Episcopal Church of All Saints (Indianapolis)

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Episcopal Church of All Saints is in the Old Northside area near downtown Indianapolis. It is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis and is known for its Anglo-Catholic style of worship.

All Saints grew out of Grace Church, founded in 1866. Grace became the diocese’s pro-cathedral in the late 1800s. Construction of All Saints on Grace Church’s site began in 1910, and the building was dedicated on All Saints Day in 1911. It served as the diocese’s cathedral from 1911 to 1954, when the bishop’s seat moved to Christ Church Cathedral.

Today, the church’s active life includes about 200 members. In 2022 the congregation had 219 members, 194 in 2023, and 2024 parochial reports did not list membership. In 2024 the church reported $268,285 in plate and pledge income, with an average Sunday attendance of 79.

After losing cathedral status and facing neighborhood changes after World War II, All Saints broadened its outreach, especially to Indianapolis’s African-American community. The church helped launch a treble choir for children with the Royal School of Church Music and posted a sign above the west doors reading “Everyone Is Welcome.” On January 1, 1977, The Rev. Jacqueline Means became the first woman regularly ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church. The Rev. Tanya Vonnegut Beck, who served 2010–2012, was the second woman ordained in the denomination.

All Saints has long worked with the city’s homeless population, helping to found the Dayspring Center in 1989 next to the church. In the 1990s the congregation held memorial services for AIDS victims and marked that history with a special crystal chalice used at the Eucharist.

Architecturally, the church is a brick Gothic Revival building designed by Alfred Grindle. The original plan called for a chancel as long as the nave, but funding allowed construction of only the nave and crossing. A brick apse and sacristy added in the 1950s by Evans Woollen and Associates updated the chancel. The curved apse wall improves acoustics for music. The north transept houses a Lady Chapel with Mary, and the south transept is dedicated to Saint Michael and used for midweek services. The south transept contains stained glass by Margaret A. Kennedy, including a Michael triptych and scenes that place biblical stories in urban settings.

Today All Saints hosts community meetings, a concert series called Arts at All Saints, and various programs for spiritual growth and fellowship. The church is located at 1559 Central Avenue, Indianapolis.