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SANCTUARY

INTERIOR FEATURES

The interior of Hollywood United Methodist Church consists of a cruciform, Cathedral-like basilica-plan with a nave and side-aisles. The Gothic influence on the basilica-plan adds structural features consisting of the high, arched ceiling (vaulted) over transept crossings, pointed arches and supporting skeletal frame rather than massive base-weight blocks. The interior of the church building consists of a front and main vestibule, large sanctuary, vaulted side aisles and a shallow front balcony. Art glass windows line the side aisles of the sanctuary and clerestory levels. At the rear of the auditorium the pulpit is at the northwest corner on an elevated platform that rises further to accommodate a choir space and an organ loft. Behind the loft are housed the organ pipes.

FRONT AND MAIN VESTIBULES

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Congregants pass under a stone pediment depicting John Wesley at Oxford to reach carved oak doors leading into the sanctuary. The vestibules act as a narthex, and buffer between the exterior and the sanctuary while also acting as a circulation point for access to other spaces in the building such as the sanctuary and the balcony above. The front vestibule is reached first, consisting of a single white stone archway open to the main vestibule. A predominate feature of the vestibule is the white stone material of the walls, floor, sets and massive stairways at either end. Three modified Gothic ceilings of vaulting arches are overhead. The main vestibule (narthex) is a characteristically long and narrow space perpendicular to the front vestibule. It affords entrance to the sanctuary through three sets of double doors, one each located at the side and center aisles.  The front and main vestibules serve as transition spaces, with access to the sanctuary on the same level through doors, to the balcony for more seating upstairs, and to the exterior of the building where on the west elevation the courtyard, Education Building and Gymnasium can be reached.  Staircases on either side of the vestibules have concrete steps and molded concrete railings with decorative vertical elements. Seats carved of white stone are built in along the north elevation of the front vestibule.

MAIN SANCTUARY

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The Church building’s sanctuary space was designed with a fire-proof construction consisting of a steel frame, reinforced concreted walls and a roof slab. The sanctuary is designed with a modified basilica plan, with a rectangular core, central nave, groin vaulted side aisled with art glass windows, and lower level seating capacity is 500. The total seating capacity of the sanctuary, including both the lower and upper levels is 725. Upon reaching the sanctuary from the main vestibule one’s eyes are drawn forward and upward by the Gothic elements within the space. Tall, slender Gothic pillars uphold massive, pointed arches along each side ambulatory, a complimentary motif to the repetition of ceiling beams overhead. The 84-foot ceiling is fabricated of pre-cast, reinforced concrete with a plaster overlay. Modeled after Westminster Hall in London, the concrete beams and plaster truss work of the ceiling have been treated with an open timbered or “hammer beam” effect, and thus were painted and carved to resemble wood.  All panels, moldings, carved wood and decorative cast plaster materials of the ceiling are original, as well as the stencil work and painted moldings on the balcony soffit. Interior walls were treated with a wash in order to provide a touch of color and include decorative and flat plaster and scored plaster walls in an ashlar pattern. Other elements evocative of the English Gothic style include window tracery, lancet arches, cusped heads and quatrefoil decorative motifs used throughout the sanctuary and on the exterior. The massive oak carving of the chancel and chancel-rail, pulpit, lectern, choir screen and panels decorate the high altar at the north end of the sanctuary. Eight elaborate chandeliers hang like pendants from side-curved beams, which terminate in gargoyles, giving the impression of depth and articulating the rhythm of the interior space. Underneath a combination of pews and upholstered individual seats with floor vents along the floor below are positioned facing the altar. Side aisles including decorative plasterwork and cast stone elements such as pointed arches and cast stone details on the walls, columns, capitals and piers run along the long ends of the space.

SANCTUARY - ORGAN

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The sanctuary’s massive pipe organ was manufactured in 1929 by Casavant Feres, Ltd., of Quebec, Canada and installed in January 1930. The organ is hidden behind an organ screen and delicately wrought iron organ grilles that are situated above the north end of the sanctuary on either side of the organ loft. The echo organ was elevated out of view back of the massive arch some 80-feet above the floor, providing a distant sound to its music. The original organ consisted of 41-stops, 2,750 pipes and six divisions, including Great, Swell, Choir, Solo, Echo and Pedal. Throughout the years, the organ has been updated, including the addition of two sets of horizontal trumpets (a Spanish set and French set, totaling 134 pipes), a solid-state combination action, two blowers equaling 12.5 horsepower, and a vast harmonic spectrum.  When completed, the organ contained 101 ranks, 6,200 pipes and was called the largest and most versatile instrument of Methodism in the West. Well-known artists who have played the organ in concerts include Marcel Dupre, Karl Weinrich, Thomas Murray and Pierre Chochereau.

SANCTUARY - CARILLON

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The historic carillon is situated within the towerof Hollywood UMC.  Referred to as the Martindale Carillon, these tubular bells were donated by the Charles Martindale family in honor of their two children who perished in a collison of the S.S. Columbia with the freighter S.S. Livingston on July 20, 1907.  The carillon was dedicated on December 8, 1945. Constructed by JC. Deagan, Inc. of Chicago, it has been called the largest of its kind west of the Mississippi.  Consisting of thirty-two tubular bells, ranging from C to G, the carillon weighs nine tons.  An exclusive process harmonically tunes each bell to eliminate undesired tones.  This process allows the bells to be played in four-part harmony.

SANCTUARY - STAINED GLASS

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The sanctuary houses a dramatic collection of stained glass windows, including lancet arch art glass aisle windows and the large stained glass windows above the upper levels of the north and south ends of the sanctuary. The windows feature Gothic-motifs including trefoils and stone tracery. The windows were chosen to be recognizable and personal to both Protestants and Catholics alike. The window work within the sanctuary by Judson Studios is magnificent both for the quality of the work and use of colors and hand-applied details, but also by the amount of art glass they introduced into the structure. The total number of pieces of art glass present in the sanctuary is 16,192. The total number of stained glass pieces in all three buildings is 47,973, with 1,372 of the pieces consisting of clear glass. It was the intent that the stained glass windows be “Silent and Sublime Messengers of God to all who enter this Holy Sanctuary. The theme is God’s revelation of Himself and His purpose, and is presented in a series of epochs, culminating in Christ and His teachings in the Sermon on the Mount.” The Sermon on the Mount dominates the sanctuary on the north elevation, above the altar, and is joined in the sanctuary by Christ Blessing the City on the opposite elevation and windows lining the side walls of the cloistered aisles, framed by the vaulting side arches. The sanctuary therefore consists of two major windows on the north and south elevations as well as clerestory windows and at the ground level, cloister windows.  From Franklin Avenue, the 35-foot, stained glass window depicting Christ Blessing the City, with outstretched arms can be seen. The window is to depict that “In the midst of the world’s darkness, He is the Light; in the midst of its restlessness, He is the Peace; in the midst of its transience, He is the Eternity.” The window is created in the “Gothic Flamboyant” style. On the opposite elevation the Sermon on the Mount is depicted in a window rising 22-feet in the chancel. There are 3,320 pieces of art glass in the window.  The multicolored faces of the characters are meant to symbolize “…the light of undertaking and acceptance of the Savior’s message.”  The style of the window is “Gothic Radiant.” The high clerestory windows outlining the walls of the sanctuary are of simple 12th-century Gothic design and depict symbols of the church and related Scriptural references.  Beginning at the front of the sanctuary, along the west side, the windows are as follows: Lamp (John 1:9), Fountain (John 4:14), Shepherd’s Crook (John 10:11), Wheat (John 6:35), Bible (John 1:1). On the east wall: Grapes (John 15:1-5), Tablet - The Ten Commandments (John 10:9), Anchor (1 Timothy 4:8), Star (2 Peter 1:19), Lamb (John 1:29). The near, ground-level cloister windows portray in radiant colors the story of God’s revelation of Himself to man.  Beginning with the paired windows at the rear, along the west side, and continuing down and across to the east side and toward the rear again, the story unfolds with Old Testament characters, then New Testament characters.  Old Testament figures decorate the windows in the west elevation, while personages and stories from the New Testament grace the windows in the east elevation. Rear West Side: Abraham and Sarah (the Patriarchical Period); Moses and Miriam (Representatives of the Law); Samuel and Hannah (his mother, who bridged the Transition Period); Isaiah and Queen Esther (Isaiah, the chief spokesman of the noble line of Prophets); David and Ruth (King of Israel and the beautiful Moabitess Proselyte). Front East Side: Zacaharias and Elizabeth (Parents of John the Baptist; bridging the gap between the Old and New Testaments); John the Baptist and Mary (the forerunner of Jesus and the mother of Jesus); John the Divine, and Mary of Bethany (the two Jesus loved most dearly); Peter and Dorcas (Peter, spokesman of the twelve; Dorcas, hands wrought for the needy); Paul the Apostle and Lydia (Paul, par-excellence of Christ; Lydia, the first Christian convert in Europe).