384 Anatomy Room at Wallace Street School, Philadelphia (1891)

“One night in 1891, when the schools were located at 1821 Wallace St, a burglar broke into the building and collected quite a loot.

“Coming into the Anatomy room, he suddenly beheld the [anatomical] manikin and was so frightened at its dreadful appearance that he dropped his bundle and quickly made his way over the roofs of the adjoining buildings” (C. Th. Odhner, “John Pitcairn: A Biography,” New Church Life 1917, 291).

The manikin that caused such distress for the burglar in 1891 has been used to teach anatomy at the Academy of the New Church since the school was founded in 1877. Continue reading » » » »

368 Offertory Bowls for Bryn Athyn Cathedral by Thorsten Sigstedt (1945)

“The bowls are to be used at the three entrances to the Cathedral. They are designed to fit one within another, that all may be brought forward to the Altar and formally presented to the Lord” (George de Charms, “Offertory Bowls for the Bryn Athyn Church,” New Church Life 1945, 347).

Three offertory bowls, made by woodcarver Thorsten Sigstedt, were given to the Bryn Athyn Church by the family of Bishop William Frederic Pendleton in commemoration of the one-hundredth anniversary of his birth (March 25, 1945). The mahogany bowls were unveiled at an afternoon reception held at the Pendleton family home in Bryn Athyn (Pendle House). The festivities included the playing of a phonograph record of a speech Pendleton had given in 1927. The gift of the bowls was accepted by Bishop George de Charms, who described the symbolism Continue reading » » » »