Dudley S. Stark: Depression Years, 1932-1940

The Reverend Dudley Scott Stark was born in Waverly, New York, on November 19, 1894; his family later moved to Scranton, Pennsylvania. Many years afterward his father Rodney recalled an incident at the church in Waverly: "One day I was singing in the choir ... Dudley came to church late — he was a little boy then — and when he came in and saw me in the choir loft, he came running right up to sit with me. I guess he got to like the idea of looking down at the congregation right then and decided to become a minister." Dudley Stark was a Phi Beta Kappa student at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, from which he graduated in 1917; he attended the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and during the war year of 1918 also took a naval reserve officers' training course at Harvard. Shortly after graduating from seminary in 1920 he married Mary Leith; the couple had four children, identical twins Rosalind and Mary and sons Gregory and Dudley, Jr. (Parishioners from the Stark years recall that the twins, in their teens and twenties, would sometimes impersonate each other when teaching church school classes or going on dates.) Mr. Stark served as curate and later as rector of St. Mark's Church, Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, before becoming vicar of the Church of the Holy Trinity in New York City (then a mission of St. James Church) in 1926. "In his five years the mission grew so that its active membership is far larger than that of St. Chrysostom's," stated the letter from the vestry announcing the new rector's arrival. "We are confident that Mr. Stark will bring to us inspiring spiritual leadership, and persuasive pulpit eloquence — but he must have your loyal support and sympathetic co-operation if he is to ... develop our Parish so that it may have that wider influence for good in the community which it deserves ... Please don't wait for him to call upon you, — go to see him at his office ... and help the members of the Vestry make him and Mrs. Stark feel at home here." Mr. Stark's "persuasive pulpit eloquence" is testified to by long-time members of the parish, who cite his sermons as among the best in a church noted throughout its history for the quality of its preaching. Former choir member Juanita Hunt recalls his infectious laughter: "Once he telephoned me and during the course of the conversation got to laughing so hard that he had to hang up and call me back."

Dudley Stark did not retain John Evans on the staff, preferring to have a full-time curate as his assistant. Though Dr. Evans moved on to other supply work shortly after Mr. Stark's arrival, the vestry allowed the Evans family to remain in the parish house until their new apartment on Division Street was available in June; John Evans often returned to the parish on special occasions, and his wife Belva regularly attended services and Women's Guild meetings at St. Chrysostom's until she left the city in the late 1960s. The Reverend Eugene R. Shannon, a recent seminary graduate, joined St. Chrysostom's in the summer on a part-time basis and began full-time work in September with responsibility for the Sunday afternoon services and the Sunday School. A Sunday School Council of representatives from the sixteen classes in the senior and junior departments met with him twice a month "for the administration of ... extra-curricular affairs." In the fall and winter of 1932/33 the older classes held an attendance contest in which "two boats, Red and Blue, were to race around Lake Michigan"; the losing Blue team hosted the Red team at a party in February. Children were at this period asked to collect special Lenten mite box offerings; at Mr. Shannon's request, Rollin Hunt constructed a giant mite box to receive the offerings at the Easter Sunday children's service.

In spite of the parish's financial problems, the elimination of the bulletin as an economy move had been reconsidered, and weekly bulletins were resumed at the beginning of 1932. At Mr. Stark's first vestry meeting the group discussed the possibility of saving money by cutbacks on insurance, referring the decision to the property committee, which maintained the insurance at its current level; however, after the theft of three chalices from the church in August, fire insurance on the building was cut back to pay for theft insurance. At a vestry meeting later in the year, Mr. Stark "stated that he expected soon to receive the gift of a new chalice, which should be insured for its value." This chalice, engraved "D.S.S. 1932," was dedicated at the Christmas Eve service that year and continues to be used at nearly every parish celebration of Holy Communion.

Attendance at the Community Center had dramatically increased; registrations grew from 193 in 1930/31 to 435 in 1931/32. However, the Center faced a funding shortage and was almost forced to close in April 1932. An open house on April 15, "to give the parish and our friends in the neighborhood opportunity to observe the work that is being carried on," was probably planned to bring in additional contributions and must have been successful, since the program continued until its originally scheduled closing date in late May. The bulletin of April 10 described the Center as "an agency for good for the children of the neighborhood in which there is no other Community Center. Its service is character building. Its usefulness, in this recent year of poverty, idle hours and curtailed recreational facilities such as closed playgrounds and the lack of usual after school activities, has more than doubled ... It is hoped that a great many parishioners and friends will ... see what St. Chrysostom's is doing for the youngsters of the neighborhood who might otherwise be driven to the unwholesome influence of street play and street gangs."

In the fall of 1932, Center programs were cut back to two days a week (though later in the year a third day was added to the schedule). The parish could no longer afford to pay the Pegels to supervise the Center; as Robert Pegel also worked as a coach at Lane Technical High School, the couple were able to accept the vestry's offer of free housing in the parish house in exchange for their services, but at the end of the season gave up their work at the Center. After their departure the Center operated "with a skeleton budget" and "an almost entirely hundred per cent volunteer staff"; supervisor Louise Neff, a member of the parish since childhood, appealed for more help in the November 19, 1933 bulletin. "At present there is but one teacher for forty girls, between the ages of nine and sixteen, who want to learn to sew ... If this wholesome activity is to continue, we must have more teachers." She also requested a sewing machine, and asked for donations of magazine subscriptions such as St. Nicholas, Boys' Life and National Geographic for the library. Nine women came forward as sewing teachers, while other volunteers taught boys' drawing, gymnasium, manual training and tap dancing and supervised the kindergarten and the library.

The sewing and woodwork groups at the Community Center produced costumes and sets for the 1933 Sunday School Christmas pageant. In this pageant, the role of "A Girl" was played by Frances Amberg (later Frances Spence); a friend and classmate of the Stark twins at Girls' Latin School, she was later married at St. Chrysostom's in a ceremony performed by Dudley Stark. Returning to the parish in the 1970s after some years out of the city, she became active as an Altar Guild member and president of that organization, was elected to the vestry in 1986 and served on the rector search committee of 1991-1993. In the Good News of December 1991, she recalled the 1933 pageant: "I remember standing on the chancel steps, participating in the Sunday School Christmas program and feeling so very happy."

Camp Oronoko too was financially troubled. On Frederick Spalding's recommendation, the vestry voted not to open the camp in 1932 until sufficient cash was available to pay for expenses, and to continue the season only so long as it could be operated without running a deficit or increasing indebtedness remaining from former seasons. The camp remained open for eleven weeks, six for boys and five for girls, with 550 children in attendance; much of the money for its operation was obtained from weekend paying guests, and the season ended without an increase in the existing deficit. "Members ... listened with much pleasure to the report of so successful a season, in such difficult times," read the vestry minutes of October 2. Camp operation in succeeding summers continued on the same basis, with attendance at a comparable level. A late 1936 parish bulletin called attention to a camper who had recently been in the news. Fifteen-year-old Betty Jaynes, who received much local publicity when she sang the role of Mimi in a Chicago City Opera production of La Bohθme, had spent part of her vacation at Camp Oronoko, where she "entertained her fellow campers by her singing."

Further economies in parish operations were necessary. In October 1932 the vestry voted to reduce the salaries of lay employees Harold Simonds, John Astley-Cock, sexton James Justice and assistant sexton John Fett, saving over $1000 a year. The rector and vestry, hoping to increase pledge support, planned an every member canvass that fall. Under parish treasurer Benjamin Taylor and vestry member Fletcher Durbin, ten or twelve groups of five people with a captain made 550 visits or calls on Sunday afternoon, December 4, resulting in an increase of $1553 in pledges for 1933. However, this was not sufficient to support the parish staff even at the reduced rate of pay, and John Astley-Cock resigned from his position as executive secretary as an economy measure. His letter to the vestry dated "March 1933" describes a situation which must have been all too common at that period: "I had hoped to leave at the end of last month but plans previously made came to naught on February 5th; nor have I anything definite at this moment; since, however, the figure for salaries in the 1933 budget includes mine only until the end of March, I wish to finish on that date." Sadly, there is no indication of his later employment; however, in consideration of his "long and devoted service" the vestry voted to pay half his salary for the months of April and May.[1] In one of the few items of business that spring which did not relate to the prevailing financial difficulties, the vestry unanimously voted on May 14, 1933 to name Norman Hutton "rector honorarius."

In 1893, news of the forthcoming World's Columbian Exposition had appeared in the Tribune on the day of the parish's first service; the present lectern and the organ used in the parish from 1897 to 1953 were originally designed for display at the fair. Forty years later, an exhibit by the Episcopal diocese formed part of the 1933-1934 Century of Progress Exposition, and John Redmond prepared copy on the church for an advertising piece to be placed in hotels for fair visitors; 394 people signed the parish visitors' book during the fair's five-month duration in 1933.

Mr. Stark resumed the midweek celebrations of Holy Communion which had been suspended after Dr. Keeler's departure, and followed the Tuesday 10 a.m. service with a class in "personal religion" devoted to the Bible and to such religious classics as Thomas ΰ Kempis' Imitation of Christ. Dudley Stark's concern for his parishioners' personal religious life was also shown during Lent, when he recommended a list of books for Lenten reading and devotion; his selections included Albert Schweitzer's Out of My Life and Thought as well as works by such well-known religious authors of the time as the English priest W.R. Inge and the American Methodist missionary E. Stanley Jones. In later years Mr. Stark often conducted Lenten study programs focusing on spiritual readings.

The Men's Club had by this time been discontinued; interest in a men's social group had very likely declined at a time of business difficulties. The Women's Guild remained active, but did not schedule a bazaar in 1932; following the practice of the war year of 1918, parishioners were asked to contribute to the Guild what they might have spent at a bazaar, the funds to be used for the support of parish social service work and Camp Oronoko as well as for the Guild's own work. The group for younger women founded by Dr. Abbott to make bandages for hospitals, now called the St. Agnes Guild, met weekly to make garments for church institutions, but did not survive beyond the early years of Dudley Stark's rectorship. Though the Mothers' Club still presented reports at parish annual meetings, by the end of the decade its only recorded activity was the contribution of altar flowers on Mother's Day. The Tuesday Nighters' program substituted quieter activities — chamber music and recitals, a bridge tournament — for the dances and plays which had been so popular in the 1920s; the winter of 1933/34 was the group's last. A Tuesday evening class in personal religion conducted by the rector took its place on the schedule the following winter. (On February 12, 1935, in response to requests from parishioners, the topic — undoubtedly all too relevant — was "The Parable of the Unemployed.") Delta Kappa Phi, an organization for young people from 16 to 21 (apparently the branch of a diocesan group), began in late 1933 under Mr. Shannon's direction. "The organization has two aims, fellowship and service; and already ... has assisted the rector on two occasions ... The regular meetings are held at half-past seven o'clock on Sunday evenings ... The organization has 35 members to date, and others in the parish who are interested are urged to attend." Delta Kappa Phi regularly sponsored a Christmas dance, using proceeds from admission fees to purchase Christmas baskets for the needy.

Although the Tuesday Nighters no longer performed plays and musicals, dramatic activity was not absent from the parish program. The Community Center's "Peppy Teens Club" presented Let's Go Somewhere, a "comedy-drama of today," on Friday, February 24, 1933; four days later, on Shrove Tuesday, the Girls' Friendly Society staged a minstrel show in the gymnasium with Gloria Chandler directing and Harold Simonds in charge of the music. Profits from the 50c admission would be used for the GFS' contributions to Camp Oronoko and diocesan institutions. In April 1934 Delta Kappa Phi performed Booth Tarkington's three-act comedy Seventeen for the benefit of the rector's discretionary fund, the first of several comedies staged by that group during the remaining years of the decade.

The 1931 proposal for rotating vestry terms indicates that the financial problems of the time had taken their toll. Many vestry had served for a considerable length of time; Frederic Norcross had been a member since 1905, John Redmond since 1909 and George Ranney since 1911, and Paul Noyes, on the vestry since 1915, had to be talked out of resigning in early 1933. Mr. Stark stressed the importance of continuity of leadership at this troubled period, and no action was taken on the proposal for rotating terms. In his remarks at the 1934 annual meeting, Frederic Norcross paid tribute to the rector's accomplishment of "unity and well-directed purpose" which had "inspired" the vestry; though "many members ... had wished to retire and had felt it would be in the interest of the Parish for others to take their place, all had agreed to serve another year at the request of the rector."

Harold Simonds at this period seems to have made a special study of Russian Orthodox liturgy and music, as several bulletins for early 1933 include detailed information on Russian anthems sung by the choir. "Many anthems are selected from composers of the Russian School most of whom have derived inspiration from one of the three great Liturgies of which that compiled by our Patron Saint, Saint John Chrysostom, is the richest," read the bulletin for February 12. The following week Mr. Simonds described the anthem "O Gladsome Light" by Alexander Dmitrievitch Kastalsky: "This particular anthem is one of great beauty. Chiefly in eight parts, the leading of the voices while of considerable complexity is no mere dexterous display. The rapturous subjectivity of the divine sentiment, much of which is regretfully lost in translation, has inspired a setting no less spiritually acceptable than liturgically dignified." In the 1930s and early 1940s the choir took part in the annual performances of the Chicago Choir Guild composed of the mixed choirs of four parishes: St. Chrysostom's, St. James, St. Luke's, Evanston and Holy Spirit, Lake Forest.

The children's Friday afternoon Lenten services for 1933 centered on missions; among the speakers were Miss Mabel Holgate, a former St. Chrysostom's Sunday School teacher working with Bishop Peter Rowe at the Tanana Valley Mission in Alaska, Mr. Wai On Shim, a Honolulu resident studying at Northwestern University, and the Reverend Robert T. Dickerson of Liberia. In addition to their annual Thanksgiving collection of canned goods for St. Mary's Home, the children had sent Christmas presents to Miss Holgate's mission the previous December, and now collected books for Mr. Dickerson's school in Liberia. Bishop Stewart's annual confirmation visitation that year took place on the Sunday after Easter, a date which remained fixed under succeeding rectors and bishops until 1960.

That fall the vestry agreed to hold a canvass on a modified plan by which "regular and established members of the parish ... would be solicited ... either by casual meeting, letter or telephone call ... Other persons and families on the parish list would be called upon either by members of the Vestry or others selected to do so." Part of junior warden George Ranney's address to the congregation at the eleven o'clock service on November 26 survives.

 

Considering the hard times of the past four years, the parish has come through in comparatively good shape.

It has, of course, run behind but we can see our way clear to meet all operating deficits accruing prior to this year.

This was accomplished by borrowing ... from the bank and paying the loan off ... with the interest received from the Endowment Fund of the parish.

The expenses of the parish have been sharply reduced ... This unpleasant task has been made easier by the fine spirit of co-operation exhibited by every member of the church staff.

Without exception, we have all felt the effects of these hard times ... Income from investments and contents of pay envelopes have been reduced, and, in many cases, have stopped entirely. Business has been stagnant; the life of the country hard hit.

But hard times cannot be permitted to put religion or man's faith in the hands of a receiver or sold on the auction block.

The life of the Church at home and abroad must continue with its full ministrations ... It cannot be permitted to fail in meeting every demand even if temporal or worldly affairs fail around it.

That is why our parish has carried on and is carrying on. That is why the year 1933 will result in a deficit of about $2300. That is why this deficit should be paid before entering another year. That is why the vestry ask not only your continued support but an increased support if it is in your power to give it.

If you are approached in person or by mail, remember that it is probably as hard and unpleasant for the approacher as for you, the approachee.

The vestry promises no waste or extravagance ... but ... must fulfill its trusteeship to carry on the work intrusted to its care.

Though the canvass results are not recorded, we may hope that Mr. Ranney's speech succeeded in raising additional funds for 1934.

January 1933 had marked the fortieth anniversary of the parish's first services. The date was not commemorated, either because Mr. Stark had been in the parish a relatively short time or because the anniversary of St. Chrysostom's organization as a parish was seen as more important than that of its first service. In June 1933 the vestry authorized Mr. Stark to select a committee to plan an annual Founder's Day or Patron's Day program; in September he proposed "that the Parish should celebrate the 40th anniversary of its founding by special services, pageant and banquet at some appropriate time, suggesting St. Chrysostom's Day in 1934, whereupon it was VOTED to hold such a celebration on Sunday, January 28." A committee of the rector, wardens, and vestry members John Redmond, Harold Smith and Albert Sprague was appointed to plan the events, and the following month John Redmond presented a progress report. The anniversary would be celebrated on the weekend of January 26-28, 1934, with Bishop Stewart preaching at the first service on Friday evening; a pageant and service for children and a dinner were planned for Saturday.[2] On Sunday, Dr. Hutton was invited to return to his former parish and to preach at the eleven o'clock service; an afternoon reception for the Huttons would conclude the weekend.

Bishop Stewart paid tribute to the parish in the Diocese of January 1934.

Congratulations: To Saint Chrysostom's Parish which is about to celebrate its fortieth anniversary. Within a generation it has developed from a struggling mission in a tiny wooden chapel to one of the great American parishes, wielding an enormous influence upon the life of Chicago. It has been my own good fortune to know personally all its Rectors ... The Diocese can never forget Norman Hutton, that gracious, gentle, brotherly man who for years made his spiritual life effective in building up ... both parish and diocese; Bishop Abbott, the flaming apostle and evangelist whose stay among us was too brief; nor Bishop Keeler, another brother beloved snatched by the episcopate just when his strength of leadership was manifesting itself in our midst ... And now we have learned to admire and respect and love Dudley Stark, who quietly and efficiently has taken up the work and is bringing this fine parish into new records of growth and of deepening, widening influence.

Bishop Stewart also included a brief biographical sketch of the parish's patron saint John Chrysostom, "a great patron ... for a metropolitan church in the heart of Chicago's near north side, where the Gospel must still be proclaimed with fearlessness and friendliness, with incisiveness and love. And, after forty years, increasingly carries on." Norman Hutton shared memories of his years in the parish, touching on the difficult situation he faced on his arrival and the contributions of many dedicated parishioners to St. Chrysostom's growth.

I came early to the conclusion that the rich and the poor are in great need of the religion of Jesus, and that the church alone can satisfy their needs ... All alike need Jesus' way of life. St. Chrysostom's in a very real sense ministered alike to all conditions of people. At its altar all found peace and quiet strength. In its services all found reality.

In its family life as a parish there was a sweet reasonableness and charity ... In all the twenty years I never had to settle a parish quarrel or to deal with a recalcitrant group.

St. Chrysostom's had poor and rich, saints and sinners, and between — all were dear to my heart. I knew I was no preacher, yet what I said in the pulpit came from deep convictions and pastoral experience. I really loved and knew my people and they showered me with appreciation and kindness ...

St. Chrysostom's ministers to a great population — some of its labors are for those who are forgotten and neglected. This is as it should be. It is like a rock in the desert with a well of water for those who are thirsty for the waters of life.

Dudley Stark described the church's present situation.

Saint Chrysostom's is fortunate in its patron saint ... Said he, "There is nothing more powerful than prayer and there is nothing to be compared to it." His faith was real. It went to work. For him and for the parish that bears his name the appropriate emblem is the bee-hive ...

The church edifice is homelike and beautiful. To worshippers its furnishings give the impression of simple dignity, spiritual suggestion without ostentation. The atmosphere of worship is ably aided by a loyal competent choir under the direction of Mr. Harold B. Simonds ...

The largest church service that the members ... give is outside parish organizations. I wish space would permit me to name scores, of both men and women, who are conspicuous for their leadership in the maintenance of Christian ethics in business and in the professions ... Busy as they are, I have yet to find the time when they refuse to give counsel or cooperation for St. Chrysostom's.

After describing current parish activities, he paid tribute to his predecessor Norman Hutton: "his chief monuments are in the hearts of hundreds whom I have met, to whom he brought solace in trouble and joy in gladness — a rector honorarius indeed!" and concluded:

To all seeking a household of faith, we bid you welcome. We believe that in a strategic place, in a strategic time, this Parish has remarkable opportunities. Let us go forward. Let St. John Chrysostom's last utterance continually define our goal: "In all things God be praised."

Long-time St. Chrysostom's parishioner and former vestry member Angus Hibbard, retired after a distinguished career with the telephone company, made his own contribution to the celebration. He had played an important part in the development of long distance telephone service, and had originated the busy signal as well as designing the original "blue Bell" telephone company logo; he was one of the first business executives to make use of a company organizational chart. (A grandiose idea of Mr. Hibbard's which was never adopted was his proposal to pave over the Chicago River in the downtown area.) In retirement he was active in diocesan affairs; for his work in reorganizing the diocesan magazine and his activities in support of the "Bishop's Pence" program (in which Episcopalians contributed small coins to a "pence can" when saying grace at meals) he was among the first recipients of Bishop Stewart's Distinguished Service Cross. His fondness for music and composition has been noted in connection with the Men's Club meetings in earlier years, when the group performed his "Chicago Songs"; he now composed a parish hymn, "The Bells of Saint Chrysostom's," to mark the anniversary.

Bells of Saint Chrysostom's

Ringing in the air

Welcoming all to come

To this house of prayer;

Saint Chrysostom's, Saint Chrysostom's,

Hear them sounding on

Ringing singing, ringing singing,

Calls the Carillon.

Hear us O Lord we pray,

As these bells resound:

Grant we may find the way

Of this Saint renowned.

Saint Chrysostom's, Saint Chrysostom's,

Calling everyone,

Ringing singing, ringing singing,

Hear its Carillon.

Saint of the ancient days

Fearlessly his word

Sounded in prayer and praise

Of his Christ and Lord;

Saint Chrysostom's, Saint Chrysostom's,

May we follow on

Ringing singing, ringing singing,

With our Carillon.

 

Dudley Stark, a supporter of "home-grown talent" among his parishioners, used the hymn at every St. Chrysostom's Day service; Cuthbert Pratt continued the practice, while Harold Simonds in the remaining years of his tenure as organist and carillonneur played the hymn on the carillon each Sunday before the eleven o'clock service. Although "The Bells of Saint Chrysostom's" would almost certainly not be ranked high in terms of either words or music by an unbiased observer (when Robert Lodine eliminated it from the parish repertoire in 1961, there were no protests from the congregation), it is possible to look back at the hymn with some degree of fondness and nostalgia and appreciate both Angus Hibbard's motivation in composing it and its use for many years in the parish.

The Tribune of January 26, 1934 carried an anniversary feature on the parish by society writer Ruth De Young.

Once "Richest Church" Will Have Birthday

St. Chrysostom's No Longer "Society" Project.

Is there a "society" church today? ...

As to St. Chrysostom's, the question is answered by an official of that parish: "This is no longer a wealthy parish. That day is past. St. Chrysostom's is a hard working ordinary type of parish with a well balanced program embracing every stratum of society."

... Members who had thought of the church only in terms of an 11:00 Sunday morning prayer, a bridal veil, and a corsage of Easter orchids are rediscovering it in terms of its vital part in community life and its ministrations to rich and poor alike.

"Mention St. Chrysostom's by way of fashion or society to a goodly number of its faithful members and you immediately start an argument," remarks ... an intimate observer. "The depression has mellowed the congregation into a hard working and sympathetic whole."

Especially is this apparent in the community center sponsored by the church and now directed by Miss Louise Neff through Mrs. William Parsons, chairman of the ... social service committee. Three hundred children from back of Clark Street come to the church four afternoons a week to learn gymnastics ... to study in the little library ... to play games and solve puzzles ... And it is well known that [the] postdebutante teachers anticipate the sessions just as much as if not more than their Greek, Italian and Polish pupils.

Bishop Stewart was unable to attend the Friday evening service on January 26; Bishop Herman Page of Michigan, a former rector of St. Paul's Church on Chicago's south side, was the preacher on the occasion. The bulletin contained messages from Presiding Bishop James De Wolf Perry, Bishop Stewart, and the Reverend Duncan Browne of St. James Church, as well as greetings from clergy of other denominations: pastor emeritus of Fourth Presbyterian Church John Timothy Stone and his successor Harrison Ray Anderson, Theodore Hume of the New England Congregational Church, and Norman Barr of Olivet Institute. On Saturday morning there were celebrations of Holy Communion at 7:30 and 10 a.m., with former assistant John Evans the celebrant at the later service. Later that day the Sunday School celebrated at a party with birthday cake, at which Dr. Hutton and three former curates of the parish were present.

The eleven o'clock service on Sunday, January 28, was the crowning event of the weekend.[3] Two processional hymns, "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken" and "Christ is Made the Sure Foundation," opened the service. Healey Willan's setting of the Te Deum Laudamus and prayers from the service for the Consecration of a Church were followed by the Ante-Communion Service and the sermon hymn, "The Church's One Foundation." Parishioners from Dr. Hutton's time must surely have rejoiced to see their former rector and to hear him once again in the pulpit. The change in economic conditions since he had left St. Chrysostom's must have been in his mind as he prepared his sermon, which (according to the next day's Tribune) touched on some of the good results of the depression: happier homes, greater appreciation by children of their parents, greater consciousness of religion. "You cannot guarantee the security of your children with wealth. Leave them moderately poor if you would do well by them. Bring them up to appreciate the finer things of life. Let them live simply. These are the best guarantees you can give them ... I am not decrying money. I have had more than my share of good things. Yet I have also seen what can result from the simpler ways of living." "Blest Be the Tie that Binds" and the Prayer of Saint Chrysostom followed the offertory; the service concluded with "Onward Christian Soldiers" as recessional. Though Harold Simonds was responsible for the service music, former organist Emory Gallup returned for the day and played the postlude. The afternoon reception honoring the Huttons concluded the anniversary celebration.

At a time when conditions both in the nation and the parish were difficult, the weekend must have been a time of special joy. Dudley Stark continued a "Festival Founder's Day Service" through the remaining years of his rectorship, using an order of service similar to that of the fortieth anniversary service; in 1935 Bishop Keeler returned to preach on the occasion.

The Women's Guild welcomed Mrs. Abbott back to the parish as a guest speaker in Lent of 1934; her topic was "Missions of the Kentucky Mountains," with special emphasis on the Kitts Mission for which the Guild had "done considerable ... work" during the year. The Girls' Friendly Society that spring made a special study of the Episcopal Church's work in Japan. A committee of three women came to a meeting at St. Chrysostom's on April 19 and awarded a prize to the best report on the topic; a committee member who had recently visited Japan described her experiences and exhibited "curios ... secured during the trip."

Mary Stark was the originator of a new plan for the 1934 bazaar. For two years, probably because at a time of financial hardship parishioners were unlikely to buy the usual assortment of handmade gifts, no parish bazaar or sale had been planned. "Christmas Windows," a two-day sale headed by Women's Guild members Mrs. Harold Eldridge and Mrs. D. Mark Cummings, contained displays of goods from area stores: the gymnasium, transformed into "a glittering wintery midway," provided "an unlimited opportunity for buying almost anything with the least possible effort." Bulletins and newspaper accounts of the sales indicate the wide variety of items for sale; children's toys and games, men's and women's apparel, china, linen, art works, perfumes, antiques, hardware, electrical goods, and on one occasion a refrigerator. The Women's Guild sold its "famous aprons" and home-baked goods, and merchandise benefiting other charities was sometimes available. Tribune society writer Eleanor Page described the 1934 sale as combining "a stroll down Michigan Avenue (or the Rue de la Paix, or Bond Street), with portrait painting, fortune telling, a food sale, a lingerie and linen sale, restaurant service, and a theater. The beauty of the electric blue display hall with tall silver columns and ... curtained display booths, will fairly take the sightseer's breath away." A turkey dinner, with young women parishioners waiting on tables and parishioner I. Newton Perry as maξtre d'hotel, was served upstairs "at long tables covered with gold cloth and lighted with orange candles." A performance of the melodrama Under the Gaslight — or Virtue Is Its Own Reward, followed; although a snowstorm had fallen by mistake in a drawing room scene in one of the rehearsals, the actual performance seems to have gone off without incident. "Cousin Eve," another Tribune society writer, wrote on the following Sunday that a New York man had come to Chicago to see how the sale was planned and operated. It was extremely successful, making a profit of approximately $3450; proceeds supported Guild activities, the Community Center, Camp Oronoko and the rector's discretionary fund.

"Christmas Windows" formed a major part of the parish's social calendar in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The location of what the bulletin described as the "far-famed turkey dinner" was moved, in later years, to what Eleanor Page described as "the crypt downstairs — the stylish word for basement." A variety of entertainment was scheduled following the dinner: travel films, speakers, a gypsy orchestra, theatrical productions, and a Berkeley Divinity School professor doubling as a magician who demonstrated "French and German techniques of legerdemain."[4] Among the most amusing programs must have been that of 1935. "Living Pictures," directed by Mrs. John R. Winterbotham, Jr., was a takeoff on the typical art lecture: William Van Nortwick played the part of "Prof. Shuttlecock," and parishioners took part in tableaux parodying twelve famous pictures, among them Harold Simonds in Grant Wood's American Gothic. Shortly before her death in November 1990, Catherine Brooder, who had joined St. Chrysostom's in the mid-1930s and was actively involved with the Guild for many years, shared with the present author her happy memories of Guild activities at this time: Mary Stark and "Christmas Windows," the turkey dinner as a highlight of the parish year, weekly meetings with lunches prepared by Frieda Hicks, friendship and cooperation among the members of the group.

Dudley Stark's encouragement of parish talent appeared once again at the 1934 Sunday School Christmas service, at which the younger children sang a carol, "How to Be Happy," with words by Eleanor East and music by Pat Warren of the Sunday School; Mr. Stark's sons Gregory and Dudley played two of the three kings in the pageant. The Delta Kappa Phi young people's group presented the Easter pageant of 1935, in which the part of St. John was played by Rollin Hunt, who had attended Camp Oronoko and would remain an active choir member and parishioner for over thirty years. On the following Sunday, Rosalind and Mary Stark were among the members of the class confirmed by Bishop Stewart. A sad loss to the parish came that summer, when chief acolyte Elmer Tengberg and three other Commonwealth Edison employees were killed on July 27, 1935 in a light plane crash en route to a weekend at Mackinac Island. Though still in his twenties, Mr. Tengberg had been active for a number of years in the parish and, according to Rollin Hunt, had played an important part in revitalizing its acolyte program.

Dr. Hutton's health problems had been largely responsible for his resignation as rector of St. Chrysostom's in 1928. Although he returned to Chicago in 1934 for the parish's fortieth anniversary celebration, he resigned as rector of St. Andrew's Church in Wellesley, Massachusetts later that year; the vestry sent a message in October expressing their happiness to learn of his recovery from a serious illness. His 1934 Christmas message was printed in the December 23 bulletin.

This is a message born of the Christmas Spirit. It carries to you the good wishes of my heart, which I ask you to receive as a simple token of the season's unselfish love. It bespeaks for you as much grace as you may need in the taking of every friendly gift, and as well a large portion of that sweet blessedness begotten of true giving. And be assured that it is now my earnest prayer that the holy love of Jesus may be a new, fresh thing in your life, and that the peace and joy of the sky-song may live, sweet and real, in you through every day of the whole year.

This was the last message received by the parish from its beloved "rector honorarius." Norman Hutton died on September 25, 1935, at the age of fifty-nine. Dudley Stark traveled to Wellesley for the funeral service on the 27th; the bishops of Connecticut and Massachusetts, the rector of Trinity Church, New York, and Dr. Hutton's successor at St. Andrew's Church also took part in the service. On Sunday, October 6, St. Chrysostom's eleven o'clock service commemorated Dr. Hutton. Mr. Stark's sermon on that occasion was long remembered by those who heard it; at the vestry's request it was printed and distributed to the congregation.

"He calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. He goeth before them and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. Jesus spake this parable unto them. I am the good shepherd." Words from the tenth chapter of the Gospel according to St. John.

In love we remember and thank God for him who for a score of years in this parish gave full proof of his ministry. If a Christian minister have the gift of able administration, he is fortunate. If he be a mighty preacher of the Word, he also is fortunate. If he have both these gifts, but be not a true pastor, ere long he will fail. Norman Hutton stood highest in what matters most. He was a great shepherd of souls. So rich and manifold was his personality that adequate appraisal is not possible, and sufficient praise cannot be spoken. The words of the text, however, help summarize and explain, in a rising scale of importance, his ministry and his life.

"He leadeth them out. He goeth before them." The Christian pastor must be a leader. He must have vision, knowing whither to lead. He must have the sacrificial spirit that attracts others to follow. In a very high degree those qualities were Norman Hutton's.

He was no indefinite religionist. He knew where the pastures were green and the waters still. When people came to him for help, he helped them. He could lead others to the more abundant life because he had it in himself. He was here not to take but to give. These were his last written words to Dr. Abbott, his immediate successor: "I have tried to build the parish on the principles of allegiance and loyalty to our Christ, rather than to myself, and I realize the test is now coming. I do hope that you will find that it was built on Christ and not on myself. If, in all honesty you could ever tell me that, it would make me happier than anything else in the world." In all honesty we can say, he so built.

Moreover, he saw so clearly that people could only be helped by helping others. So this parish in its corporate life became under his leadership a fellowship for bringing succor to those in need. Witness, Camp Oronoko now completing a quarter of a century of fine usefulness. Witness, the Community Center stretching out a neighborly hand and mothering arms to all, irrespective of creed or condition. But this wise leader also knew that larger personalities come ultimately only through spiritual resources. A major aim of his, therefore, was to have a beautiful House of the Lord, safeguarded by an endowment against changes in neighborhood and fortune, so that men, women and children in every condition might come here and be fed with the Bread of Life.

Perhaps too seldom we remember Norman Hutton's leadership. Attesting his leadership is the fact established by the contrast between the condition of the parish when he came to it and the condition of this parish when he left it.

His friend was right who has just now written to me: "In a sense, the lovely group of buildings that go to make up St. Chrysostom's Church are his memorial, but he would be the last to take any credit for it." An appropriate and generous memorial should be offered in thanksgiving for him and yet, if you wish to see his monument, look around.

"He calleth his own sheep by name; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice." The true pastor is a sympathetic, loving friend. The shepherd has a name, a nickname, a name of endearment for every single one of his flock. Norman Hutton cared for each and every one. He served here long and constructively because he had a most profound, sensitive affection — I must not say for this congregation — for this family. Will you ever forget it, the sympathetic cadences and nuances of that voice, the rare word aptly spoken? Can we forget the ready, responding smile with the steady, forthright, shining eyes? There he was, there his spirit remains: a great understanding, sympathetic man, able to help and heal those in trouble, able to encourage and steady those in success, for his was a sympathy sprung from a strong, genuine character. He belonged to the Apostolic Succession, following St. Paul, by divine grace and the right of character. "Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is offended and I burn not?"

Norman Hutton never made one feel inferior. He would not accept patronage. Snobbery in any form repelled him. He was a friend and trusted counsellor of bishops, of rectors of large parishes, and of missionary priests, of Christian communicants, and of people who professed no religious allegiance, of rich and of poor, of saints and of sinners. They returned his love. He is mourned in the homes of the rich and of the poor throughout this city. I have tried to understand his rare gift of helpfulness. I judge it lies here. He saw people as they were and loved them. He did not try to improve people and afterwards love them. He loved them first and became their benediction, and so they became more lovable. Does it not lie in his own words, which he so beautifully exemplified? "Let us appraise others at their best and thus draw from them their sublime possibilities."

"Jesus spake this parable unto them. I am the Good Shepherd." Jesus spake unto Norman Hutton, "I am the Good Shepherd." And Norman Hutton heard those words and that voice. He was, as one of you put it to me the other day, one of God's men. That is the explanation of his life. His life was hid with Christ in God. He was a real man because he had a real faith in God. The most significant and beautiful part of his life we do not know, but can rejoice in its fruits — his life of prayer.

He was a good churchman. Like every good churchman, he was nurtured and aided but he was not "cabined, cribbed, confined, bound in" by church formularies or ordinances. He was a truly catholic churchman. The churchmanship of this parish with him could not be labeled, and, please God, it never shall be except with the Cross of Christ, our Glory. He was a high churchman, with veneration for the Church, the Body of Christ, and with appreciation for liturgical and worshipful beauty. He was a low churchman, with an evangelical intensity for the individual soul, remembering always, "Other sheep I have which are not of this fold." He was a broad churchman, steadfast for the glorious liberty of the children of God to grow, and having faith that ever there is more light yet to break.

Man of great faith, he knew the unsearchable riches of Christ were far too large and many for any one party or any one church. Holding that faith obediently and humbly he led courageously. He did not flinch, for he had that kind of faith that courageously projects itself forward, sure of finding the truth. Through that faith he loved people. For a kind of instinct was given to him to see the Christ in each human soul.

That faith assured him of the life hereafter. I must tell you, nobody has ever spoken to me in terms of such assurance of immortality as he. His future life was hid with Christ in God.

What I have said must remain insufficient and incomplete. Better are the feelings and resolves which come to us as we remember him. Best of all, that we shall live in accord with those sublime feelings in Christlike deeds. Then we may hope to be with him, a good shepherd, and with many another, praising and serving Christ our Lord, his Good Shepherd and ours.

After three and a half years at St. Chrysostom's, Eugene Shannon left in February 1936 to become rector of Grace Church, Freeport, Illinois. The months immediately following his departure saw changes in parish programs and staff. Walter Schroeder, the new assistant, who had experience in youth work in his former parish in Michigan City, Indiana, took charge of the Community Center. (Programs at the Center that fall included a cooking class for boys as well as for girls.) The financial situation by early 1936 allowed the vestry to raise Dudley Stark's salary from $7500 to $8500 and to give a $200 a year raise to Harold Simonds; parish finances must have continued to improve during the year, for in the fall Sidney T. Cooke, a priest formerly on the staff of St. James Church in New York and "a friend of many years' standing" of Dudley Stark, joined the staff with responsibility for the development of a program for young adults, a group for which there had been no activities since the discontinuance of the Tuesday Nighters.[5] The Sunday evening service, "designed especially for young people of the near north side," was moved from late afternoon to 8 p.m. and enlarged to include four hymns and a short sermon. The November 1936 Diocese cited the service as "one of the first expansion programs among churches of the city in several years ... Sunday evening services among Chicago churches have in recent years become a difficult problem. Many churches have discontinued such and the action of St. Chrysostom's in undertaking the new program is looked upon with considerable interest."

Pat Warren conducted a Bible study group before the service and directed an evening volunteer choir of young people. At first the Lane String Quartet provided the accompaniment, but later Harold Simonds played the organ at the service, though Mr. Warren continued to act as the group's choirmaster; soloists in the early years included Nancy Warren and David Simonds. The vesper choir would form an important part of parish activities for over twenty years. Ten years later Pat Warren described it in the February 17, 1946 bulletin: "On its roster are about forty fine amateur singers, ranging in experience from a very few to a great many years. It is a volunteer organization, recruiting its membership from those who have a definite interest in the finer things of life. Official connection with our church is not one of the qualifications, with the salutary result that we have representatives from many denominations in our ranks ... Many come from great distances to sing with us ... The choir has given several performances away from the church where it has done full justice to the good name of our parish." Wellington Allaway, a parishioner of Grace Church, Oak Park, recalled for the present author an occasion in the 1940s when he called to see Mr. Warren on business. After the business was completed, Pat Warren turned to his caller. "You're an Episcopalian, right? — And I bet you sing in your choir, right? — Bass? — You must come and join us at St. Chrysostom's next Sunday evening" (when a special performance by the vesper choir was scheduled); Mr. Allaway agreed to join the group for the occasion.

Mr. Cooke's activities were not confined to the Sunday evening service. He conducted a Sunday morning Bible class, and appears to have had considerable interest in music. On March 7, 1937, the choir performed an anthem, "The Prayer of St. Richard," with words by Mr. Cooke, and in 1938 he gave a series of Wednesday evening Lenten addresses on the subject "Spiritual Treatment Through Hymns," touching on Composition, Rhyme, Rhythm, Metre, Melody, Unison and Harmony as applying both to music and the Christian life.

The year 1936 saw a change in the parish's Thanksgiving Day worship. In previous years there had been celebrations of Holy Communion at eight and eleven o'clock; now Dudley Stark and three of the clergy who had sent best wishes to St. Chrysostom's on its fortieth anniversary — Duncan Browne of St. James Church, Harrison Ray Anderson of Fourth Presbyterian Church, and Theodore Hume of the New England Congregational Church at Dearborn Street and Delaware Place — scheduled a union Thanksgiving service at eleven o'clock.[6] Morning Prayer (or the regular morning worship service of the non-Episcopal churches) was used, the sermon was preached by a guest preacher rather than one of the pastors of the parishes, and the offering was given to a cause acceptable to all the participating churches. The service continued for over thirty years, though the New England Congregational Church closed after a fire in the late 1930s and St. James withdrew from the service after it became the cathedral of the diocese in 1955 and felt obligated to have a service in its own building each year. The first service was held at Fourth Presbyterian Church; two years later, St. Chrysostom's was the host parish and John Timothy Stone, Fourth Presbyterian Church's pastor emeritus (who had helped rescue valuables at the time of St. Chrysostom's 1914 fire and had spoken at the parish house dedication in 1923) was the preacher. In 1938 the four parishes scheduled joint noonday services at Fourth Presbyterian Church for the first four days of Holy Week, with a sermon by each minister on the topic "The Vision of Christ."

The Cox family had been generous contributors to Camp Oronoko since the death of Rensselaer Cox, Jr. in 1921; the November 29, 1936 bulletin announced Louise Cox's gift of two hundred and fifty hymnals to the parish in memory of her recently deceased mother Mrs. William Deshler. "This is a fitting and lovely memorial of her, for she dearly treasured the ministry of praise. Nearing the close of a long and beautiful life ... when she was told by one setting out to go to church, 'Mother, I am going to church, and I'll pray for you,' she replied, 'Yes, and sing for me.'" Although the 1930s were a period of financial difficulty when many persons found it difficult to give substantially to charitable causes, several gifts to the physical fabric of the church were made during the decade. In 1936 Mary Keep, who with her husband had given the main altar ten years earlier, donated the pavement candlesticks which stand on either side of the altar, and on her death later that year left the parish a sum of money to be used for altar linens. The chalice incorporating the diamond in its base, a memorial to John Virgin Robbins, Anastasia Robbins and Cora Robbins dated "All Saints 1937," must have been given to the parish at this time; however, vestry minutes and bulletins give no information on the gift and the Robbins family are not listed in the parish register or in other sources of information on Chicago families. The bulletin board at the front of the church was given by Joseph King in 1937 in memory of his deceased brother Russell; the board with its inscription, "In loving memory of Russell Lowell King, who as a Christian and a soldier served his God and his country's navy, 1891-1936," was designed by Joseph King's architect son John.

A still more generous gift was made by parishioner Dorothy Eckhart Williams as a memorial to her father Bernard Eckhart, president of the Eckhart Milling Company and a Chicago Sanitary District trustee and park commissioner for whom Eckhart Park on the near west side was named. Charles Connick's panel at the head of the north aisle was dedicated on November 7, 1937; the subject of the Ascension was selected because Mr. Eckhart had died on Ascension Day, May 11, 1931. Connick described the panel appeared in the bulletin: "The base quotation is from Saint Luke, 'And it came to pass while He blessed them He was parted from them and carried up into heaven, and they worshipped him.' ... Aspiration and worship may be said to dominate the entire design." The spiritual significance of the colors was noted: red for divine love, sacrifice and martyrdom, blue for divine wisdom, loyalty and truth, green for hope, springtime and victory, white for faith and peace, gold representing achievement and treasures in heaven, purple symbolizing both justice and mystery.

As early as the fall of 1933 Frederick Spalding had stated that, because of his age and health, he would be willing to retire as camp director if someone else could be found to take the responsibility. By 1937 his health had further worsened and he resigned his position to Walter Schroeder; a parish committee chaired by William Cox and made up primarily of younger men was appointed to oversee the camp's finance, budget, property and purchasing. In consideration of Mr. Spalding's long and faithful service, the vestry voted him the title of Camp Director Honorarius. "It has been a hard grind for Frederick C. Spalding who directed the camp through difficult times. Without his personal sacrifices it is doubtful that Camp Oronoko could have sustained successful operation," stated the bulletin of April 25, 1937. Results from the committee's appeal were "most gratifying," according to the May 23 bulletin; donations included Angus and Lucille Hibbard's gift of an outdoor altar and a bunkhouse. Attendance that season was 225 (110 boys and 115 girls), with thirteen social agencies represented.

Parish bulletins in the mid-1930s occasionally carried announcements of meetings of the evening branch of the diocesan Women's Auxiliary at various churches in the city. In the fall of 1937 St. Chrysostom's formed its own organization for women who worked during the day. The Business and Professional Women's Guild held its first meeting on October 28; according to the following Sunday's bulletin, "the Rector addressed the group whose membership now is fifty women." Dinner was served at a cost of fifty cents, followed by a program; topics of the monthly meetings in 1937/38 included an illustrated lecture, "Eyes Around the World," by Dorothy Eckhart Williams' brother Percy Eckhart, a talk by Bishop Stewart on Scottish poetry during which he recited a number of poems, Mrs. Robert B. Gregory's presentation on "Religion and International Affairs," a Lenten meditation by Bishop Robert Nelson Spencer of Western Missouri, and a spring party on May 23. The group continued its activities for over twenty years.[7]

At Bishop Stewart's 1937 visitation to St. Chrysostom's Gregory and Dudley Stark, aged thirteen and twelve, were among those confirmed. Frances Spence recalls that the boys had chosen their careers at an early date; Dudley planned to be a soldier, while Gregory intended to be a priest like his father. Two of the adults in that year's confirmation class were Alice Flemming (always known as Lynn), who had become parish secretary the previous September, and her brother William. Lynn Flemming would remain as secretary for over thirty years under four rectors until her retirement in 1968, a period of service exceeded only by Harold Simonds.

The year 1937 saw another significant addition to St. Chrysostom's parish staff when John Wilkinson was appointed sexton in March. Born in Ballintoy, Northern Ireland, Jack Wilkinson emigrated to the United States as a young man; he and his two daughters now moved into the parish house. In the bulletin of December 11, 1938 following the "Christmas Windows" sale, Dudley Stark wrote, "We ... remember gratefully the many hours of service, above ... required time, that our Sexton, Mr. John Wilkinson ... spent in constructing and placing booths." Throughout his twenty-nine years of service Mr. Wilkinson would give uncounted "hours of service, above required time" to maintain the buildings in the best possible physical condition and to provide service at bazaars, rummage sales and many other parish activities; he performed many duties which would now be considered the responsibility of the Altar Guild, including setting up for midweek Holy Communion services and preparing for weddings. Some present-day parishioners remain who recall his warm welcome to all entering the church on Sunday mornings.

George Ranney's financial report at the 1938 annual meeting was optimistic; in 1937 the parish had operated within its income, pledges had increased from 190 to 225, and the parish's diocesan missions quota had been raised from $6000 to $6600. At the January 1938 vestry meeting Dudley Stark expressed his hope that the church could be consecrated. According to the minutes of the February meeting, the vestry had "some doubts ... as to conditions imposed by consecration under the Canons of the Diocese of Chicago and as to the future status of our Church property after consecration," probably relating to the effect that the severe financial difficulties of the diocese (at that time facing the possibility of bankruptcy) might have on the parish. Frederic Norcross consulted his brother John, chancellor of the diocese, who gave his opinion that "consecration would in no way ... lessen or limit the full, complete and sole authority and ownership now ... vested in the Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen" and would "in no wise ... impair title to the property should the Corporation Sole ... become insolvent or bankrupt." With these assurances, the vestry voted unanimously to request Bishop Stewart to officiate at the consecration of the church on November 6, 1938, or at another date convenient to him, resolving that the offering on that occasion should be used toward paying interest on the diocesan debt. The bishop responded, "I shall be most happy to reserve Sunday, November 6, 1938, for the service of consecration of your beautiful Church ... May I ask you to convey to your Vestry my grateful appreciation of their proposal to give the offering that morning to the Bishop as Corporation Sole? And, may I offer to you my special thanks for your proposal to ... make that thank offering a generous one? By this action you and your Vestry have only reiterated in a very beautiful way those assurances of loyal co-operation which I have repeatedly felt during my entire Episcopate."

Senior warden Frederic Norcross, who had contributed so heavily to the parish in time, talent and treasure during his thirty-three years on the vestry, must surely have rejoiced over the consecration plans; his sudden death on March 13 must have added a bittersweet note to the planning. A regular attendant at services, serving on the vestry under every rector of the parish, he had seen St. Chrysostom's grow from the troubled early years of the century to become one of the strongest parishes in the diocese and had himself played a considerable part in that growth. The resolution adopted by the vestry following his death paid tribute to his work.

He loved Saint Chrysostom's Church. To his duties he brought accuracy of thought, practical wisdom, and a consecrated spirit. He was the familiar friend and trusted guide of rectors and vestrymen. Good works, cultural, social and educational adorned his character. His gifts of humor and friendliness endeared him to the young and old. He was obedient to heavenly visions. His life bore fruits of the Spirit.

George Ranney, who had made the eloquent appeal for the canvass in the depression year of 1933, was elected to succeed Frederic Norcross as senior warden. Mr. Ranney was one of the last of the generation of "self-made men" to rise to positions of business leadership; his formal education in the Chicago public schools had ended with grammar school. He had worked for the Bank of Montreal and served as vice-president of International Harvester; following the resignation of Samuel Insull, Jr. in 1933, he was appointed vice-chairman of three energy companies, Commonwealth Edison, Peoples Gas and Public Service of Northern Illinois. Bruce Borland, a self-employed mechanical engineer and member of an old Chicago family, was named junior warden; Mr. Borland had served on the vestry since 1920 and was an active member of the board of trustees of the Glenwood School for Boys serving children from broken homes.

Plans for the consecration of the church were indefinitely postponed after Bishop Stewart suffered a severe heart attack in early June; he was hospitalized for a considerable length of time and was unable to return to work until late fall. Though bishops from neighboring dioceses officiated at confirmations and other services in Chicago during his absence, St. Chrysostom's vestry voted to postpone the consecration until Bishop Stewart could perform the ceremony. He never made a full recovery, dying of another heart attack on May 2, 1940; plans for consecration of the church were not discussed again for many years.

Mr. Stark had inspired the members of the vestry to continue their work in difficult times, stressing the importance of continuity in leadership. However, Frederic Norcross was only one of several men lost to the vestry by death in the 1930s. Benjamin Taylor, for some years treasurer of the parish, died on May 13, 1935 after eighteen years of vestry service, and Harold Cornelius Smith died of pneumonia at the relatively young age of 54 on September 29, 1936; he had been confirmed at St. Chrysostom's shortly before his election to the vestry in 1913. LeRoy Kramer, who had been active in fund-raising for the 1935 diocesan Centenary Fund, was elected to succeed Mr. Taylor; Charles Y. Freeman, general counsel for Commonwealth Edison, replaced Mr. Smith, and John Allen, vice-president of Brink's and for many years president of the diocesan Church Club for men, filled the vacancy caused by Frederick Norcross' death. Mr. Allen's first wife Mae had died the previous year; the annual Church Club party for needy children in December 1937 memorialized her, and John Allen gave the decorations to the church at Christmas and Easter in her memory until his death in 1964.[8] The new vestry were, on an average, older than those taking office in earlier years; from the late 1930s to the early 1960s the vestry was primarily made up of men in their fifties and older.

Although the increased age among the vestry probably indicates a desire for experienced, stable leadership, it almost certainly also reflects changes in the composition and demographics of the area near the church. In 1907 Mr. Snively had noted the departure of parishioners for the suburbs. By the 1920s (as the growth in Church School attendance and the active program of the Tuesday Nighters group indicate) St. Chrysostom's membership included many young families and single persons, and society column accounts of Easter church attendance state that while many older Episcopalians remained faithful to St. James' Church, a sizeable number of the "young married set" had become members of St. Chrysostom's. More young families were now choosing suburban rather than city living; Sunday School enrollment dropped from over 300 in the 1920s to 176 in the fall of 1938. In appealing for contributions to the $100,000 Fund, Norman Hutton had noted a greater number of apartments and hotels and fewer single family homes in the neighborhood of the church. Ten years later, many former single-family homes on Dearborn and State Parkway were now in use as inexpensive rooming houses, and the Plaza Hotel, where Mr. Snively had lived in the 1890s and early 1900s, housed primarily persons with limited incomes.[9]

The area west of the church had also seen changes. Twenty years earlier many members of the Junior Forward Movement, the Boy Scouts, and confirmation classes had lived in this area; their fathers held occupations such as clerk, electrician or milkman. Now much of the neighborhood was deteriorating, and in 1936 Dudley Stark proposed an "extension of missionary work nearby," probably considering how best the church might serve the residents of this area. In an attempt to stem the decline of the neighborhood, the Marshall Field Estate had in the late 1920s constructed a moderate-income housing complex a few blocks west of the church, with over 600 apartments, stores, and a school from kindergarten through third grade. Many residents of the Marshall Field Garden Apartments were families with young children, and Mr. Stark proposed establishing a Sunday School in the complex. Although the project was never carried through, the parish sent a car to the building each Sunday to transport children to St. Chrysostom's for Sunday School. The present author was among the Field Apartments children driven to St. Chrysostom's in the early 1940s; at least one and sometimes two carloads of children were brought to the church each Sunday.

In the spring of 1938 Dudley Stark established the All Saints' Memorial Fund for contributions in memory of the departed, the income to be used for those in need. An early contributor was Maude Stein Snyder, who after some years in the suburbs had moved into the Field Apartments and returned to her former parish in the 1930s. Mr. Stark gratefully acknowledged her $50 donation in memory of Kathryn Schau and Caroline Schau Stein, parishioners of the former All Saints' Mission.

 

You will be pleased to know that the Fund, though but recently established, has now reached the sum of Two Hundred Sixty Dollars. Your generous contributions added very materially, and being in memory of those who were connected with All Saints Church or Mission, have an added and beautiful significance.

By that fall Walter Schroeder and Sidney Cooke had left the parish, and an acting assistant, the Reverend W. Alfred Cave, was appointed; George Blacktopp was named director of the Community Center, assisted by a group of trained volunteers led by parishioner Louise Chandler. For the Easter Day services on April 9, 1939, amplifiers were installed in the auditorium of the parish house, permitting two hundred more worshippers to attend. Later that spring Dudley Stark was honored with an honorary LL.D. degree from Chicago Medical College.

Following his heart attack, Bishop Stewart called a special diocesan convention on May 31, 1939 to elect a suffragan bishop. John Evans discussed the election and the candidates in a Tribune article on May 26. Would the diocese elect an older man who would not be considered as Bishop Stewart's eventual successor, or a younger man who might succeed him as diocesan bishop? If an older priest were elected, sixty-nine-year-old Edwin Randall, for seventeen years executive secretary of the diocese, was the likely choice; Dr. Randall was strongly supported by the Catholic Club of the diocese. "Leading laity, however, insist on the election of a vigorous young man who can assist actively in liquidating diocesan indebtedness of $500,000," wrote Dr. Evans. "In view of the confusion, many veteran observers ... now feel that a dark horse with strong leadership qualities and youth will finally be elected ... One member of this group who is the rector of a strong suburban parish said: 'Our votes on every ballot will go to the Rev. Dr. Dudley S. Stark.'" Dr. Randall was elected five days later, though the election was not without controversy. Dr. Evans' assessment that "leading laity" favored a "vigorous young man" was borne out by the fact that the lay delegates, who could not vote themselves but had veto power over the clergy's choice, came within one-half vote of rejecting Dr. Randall.[10] The Reverend Carlton Story of the Church of the Mediator on the far south side was a strong candidate, receiving over 40 votes; among other nominees who (according to Dr. Evans) "showed strength during the balloting" was Dudley Stark, who received nine votes on the second ballot.

Mr. Cave had not been hired as a permanent assistant; Dudley Stark wished to make a thorough search for a suitable person to fill the position. The Reverend John H. Hauser, a graduate of Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven, Connecticut, joined the parish staff in the summer of 1939. Married and with small children, he provided strong leadership to the church school and was given responsibility for the Sunday evening service and associated activities for young people.

Frederick Spalding's failing health had forced his resignation as camp director in 1937; that summer he was hospitalized for an extended period, and on his sixty-fourth birthday on July 13 the vestry passed a resolution extending greetings to their "friend and fellow member," hoping that his health would "so continue to improve" that he would be "up and about again in a short time." This hope was not to be fulfilled; Mr. Spalding's health continued to deteriorate and he died on May 24, 1939. An obituary in the Daily News, where he had worked since 1908, described him as the dean of the paper's proofreaders (who had specialized in recent years in proofreading editorials) and mentioned his "active interest in youth's camp activities" at Camp Oronoko. "Always loyal to his friends, Mr. Spalding never forgot them. Each year on their birthday anniversaries he would send them a birthday card, usually inscribed with a poem of his own composition." Thirty years later parishioner Mary Faust commented to Joanna Zander, "No history of St. Chrysostom's would be complete without paying tribute to Frederick Spalding. He was a proofreader on the Chicago Daily News and spent practically all of his salary doing kind things for the youth of St. Chrysostom's. To the time of his death I always received a beautiful birthday poem composed by F.S., as did hundreds of others on their birthdays." Henrietta Newton recalls him as nearly always present at the church: "He always donated the flowers for the children's chapel, and was especially fond of red roses." Fifty-three years after Mr. Spalding's death, Rollin Hunt commented to the present author, "You must be sure to include Fred Spalding in your history," describing him as a man of considerable intelligence who took time off without pay each summer for his camp work and as a result sacrificed the possibility of advancement with the Daily News. The vestry's 1937 resolution praised his "long and loyal interest in the affairs of the Parish and particularly his unfailing interest and help in the development and growth of Camp Oronoko." The memorial prepared after his death (which unfortunately does not survive) must certainly have referred to his many years of work for the camp; we may hope that it also made mention of his deep love for his Lord and his church, obvious even through the somewhat impersonal medium of printed records over half a century after his death.

Although many of the vestry serving in the 1930s were in their fifties and sixties, the man selected to fill the vacancy left by Mr. Spalding's death was considerably younger. William D. Cox, in his early thirties, whose family had given generously to Camp Oronoko and whose own parish ties dated back to his enrollment in 1914 as a Sunday School student, was elected to the vestry in December 1939. He had taken an active interest in camp activities, serving on fund-raising committees after Frederick Spalding could no longer do so for reasons of health. (In later years, according to Betty Redmond, Mr. Cox recalled that he was at that time the only younger man on the vestry and was very conscious of the age difference between himself and the other members of the group.) Bill Cox's wife Helen was for many years a member of the Women's Guild and the Altar Guild; the three Cox boys, like their father, attended St. Chrysostom's Sunday School, and William Cox, Jr. followed in his father's footsteps by serving on the vestry from 1968 to 1972.

George Blacktopp reported in early 1940 on the work of the Community Center during the previous year. 642 persons were registered in its programs, most of whom were not members of the parish; attendance at all activities totaled nearly 29,000 (an average of 157 per day). A year-round program was now in operation, including Camp Oronoko and a summer playground program at Delaware and Dearborn Streets. Camp Oronoko's 1939 summer season included for the first time younger children age 3 to 8: "One child was heard to say, 'Let's stay at camp and miss Christmas.'" Some of the more popular Center activities were the play groups for kindergarten and primary children, arts and crafts and shop sessions (where each child made two articles, one to keep and one to sell to defray expenses of the program), athletics, cooking and sewing, folk and ballroom dancing, and dramatics; Boy Scout and Campfire Girl activities were now administered by the Center. A mothers' group, whose activities included makeover sewing, dramatics and gym work, met twice a week. Several government agencies including the Works Progress Administration and the Federal Art Project supplied instructors to the Center. Mr. Blacktopp described some individuals whom the Center had helped. "Miss X" was a young churchwoman with a master's degree and experience as a primary teacher whose "affairs had somehow gone awry" and who was "penniless, homeless, discouraged and ill." Though relief agencies had found her a home and supplied assistance, "the amount of aid ... was not adequate to rebuild a life, so additional help was found for Miss X. Most important of all, an opportunity was given her to make her own contribution by taking over a class of small children at the Center ... Several months later she ... was ready to tackle life on her own." Children from another family were sent to Camp Oronoko for the summer and placed in good foster homes while their mother was treated for tuberculosis at the Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium, and a "maladjusted and anti-social boy" at the camp said after six weeks, "I have found some friends — some real guys ... The world seems better out here and sometimes it makes you think of God."

Lynn Flemming's work in the office had given satisfaction; the vestry voted to increase her salary to $140 a month. Office equipment now included a mimeograph machine donated by Charles Freeman. Two parish staff received honorary degrees in 1940. Dudley Stark was awarded a D.D. from Kenyon College, while Harold Simonds was the recipient of a Mus.D. degree from Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa, which had an active program of choral music and whose choir sang at least once at St. Chrysostom's Sunday evening service.

At the June 17, 1940, vestry meeting, Dr. Stark announced that he had received "an offer of $500" to apply to the cost of installing an elevator in the parish house; the walk to the second floor was a long one, and many parishioners found it difficult. However, on December 5 John Redmond, on behalf of the property committee, reported that "his investigations ... had convinced him of the futility of such a move," and though the matter was raised again on occasion and gifts offered to cover part or all of the cost, it would be nearly twenty years until an elevator was constructed.

In fall 1940, as the regular schedule of activities resumed, many parishioners must have been aware that the election of a successor to Bishop Stewart on September 24 could have important implications for the parish as well as the diocese. A Daily News story of September 23 cited "at least five men [who] have strong support for the post ... Suffragan Bishop Edwin G. Randall; the Rev. Harold L. Bowen, rector of St. Mark's, Evanston; the Rev. Dudley Scott Stark, rector of St. Chrysostom's; the Rev. Ray Everett Carr, rector of St. Peter's [Chicago]; and the Rev. George Carlton Story, rector of the Church of the Mediator, Morgan Park. All five are from parishes within the diocese and the selection of one would carry out the practice of choosing the bishop from the diocese, which has been adhered to for the last 35 years. It was also considered within the possibilities that a bishop might be chosen from outside the diocese."

After seventeen ballots, no election had been made. According to Daily News writer William P. M'Dermott, a "dark horse" candidate had emerged: the Rt. Rev. Spence Burton, suffragan bishop of Haiti and father superior of the Episcopal monastic order of the Society of St. John the Evangelist, supported by the high church party in the diocese. (Bishop Burton had preached on at least one occasion at the Loop midweek noonday Lenten services.) The events were described by John Evans in the September 26 Tribune: "The voting throughout the day was filled with surprises. Not the least of these was ... the strong support given to Dr. Dudley Scott Stark ... who led the first ballot and raced Bishop Burton for eight ballots when the bishop's support broke." Later "the tide turned strongly toward Suffragan Bishop Edwin J. Randall ... The Rev. Dr. Harold Bowen ... gained support on the eighth ballot and continued through the 15th, when only 10 additional votes would have assured him of election ... Dr. Stark's support was released on the 14th ballot to vote either for Dr. Bowen or Bishop Randall, but neither ... gained on the subsequent ballot. When it appeared unlikely that ... Dr. Bowen or Bishop Randall could be elected, the support which had been released by leaders favoring Bishop Burton's cause began returning and Dr. Stark's support also gave strong evidence of reviving ... Contrary to general practices throughout the Episcopal Church, the clergy of the Chicago diocese elects with the laity given veto power. Many observers point out that if clergy and laity voted concurrently ... the clergy deadlock would have been avoided." The Living Church commented on October 2, 1940: "It is difficult for the Holy Spirit to exercise effective guidance in the choice of a bishop when the clergy play politics instead of listening for His voice."

On November 27 a second election was held. According to John Evans, three candidates now led the field: the Reverend Wallace E. Conkling of St. Luke's Church, Germantown, Pa., the Very Reverend Noble C. Powell, dean of Washington Cathedral, and Dudley Stark. Wallace Conkling was elected on the second ballot, receiving 54 votes to Noble Powell's 30 and Dudley Stark's 21; Dr. Stark moved to make the vote unanimous, and the laity confirmed the clergy's choice. According to John Evans, "the Germantown church in one of Philadelphia's more exclusive suburbs is ... one of the largest in Pennsylvania. The Rev. Mr. Conkling is known as a scholarly type of clergyman ... an exceptional preacher ... a leader in social and welfare projects. He is the author of several religious books and has headed many important departments and commissions in the diocese of Pennsylvania."

Bishop Conkling's tenure was highly successful in one very important area. He came to a diocese which was on the verge of insolvency and restored it to a strong financial position. In other areas his legacy was mixed. George Craig Stewart, though himself a high churchman, had a good relationship with St. Chrysostom's, a low church parish, and praised the parish and its members for their strong cooperation in diocesan activities. Like his predecessor, Bishop Conkling was a strong high churchman; unlike Bishop Stewart, his relationships with parishes whose churchmanship did not conform to his own were at times difficult, and as time passed St. Chrysostom's became considerably less active in diocesan affairs. Almost certainly the parish was not totally blameless in the situation, and in later years (particularly after Bishop Conkling's retirement) did not take advantage of opportunities to improve the relationship. Not until Robert Hall became rector of St. Chrysostom's in 1958 would this unhappy situation change.