A Great Hall For A Great Life

2/18/2007

An article from the Cathedral Times
by the Very Reverend Samuel G. Candler,
Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip

Even today, when I walk into the Great Hall, I almost expect to see Judson Child holding forth over lunch with his friends. For so many years, the parish hall of the Cathedral of St. Philip was the hang-out for dear Judson. For those of you new to the Cathedral, let me explain.

C. Judson Child, Jr., was called to be Canon Pastor of the Cathedral in 1967. In that year, as I have said elsewhere, he began a love affair with the Cathedral that never ended. He dearly loved his people. He was also unabashedly Anglo-Catholic in his liturgical style, opting for incense, ceremony, and sung liturgies whenever possible. In 1978, Judson was elected Bishop Suffragan of the Diocese of Atlanta, and his eager and effusive presence soon endeared him to the wider diocese. When the need came for the election of a new Diocesan Bishop, Judson Child was elected quickly and almost without other candidates in 1983. He served the Diocese of Atlanta until his official retirement in 1989. We grew to love his humor, his realism, and his grand and winning style!

Through all those tenures, Bishop Child seemed to be always around the parish hall, the Hall of Bishops, as we have always known that place. Meanwhile, as the Cathedral of St. Philip launched its "Let Your Light Shine" capital campaign, we knew that the Hall of Bishops needed major renovation. We spent as much time planning and re-designing that room as did any other place. We also gave benefactors the choice of giving towards that renovated parish hall. Thus, we withdrew the name "Hall of Bishops," (which was named mistakenly anyway!-more on that another day), and we decided to call it The Great Hall until a specific donor came forward.

When a generous bequest was left to the Cathedral Endowment last year, the Board of Trustees of the Cathedral Endowment made an equally generous and powerful decision: to use that generous gift as a seed gift, and to officially name the Great Hall, "Child Hall." Quietly, the Endowment Board has been soliciting additional gifts of up to $1.5 million. With the original bequest, the final amount will be enough to name that glorious room, "Child Hall."  (In addition, this naming opportunity will help us close out the overall capital campaign!)

In order to do that, we will need some very generous gifts-all this, of course, as parishioners continue to pledge generously to our annual campaign. We have received some wonderful gifts and pledges. Can you help? Can you help the Cathedral remember a great life by naming a great hall for Bishop Child?

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