history of the organ or of St. Paul’s, I have gleaned tales of real people from reading vestry minutes over the decades, archived primary documents, public records, and news clippings.

Here’s some fun excerpts from what I uncovered…

The original St Pauls, 1887  (from PeriodPaper) 

•  The newly formed St. Paul’s Parish, 54 communicants, moved into their newly built and furnished church on property they owned at 8th and C streets in 1887. Reading through the vestry minutes and Rector Henry Bond Restarick’s brief hand-written history of the parish, there was a palpable excitement of buying land, designing a church, and ordering the new organ. 


• In 1883 the parish organized a “Fair”, probably a day of festivities, which included the raffle of a Crazy Quilt. The quilt sold for $225! The entire Fair netted over $1,500 to help with the Rectory Fund. Mention was made in Restarick’s short history of additional parish Fairs that were staged in subsequent years.


• Besides a focused vestry that had at least one judge and an attorney, Holy Trinity parish (St. Paul’s parish’ prior name) also had attracted a volunteer organist in early 1883. Waldo Farrington Chase as volunteer organist and May Restarick, the rector’s wife, grew a small choral music program for the parish. In 1885, Chase and Mrs. Restarick announced the formation of the Organ Fund to buy a pipe organ for the new church. Chase performed benefit concerts to grow the fund for the $2,200 organ.





Henry Bond Restarick eventually
become Bp of Honolulu

• In early 1887 Rector Restarick ordered the organ from Hook and Hastings in Boston. A flurry of mail followed which revealed the proper signatures had not been sent to the manufacturer and the manufacturer was stopping work on the instrument. The matter was immediately taken over by one of the attorneys on the vestry. All abnormalities were straightened out in time for it to be shipped and received in the spring of 1887.


• Waldo Farrington Chase wasted no time in sending a complimentary letter to the vestry on the sound and performance of the new organ, and proposing himself as the first organist at a salary of $200 per year. Not many months passed before the salary was raised to $300 per year. The music program grew with organ and choral performances.


• By 1890, St. Paul’s parish with its new building and organ had grown to 325 communicants from only 54 in 1885.





Waldo Farrington Chase, from
Men of the Pacific....1902-1903

• Chase stayed with St. Paul’s, as its paid organist, for about 10 years. During that time he pursued the diaconate, being sponsored by St. Paul’s parish. In 1891 he was ordained and stayed with the parish until about 1897. Census and marriage records show him marrying the daughter of a clergyman in Los Angeles in the late 1890’s. He then served out his life in the Los Angeles area and was ordained a priest at age 91! His obituary from 1966 shows him to be a long-lived man dying at age 104, after retiring at the age of 103 from his church in Whittier.

And that’s just a few of them…

I’m not entirely sure why the history of our Memorial Organ is so appealing to me. I suppose in part it’s because I appreciate learning how past congregations sacrificed and stretched themselves to build the church we now call our spiritual home. Somehow these stories make me feel more connected to St. Paul’s and to those that came before, most of whom probably had no idea of the legacy they were leaving. I mean, do you suppose those folks back in 1887 ever thought that their Hook & Hastings would still be playing 125 years later? Or that their little church would eventually grow to become a Cathedral for the City? Probably not. My guess is, they were all just doing what they thought was the next right thing. But then, maybe that’s how legacies are built. Not trying to do something big or grand or particularly special. But by just trying to do the next right thing.

So here’s to the campaign to restore that magnificent organ that those good folks back in 1887 struggled so mightily to bring to San Diego. Here’s to the next right thing!

 - Paula Peeling

  Remember Sunday 18th Sept is our celebration of the conclusion of the organ campaign!  There's still time to make a contribution.

A reflection on anniversaries and thanksgiving

I'll preach at St. Paul's Cathedral, San Diego on June 6, 2010, sixty-seven years to the day of my confirmation by Bishop Bertrand Stevens when we were still part of the Los Angeles Diocese. That was June 6, 1943, and the war was a heavy reality. D-Day on the Normandy beaches was a year away.

Also in June of this year I will equal in my retirement years the number of years I served as Rector, then Dean of that same St. Paul's Cathedral. Sixteen years before official retirement--sixteen years since. I wasn't sure what I expected after I retired. I only knew that I was tired of the church merry-go-round, and was determined to keep up my handball game and return to serious piano playing.

Some energy returned when the Bishop asked me to do temporary duty in a troubled parish, which I did. And the outcome of that was wonderful, life-long friends. Then there followed, for the next five years, interim duty at four congregations, plus several months at the Cathedral when my successor, John Chane, became Bishop of Washington.

I imagine I'm the only retired member of the clergy whose post-retirement equaled the activity of their last cure. What has kept me lively and interested, in spite of the inevitable health issues that come with aging, is the frequent obligation to be a Minister of Word and Sacrament, primarily at the Cathedral as well as our neighborhood parish church. Pastoral care is an ongoing activity in both congregations, partly because I'm the primary pastoral figure of communicants who were at St. Paul's when I became Rector in 1978.

I remember Matthew Fox saying, in a seminar on contemporary spirituality which he offered so many years ago in Chicago, that travel was good for one's prayer life. So Lanita and I did our share, leading a couple of tours before retirement, then really getting into it after retirement: the U.K. Ireland, Italy, Israel, a marvelous sweep through Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany; Russia; and then Ireland once again.

This anniversary month includes my birthday on the 2nd (81), fifty-six years in the diaconate on June 29, and fifty-five years in the priesthood on the same June 29. The Bishop of Olympia who ordained me, Stephen F. Bayne, Jr., did not shrink the one-year diaconate to six months, as so many do now!

Members of St. Paul's Cathedral who read this, as well as many stalwarts of All Souls Parish, Point Loma, know quite well my presence and pleasure to be a part of their lives.

June of 2010 has been a unique time for me to pause and reflect...with thanksgiving.

The Rev James E. Carroll, Dean Emeritus

This year is also marks the 25th Anniversary of St. Paul's becoming a Cathedral. If you have memories or reflections on the journey from St. Paul's parish to San Diego's "Cathedral for the City" send them on, we've love to post them throughout the year. Email your posts to: stpaulblog@gmail.com