At a wedding at Eastern Point in the late 1890’s, The Rev. John Alvey Mills, our 8th Rector, received $100 for the church. This became the nucleus of a fund for the purchase of a reredos or screen, which stands behind an altar. This is one of the first designed by the famous church architect Ralph Adams Cram.

 

The figure of the Crucified Christ is the central theme with two rows of saints grouped around the central figure. The upper row, beginning at the left, contains the great saints and evangelists of the church: St. Peter, St. Matthew, St. Mary the Virgin looking at her dying son, and to the right of Jesus, St. John the beloved disciple who faces towards Jesus on the cross at Calvary, St. Luke and St. Mark.

 

The lower row, beginning at the left, contains the saints associated with the history of the Anglican Church: St. Edward the Confessor (1004-1066), King of England, whose great work was the building of Westminster Abby; St. Alban the Martyr (304 A.D.), the first Englishman to suffer martyrdom for the Christian faith; St. Paul the Apostle (died ca 64 A.D.), who in addition to his great work of propagating the Christian faith, is by some ancient tradition connected with the foundation of the Church of England. To the right of the central figure of Jesus are St. Andrew, Apostle and Martyr (1st Century A.D.), the first Apostle to be called by our Lord and also the Patron Saint of Scotland; St. Gregory the Great, Bishop of Rome (540-604 A.D.), who was responsible in the year 596 A.D. for sending the first missionaries from Rome to England under St. Augustine, the first Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr; and St. Thomas à Becket (1118-1170), Archbishop of Canterbury and Martyr, a favorite saint of the Middle Ages who lost his life in Canterbury Cathedral in defiance of King Henry II of England and in defense of the liberties of the Christian Church.