Prayer Book Cross
{{Short description|Monument in San Francisco, California}}
{{Coord|37|46|18.3|N|122|28|42|W|display=title}}
File:1906croppedPostcardPrayerBookCrossCliftonMacon.jpg
The Prayer Book Cross, sometimes called the Sir Francis Drake Cross, is a large stone Celtic cross sculpture in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California.{{cite news |last=Carvala |first=Kinen |date=August 30, 2019 |title=Looking Back – GG Park's Hidden History Treasure Quietly Turns 125 |url=https://sfrichmondreview.com/2019/08/30/gg-parks-hidden-history-treasure-quietly-turns-125/ |work=Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon |location=San Francisco |quote=The Prayerbook Cross in Golden Gate Park is quietly celebrating its 125th birthday this year.}} Dedicated in 1894, it commemorates Francis Drake’s landing in New Albion at nearby Drakes Bay and the first use of the Book of Common Prayer in what would become the United States.{{cite news |author= |date=January 2, 1894 |title="PRAYER-BOOK CROSS" DEDICATED; Impressive Ceremony in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco |work=New York Times |quote=Three hundred and fourteen years ago the English navigator Sir Francis Drake made a landing from his ship, the Golden Hinde, at what has since been known as Drake's Bay, and Francis Flitcher, a Presbyter of the Church of England and Chaplain of the Golden Hinde, preached the first sermon in the English tongue on the Pacific coast.}}
Concept and support
The Cross was conceived as an acknowledgment that California, not the U.S. east coast, was the founding location of New England and that several ecclesiastical "firsts" had been observed just north of San Francisco. The Cross acknowledges that Drake's chaplain, Francis Fletcher, celebrated the first Protestant service, that of the Church of England, on or about Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, June 24, 1579 (Old Style). This corresponds to July 4 in the modern calendar.
The original plan was for the Cross to be placed {{Convert | 3 / 4 | mi | spell = in }} from the Point Reyes Lighthouse.{{cite news | title = Point Reyes: Geo. Childs' Memorial Cross to Mark a Sacred Spot: Our Own Plymouth Rock | publisher =Sausalito News | date=15 September 1893 | page = 2 | accessdate=7 July 2020 | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SN18930915.2.11&srpos=2&e=------189-en--20--1--txt-txIN-geo.+childs+memorial----1893---1}} Instead, the Cross was built to coincide with the San Francisco Midwinter Fair of 1894. The Prayer Book Cross was paid for by George William Childs, a Philadelphia publisher, advocate for the Union during the Civil War and philanthropist.
Construction
File:The Prayer Book Cross in San Francisco.jpg
The monument is constructed on a pedestal of stone {{Convert | 18 | ft | spell = in }} square and {{Convert | 7 | ft | spell = in}} in height. The Cross is {{Convert | 57 | ft}} high. It is made of 68 pieces weighing {{Convert | 600000 | lb}}. The arms are formed of eight pieces weighing {{Convert | 24000 | lb}} each. The blue sandstone came from a quarry in Colusa County, California.{{cite news | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=tc&d=SFC19040408.2.89&srpos=1&e=------190-en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross+drake+fletcher-------1 | title=Prayer Cross | publisher= San Francisco Call | date=8 April 1904 | accessdate= 7 July 2020}}
Construction began on November 4, 1892.{{cite news | title=The Prayer-Book Cross | page =3 | date=5 November 1893 | accessdate= 7 July 2020 | publisher=Daily Red Bluff News (Tehama County) | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC18931220.2.147&srpos=75&e=------189-en--20--61-byDA-txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross----1893---1)}} The second arm stone was erected on 19 December 1893.{{cite news | title=Drake Memorial: The Second Arm Stone Put in Its Place: The Heaviest West of the Rocky Mountains: The Huge Cross Takes shape: It will be Completed and Ready to Turn Over by the Contractors on January 1 | publisher=San Francsico Call | date=20 December 1893 | page=10 | accessdate = 7 July 2020 | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=RBDN18931105.2.20&srpos=51&e=------189-en--20--41-byDA-txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross----1893---1}}
Text
The text on the stone's front is
"Presented to Golden Gate Park at the opening of the Mid-Winter Fair January 1 AD 1894, as a memorial of the service held on the shore of Drakes Bay about Saint John Baptist’s Day, June 24 Anno Domini 1579 by Francis Fletcher, Priest of the Church of England, Chaplain of Sir Francis Drake, chronicler of the service."
The text on the back is
"First Christian Service in the English Tongue On Our Coast,
First Use of the Book of Common Prayer in Our Country,
One of the First Recorded Missionary Prayers On Our Continent,
SOLI DEO SIT SEMPER GLORIA."
Dedication
The Cross was dedicated on January 1, 1894. H. M. de Young, director-general of the Midwinter Exposition was the master of ceremonies. He introduced Bishop William Ford Nichols as the representative of the donor. Bishop Nichols pulled the cord which withdrew the flag covering the monument and thus presented the Cross to the commissioners of Golden Gate Park. Mr. W. W. Stow, Park Commissioner remarked on the large interest in the Midwinter Fair. George Davidson spoke on the history of Drake and his landing at Drakes Bay.{{cite news | title = Midwinter Fair: Drake's Cross | url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=tc&d=SFC18940102.2.126&srpos=4&e=------189-en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross+drake----1894---1 | page=10 | date=2 January 1894 | accessdate=7 July 2020}}
Later use
Annual celebration described: [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94303074/rites-mark-first-us-services/] Episcopal services have been held at the Cross on many occasions including 1906,{{cite news |url= https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=tc&d=SFC19060625.2.2&srpos=4&e=------190-en--20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross+drake+fletcher-------1 | page = 1 | publisher=San Francisco Call | date=25 June 1906 | accessdate=7 July 2020 | title= Solumn Ceremony is Held About Prayer-Book Cross }}
1913,{{cite news | title=Episcopal Churches Celebrate Service by Drake's Chaplain | url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19131027.2.74&srpos=1&e=------191-en--20--1--txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross+drake+fletcher-------1 | page =2 | publisher=San Francisco Call | date = 27 October 1913 | accessdate=7 July 2020}} 1924,{{cite news | title=Episcopalians at Prayer Book Cross | url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SCEN19241027.1.2&srpos=2&e=------192-en--20--1--txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross+drake+fletcher-------1 | publisher=Santa Cruz Evening News | page = 2 |accessdate=7 July 2020}}
Several Episcopal congregations held pilgrimages to the Prayer Book Cross. These included 1951,{{cite news | title=Prayer Book Pilgrimage | publisher=Sausalito News | date=7 June 1951 | accessdate=7 July 2020 | page = 8 |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SN19510607.2.111&srpos=1&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN-prayer+book+pilgrimage-------1}} and St. Columba's from Inverness in 1952.{{cite news |url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=MVR19520605.2.106&srpos=1&e=------195-en--20--1--txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross+drake-------1 |title=Episcopalian Pilgrimage | date=5 June 1952 | publisher=Mill Valley Record | accessdate=7 July 2020 | page=2}}
The 400th anniversary of the Book of Common Prayer led to the triennial General Convention of The Episcopal Church being held in San Francisco with the Cross as a prominent feature.{{cite news | url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=tc&d=DS19490930.2.75&srpos=1&e=------194-en--20--1--txt-txIN-prayer+book+cross+drake+fletcher-------1 | publisher=Desert Sun | date=30 September 1949 | page =6 | accessdate=7 July 2020 | title= St. Paul's Rector in San Francisco for Convention}}
See also
- Sir Francis Drake Society
- [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/94303074/rites-mark-first-us-services/ Annual Celebration at the Prayer Book Cross described]
References
{{reflist}}{{Golden Gate Park}}