Plymouth Magazine-Fall26-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 20
The Plymouth Church Story
Inspirational Architecture
The Rev. Burtis MacHatton requested
that “Love Never Faileth” be carved
on the altar screen that adorns the oak
paneled chancel in the new English
Gothic-style sanctuary. The soaring
beamed auditorium seated more than
850 people, and the building boasted 50
Sunday school classrooms, a recreation
room with stage, and a large kitchen.
The architects integrated the existing
Cownie home into the church design,
creating a Community House used for
church offices, a pastor’s study, Sunday
school classes, and parlors for women’s
organizations. The Community House
was later named Burling House in honor
of the Rev. James P. Burling, a former
Greenwood Church pastor.
The 82-foot-tall brick-and-limestone
tower was designed to complement a
similar tower at neighboring St. Augustin’s
Catholic Church, which was built in
1922 at 42nd Street and Grand Avenue.
Plymouth’s square English Gothic tower,
dedicated in 1931, was a memorial to
Henry Martyn Rollins and was paid for
in part by a gift from Rollins’ wife, Ellen.
Rollins was a Des Moines businessman
and civic leader (1841-1915). He was an
active member of Plymouth Church and
served as chair of the Board of Trustees
for many years.
Valuable church architectural elements
and relics were salvaged from Plymouth’s
previous churches and incorporated into
the present church. They include the
1876 cornerstone from the 7th and Locust
streets church and the 1901 cornerstone
and stained-glass windows from the 8th
and Pleasant streets church. Three large
windows now adorn the east transept,
including “Ascension,” Madonna and
child, and “Christ Knocking at the Door,”
which was originally dedicated to the
Rev. A.L. Frisbie.
A black walnut pulpit chair
commissioned in 1876 by Frisbie for the
7th and Locust streets church continues
to provide seating for preachers at
Plymouth, sitting next to the present
pulpit. A walnut communion table also
commissioned for the 7th and Locust
streets resides in Waveland Hall.
Plymouth’s 1876 Cornerstone brought
from the 7th and Locust streets church.
Reawakening of Mysticism
Dedication services for the new Plymouth
were Sunday, Nov. 29, 1927, with
MacHatton officiating. The processional
hymn was “Holy, Holy, Holy”, and the
recessional hymn was “God of Our
Fathers.” A greeting from Martha Frisbie
was included in the program.
MacHatton wore a black robe and
preached from a raised pulpit. That
formality, generally associated with
Catholic, Episcopalian, and Lutheran
churches, was a departure from Protestant
traditions. A newspaper account of the
service read, “Dr. B.R. MacHatton,
pastor, appeared before the congregation
in a long black gown and preached his
sermon from a pulpit above and to one
side of the chancel. Although both
Episcopal and Lutheran churches have
used a similar form of service, Plymouth
is the first Protestant church in Des
Moines to make the change.”
The article went on to quote MacHatton
as saying: “Protestant churches have
thrown away all the religious awe we
need. Without accepting the pomp and
candles of our ritualistic brethren, we can
still have enough to recover some of the
symbolism and some of the mysticism.”
Communion Table in Waveland Hall commissioned by the Rev. Frisbie in 1876.
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