One of Omaha's First Parishes
The parish of St. Barnabas was an offshoot of Trinity Cathedral under the
leadership of its former dean, the Rev. George C. Betts. The parish was officially
chartered on May 3, 1869. The first church building was a small wooden structure at a
location near present-day 9th and Douglas. After this building was destroyed by a tornado,
a second edifice was erected at 19th and California. This building served the parish for
the next 44 years. In 1915 the current property was purchased for the sum of $7,000.
Architect for the new building was Charles M. Nye, who patterned the church after English
Herefordshire architecture.
St. Barnabas was founded as an "Oxford Movement" parish. The
Oxford Movement was a 19th century effort to rediscover the ancient Catholic roots in the
liturgical life of the English Church and which called the Church back to the Social
Gospel, i.e. fidelity to the call of Christ to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit
the imprisoned, care for the widows and orphans.
To this day St. Barnabas continues in the Anglo-Catholic tradition centering
its mission around the worship of Almighty God and the service of His people, especially
the poor. High Mass, celebrated with music and ceremonial is offered at 10:00 each Sunday.
Low Masses are scheduled throughout the week. Evensong and Benediction of the Blessed
Sacrament are held on the third Sunday of each month at 5:30 p.m.
Liturgies at St. Barnabas use the traditional language of the historic Book of
Common Prayer with supplemental material from the American Missal and the
Anglican Service Book.
Oberammergau Wood Carvings
All of the wood carvings, including the pulpit and its figures, the lectern,
the statue of St. Barnabas and the Rood group (the depiction of the Crucifixion which
stands above the altar rail) were commissioned and carved in Oberammergau, a small town
located in south-central Germany. This Bavarian town is not only known for its wood
carving but also for the Passion Play presented every 10 years. The exquisite portraiture
that has made Oberammergau famous is evident in the features of Christ, Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John found on the pulpit.
Della Robia Statuary
The first and most important Della Robia relief, that of the Virgin and
Child located in the front of the Nave, was installed on March 7, 1922. This piece was
cast at the Cantagalli Works in Florence, Italy from an original mold of the 15th century
artist, Luca Della Robia. Luca (1400?-1482) originated glazed terra-cotta bas-reliefs,
usually with white figures on a blue background. Later he added glazes of many colors,
especially green and yellow on wreaths of fruits and flowers around the figures. The St.
Barnabas Della Robia is said to be one of only two cast from this original mold, the other
being in St. Alban's, Holborn, London. Other pieces in the Della Robia Style are located
over the sacristy and Lady Chapel doors and on the back wall of the Nave.
The stained glass windows which encircle the nave are from the
world-renowned studio of C.E. Kemp. Kemp could well be considered the father of American
ecclesiastical art glass. Windows from the studio of this artist can be found in every
major Cathedral in England and throughout much of Europe as well. To this date St.
Barnabas Church has one of the most comprehensive collections of Kemp windows in the
world. The windows depict events in the life of Christ beginning with the Annunciation
(found in the Lady Chapel) through the Ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit. C.T.
Kountze commissioned the majority of these windows as a memorial to his wife, Mary Burns
Kountze. Installation began in the early 1920's.
Of further interest are the four windows on the Epistle (right) side of the
Altar. Commissioned of Ernest Lakeman in 1935, these windows were installed the following
year. Lakeman was a student of C.E. Kemp, a contemporary of Louis C. Tiffany, and one of
the first three glass artists in the United States. Unlike his contemporaries, Lakeman
preferred to work in the French medieval style, the influence of which is evident in these
windows.
Our Lady of Walsingham Chapel
The side chapel is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of
Our Lady of Walsingham. Her image is depicted in the stained glass window above the Altar.
Walsingham is one of the most famous shrines of the Virgin. In a visitation
to Lady Richeldis de Faverches in 1061, Our Lady requested that a little house be
constructed to duplicate her home in Nazareth which was to be a center of devotion and
pilgrimage for years to come.
After Lady Faverches had received her vision of Our Lady, a spring of water
gushed up indicating the spot on which the shrine should be built. Over the years,
Walsingham became one of the most popular places of pilgrimage. The water there has been
connected with healings and other miracles, much like those witnessed at Lourdes and
Fatima. By the 1500's, it had become so popular that it's wealth was unsurpassed. This
later became its down fall. Prior to the Reformation, King Henry VIII paid a visit to the
shrine. Later, in 1538, he ordered the shrine closed, and its wealth appropriated for his
own use. The shrine was looted and ravaged to the extent that the spring ceased to flow
due to the amount of debris.
The legend continued only in popular memory until, in 1922, the Rev. Alfred
Hope Patten, then rector of St. Mary's Church, Little Walsingham, found a seal depicting
the image of Our Lady and began an archeological quest to locate the original shrine.
Narrative History of Saint Barnabas
Map to St. Barnabas - Omaha, Nebraska
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