Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foudation

The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation (PECF) was chartered by Congress over 100 years ago to promote the causes of religion, education, and charity. The charter was signed by President Benjamin Harrison on January 6, 1893.

Our 1898 to 1918 history succinctly articulates the purpose of a Cathedral:

A Cathedral is a center of worship, missionary activity, education and social service for the maintenance of faithful, fervent prayer and praise to God, and of all manner of good works for the help of God's people, not only within and near the walls of Zion, but also far and wide in the region it serves.

When a Cathedral is located in a Capitol, it can and should be made a strong spiritual influence both for the city and for the nation.

Our predecessors pursued these aims with great results through the subsequent development of: the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, which contains the Cathedral College; the National Cathedral School for Girls; St. Albans School for Boys; and Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School. Together our schools educate over 1,500 children in grades pre-K through twelve. Each of these institutions has developed highly skilled and successful staffs, governing boards, and comprehensive and educational programs. Each institution has achieved a level of success respected by similar institutions throughout the country, and our schools rank among the very best.

The physical relationships of these institutions, together with the charter and bylaws of the PECF, describe a community of persons and institutions sharing a common heritage and vision, each engaging in distinctive missions that mutually support each other. This community consists of the following elements:

  • The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation (the PECF) is the legal entity of which all institutions on the Close are a part. The Bishop of Washington serves as its Chief Executive Officer.

  • The Foundation Board of Trustees is the entity that governs the work of the Foundation. It consists of no more than 30 members, each elected to serve a four-year term. It fulfils the legal obligations of the PECF and shepherds the work of the various institutions.

  • Each Institution has a unique purpose and is guided by its respective volunteer Board, with considerable delegated powers from the Board of Trustees. These volunteer bodies oversee the work of the staff of each institution.

  • The Foundation Corporate Staff provides services for the institutions to help enable their missions, conducts work of the Foundation itself that is not done by the other entities, and serves as staff for the Board of Trustees.

Mission

"The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace and love."1

Historically the mission of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation is “to establish, maintain and operate within the District of Columbia a Cathedral Church in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, in accordance with the doctrine, discipline and worship of the Episcopal Church, together with affiliated schools and other institutions for the promotion of religion and education and charity.”2

Theologically, the mission is grounded in the Church's comprehensive ministry of reconciliation.

Building on work already begun, the Foundation commits itself to an extended collaborative effort to work for a just society and enhance the common good by seeking to strengthen moral leadership and ethical behavior in local, national and global conversation and action.


Key Dates/Events

1891

Cathedral project begins with meeting in the residence of Mr. Charles C. Glover, President of Riggs Bank

1893

Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation was chartered by Congress and approved by the President. “Said corporation is hereby empowered to establish and maintain within the District of Columbia a Cathedral and institutions of learning for the promotion of religion and education and charity.”

1893

Cathedral named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul by Bishop Paret, the sixth Bishop of Maryland

1895

Episcopal Diocese of Washington established

1896

First Bishop of Washington, the Right Reverend Henry Yates Satterlee, consecrated. On January 25, 1909, Bishop Harding, second Bishop of Washington, said about Satterlee, “His life of great faith, of unceasing prayer, of patient investigation, of natural conviction, of extraordinary labor, in behalf of a House of Prayer for All People in Washington, has borne abundant fruit.”

1897

After years of controversy, Mount Saint Alban chosen as Cathedral site

1898

Purchase made of Mount Saint Alban

1900

In October, the Cathedral School for Girls opens

1907

On September 29, the Foundation stone laid in the presence of over 20,000 people including 60 bishops. "The stone itself is from the fields of Bethlehem and bears the inscription 'The Word was made Flesh and Dwelt Among Us.'"

1909

In January, St. Albans school opens

1910

Actual construction begins

1929

That autumn the College of Preachers (in June 2004 voted to become part of the Cathedral College) dedicated

1932

For Easter, the Chancel was enclosed and opened for public worship. North transept opened for public worship.

1932

St. Mary's Chapel opened

1933

Beauvoir School founded

1969

Funeral for Dwight D. Eisenhower held in March

1990

On September 29, the Cathedral is physically completed with the setting of its last stone, the finial of the National Cathedral Association pinnacle on the south ( St. Paul) tower, while thousands watch. President George Herbert Walker Bush is in attendance. It is 83 years to the day from the setting of the first stone.

On September 30, the Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul- Washington National Cathedral - is officially consecrated as "a great church for national purposes" and "a house of prayer for all people."

2004

Funeral for Ronald Wilson Reagan held in June

Cathedral College founded in September.

2007

Funeral for Gerald Rudolph Ford held in January.

In the Foundation's external relationships, the following values are operative:

  • An acknowledgment that conversations, program initiatives and other expressions of the Foundation's mission must be rooted in the Christian imperative for justice, reconciliation and peace.

  • A conviction that people with varying perspectives working together can make significant contributions for the betterment of human life.

  • A ready desire to engage in conversations and joint actions with other faith groups and secular organizations in ways that honor the beliefs of others even as we affirm our own traditions.

Summary

The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation is made up of institutions that exist to promote the causes of religion, education, and charity. The Cathedral Church of St. Peter and St. Paul serves as the centerpiece of these causes.

The first Bishop of Washington articulately described how this Cathedral would serve this Foundation, the Church and its people:

"A House of Prayer for All People means not only a House of God where all people are welcome, but where all people can join in a service, in which while they pray with the spirit, they pray with the understanding also; not only a church where all the congregation sing praises with understanding, but a church which unites every congregation in every place, with the people of God in all ages."

1The Book of Common Prayer, p. 855

2 Bylaws of the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation

 

ImagePECF - Wisconsin and Massachusetts Avenues, NW - Washington DC 20016-5098