An Account of the Building of Gloria Dei Episcopal Church
Palenville, New York

Written by Dr. Charles H. Chubb, Early lay leader of Gloria Dei Church

1853   On Sunday afternoon, May 22, the first service was held at Palenville by the Rev. R. B. Fairbairn, D. D., under the plan of the Rev. L. L. Noble of St. Luke's, Catskill, to hold services at outlying points in the parish.  
Services were held every four weeks for about two years.

1873  In the summer, at the solicitation of a few church people who had moved into the neighborhood, the Rev. Rob't. Weeks, Rector of St. Luke's, held services on alternate Sunday afternoons, in the Union Church.  
For several years these services were continued,
except during winter and spring.

1878  In the spring, the present lot, 100 by 200 feet was presented to the Diocese of Albany, for the purpose of building a church.  A mission was. organized under the direction of the bishop, the Rev. S. B. Rathbun in charge provisionally, and a warden and treasurer appointed.  During the summer,
services were held every Sunday in the Union Church.  
Subscriptions and a concert raised over $500.

1879   A design was kindly given by Mr. Wm. H. Day of New York.  The ground was cleared of underbrush, and loose stones were dug up, which were later used in the walls.  About 100 loads of stone were drawn
gratuitously from neighboring quarries by friends.   
1n April ground was broken; the solid foundations gradually rose to the
surface under the hands of workmen.  Stones were selected from the creek bed or roadside, and carried to be built up into this temple to the Glory of God
 It had been determined not to proceed more rapidly than the funds would
warrant.  A temporary building was erected on the ground adjoining the church lot, a rough structure 40 by 18 feet, in the summer months.  The materials were posts with the bark still on, slabs from the saw-mill, and unplaned hemlock boards.  Some chancel furniture from St. Luke’s,
Catskill, was donated, and a melodion was secured for the choir.  The seating consisted of cheap chairs and cheaper benches made of inch hemlock boards; seating capacity about 150.  The first service was held in it on the third Sunday after Trinity.  Delightful was the task of hiding its roughness with hemlock and laurel, and decorating the chancel with flowers, mosses and ferns. 
In June the bishop appointed the Rev. J. H. Young to the charge of the mission during the summer months. Two services were held every Sunday during July and August.  Four children were baptized, and five candidates were prepared for confirmation. 
On the afternoon of July 29, the cornerstone was laid by the bishop of the
diocese, the Rt. Rev. W. C. Doane.  The bishop with a goodly number of the clergy, and a vested choir, met at the Hauver House, a boarding house close by, and moved in procession to the church walls, around which they marched, chanting the 123rd Psalm.  At the close of the Service, a confirmation
service was held in the temporary building, the rite being administered to five
candidates. 
In the evening, a concert and entertainment was given in the parlors of the
Hauver House, by the Choir of St. Luke's Church, Brooklyn, to aid the building
fund, which at this time amounted to over $1,000.  In August a fair was held by which $328.14 was added to the fund.  A large proportion of the money was contributed by a few earnest churchmen and women.
In September the mission was reorganized, being united with that at Cairo under the care of the Rev. William C. Grubbe.  For the first time services were kept up through the winter at the Union Church, again kindly placed at our disposal.

1880  Early in the summer, work on the walls was resumed; the arches of the chancel window, and the chimney took form.  The bell turret was finished in October.  A gift was received from a resident of Malden, of the cut stones forming the jambs of the 1arge west window, the more appreciated as the donor was a Methodist; not a solitary instance of kindness of members of that and other religious denominations.  The rafters were next set.  A good friend offered to make up the deficiency of funds necessary to put on the slate roof, complete late in the fall.  The congregation again held services in the Union Church.

1881  During the winter, the organ was presented by Trinity Church, Saugerties, and early in the spring the floor was laid; the seats from the temporary building were brought in; the chancel temporarily arranged;
the a1tar given by St. Luke's, Catskill, was put in place; a corner was partitioned off with rough boards for a robing room, and the organ placed at the opposite side; a lectern and communion rail were placed; the openings of doors and windows were closed with rough shutters, and doors made of boards from the temporary building which was taken down.  No debts were
contracted.  1n December the windows were put in, making it possible to hold services during the winter.

1882  In summer, the porch was added and the bell mounted, gifts from the same liberal hand that had so often helped us. The solid oak doors of porch and nave and clergy room were made by a communicant of the church.  A stone font was presented by the Sunday School of St. Chrysostom's Church, New York.  
Another friend presented a carpet for the chancel.

1883  The house and lot to the northwest of the church was presented to the diocese, in trust for the mission, to be used as rectory as soon as practicable.  The church walls were plastered, the lamps put in, and the altar and lectern now in use were purchased, the marble slab taken from the old altar and inserted in the new one.  The good mechanic who had made the doors, built the screen forming the robing room; the wainscoting, the hymn tablet, and the alms chest were added.  Of the temporary expedients, only the rough seating remained.  Funds had been raised, but there were serious leaks in the roof coping.  
Lead flashings were placed under a part of the slate roofing; the east and west walls were pointed.

1885  The mission received an altar cloth and lectern hanging, the last handiwork of a lady who once said she loved every stone in the church.  Her strength was unequal to the task she had undertaken, and a friend finished the work.  The vestments were received in time to be used at Eastertide.  In June, her husband, a clergyman of the church, presented in her memory a communion service of sterling silver, gold lined.
 On September 20, the church being completed in all its appointments,
except the seating, it was dedicated by the bishop of the diocese. 
Later, the seats were made by the same good churchman who had done all
the woodwork of the interior.  The total cost of the church may be put down at about $5,000.
 
With this we may consider the history of the building of the church as
completed.          
 
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