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All Saints', Hillcrest
The Chapel in Hillcrest
by: Jarvis Nolan, Diocesan Historiographer
It is 10 o’clock in the morning on All Saints’ Sunday. The clock tolls the hour and the choir, under the direction of Robert MacLeod, vocalizes “Oh How I Love to Sing.” The prelude, “Fantasy on Sine Nonime” concludes on the 25-rank, 3-manual Möller organ. The bagpipes start the procession followed by verger, thurifer, choir and priests. The church is packed with the faithful worshipers. It is the 110th anniversary of All Saints’ Church in Hillcrest.
In 1887 unpaved roads lead to the church from downtown. The population of San Diego was 30,000 and cable cars ran along 4th Avenue. This was the scene when St. Paul’s Church, on 8th and C Streets, first held services in Hillcrest. It was Trinity Sunday, June 13, 1897 when a member of the St. Paul’s Lay Readers’ Guild read Evening Prayer at the University Heights School. There were seven in attendance. The small congregation grew, and in 1897 a small chapel was built on the corner of 5th and Thornton Streets, later to become Pennsylvania Avenue. The first service occurred on All Saints’ Day 1897 in their new chapel. By 1901 the chapel was moved to a lot on the southeast corner of 6th and Pennsylvania Streets, and in 1912 the church as we see it today was completed.
All Saints’ is known best for its missionary zeal. On August 17, 1924, the original chapel moved to30th & Gunn Streets to become St. Luke’s Church. The San Diego County and City Mission Society was founded at All Saints’. The name was later changed to Episcopal Mission Society and today is called Episcopal Community Services. On March 10, 1974 the first Mass was officiated by The Rev. Steven McClaskey, the parish missioner appointed by All Saints’. McClaskey was the first priest to be ordained in the newly formed Diocese of San Diego on March 16, 1974.
In 1960, three sisters from the Order of the Holy Nativity arrived and improved parish visiting, teaching and organizing Sunday school and religious classes. They also contributed to parish calling and missionary work. The sisters resided in St. Martin’s House behind the church. The sisters welcomed people to the house and invited them to attend Mass on Mondays in their chapel. The sisters remained at All Saints’ until 1974 when they returned to their convent.
A story about All Saints’ would not be complete without mentioning All Saints’ Episcopal School founded in 1947. For sixty years the school served the Episcopal Church and community as a school with outstanding Christian education. Students were often seen processing into the church along 6th Avenue: the boys in their navy blue attire and the girls in their Hamilton plaid jumpers. By the fall of 1953, fifth and sixth grades were added, making it a full elementary school. By 1958 enrollment reached 153 students and a new education building was constructed and dedicated on All Saints’ Day, Nov. 1, 1959. A playground was added in 1967 in a lot adjacent from church on the corner of 7th and Pennsylvania Streets, which acted as both playground and parking and was aptly named St. Nicholas Square.
One of the many headmasters in the parish day school was the Rev. Wayne F. Sanders. He was received as a priest from the Roman Catholic Church into the Episcopal Church on December 1, 1974. Fr. Sanders was headmaster from 1974 to 1978. When asked about his time at All Saints’ he refers to it as the “the most enjoyable part of my ministry both in the Roman Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church.” The day school continues as a preschool and Fr. Sanders returned as chaplain where his grandson attends. Fr. Sanders’ guitar was stolen from the chapel one day just before the students entered for worship. He told the students that “today we are going to pray for the person that took the guitar.” They sang their musical offering in joyous acapella that day, but Fr. Sanders never recovered the guitar! Fr. Sanders currently serves as Diocesan Ecumenical Officer.
In 2003 the parish called the Rev. Anthony N. Noble, SSC, to be their rector. Since his arrival, the parish hall has been renovated, the sanctuary refurbished and there is an increase in young families and adult confirmations and weddings. Fr. Tony announced that 2012 is the celebration of the laying of the cornerstone, “our spiritual home.” He launched a five-year season of preparation so that the parish may fittingly and with great joy celebrate the centenary of the church. “It is a beautiful church,” states Nell-Leone Watling, who was parish secretary for fifty-three years. Gary Atwood, a member for only two years, says of All Saints’, “It is a welcoming congregation and it is a good compliment for spiritual matters outside the church.” The church continues its outreach by renting part of their facilities to the Community Coaching Center, a foundation that ministers to autistic children.
All Saints’ is known in the community for two particular things. First is its positioning on 6th Ave. The street bulges around the sanctuary because the street was widened in 1976 by 25 feet. It swerves inward on the other side of the street to compensate for the bulge on the east side. Another landmark in Hillcrest is the blue dome atop the church. A new dome was built in 1987 as a tribute to the Rev Paul G. Satrang, rector from 1951 – 1985. He wanted his beloved All Saints’ to have the dome and cross in praise of God’s glory.