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THOUGH THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, of Dixon, was organized in 1838, some eighteen years were to pass before members of St. Luke's parish erected and dedicated their first house of worship, a small frame building, in the summer of 1856. This building served the congregation well for several years.

The Church Today

 

HISTORY

 

The History of St. Luke's

THE FIRST Episcopalian services in Dixon, Illinois were held in 1837 by The Rev. Philander Chase, Bishop of Illinois. The Episcopal Church of Saint Luke, Dixon, was founded in 1838 by Rev. James DePuy, "Missionary at Large," who built a rectory on land donated by "Father" John Dixon.

THE CORNER STONE of the present Episcopal Church of St. Luke, Dixon, was laid on October 7, 1871. The stone contains a Bible; a Book of Common Prayer; and other ephemera. The building cost $16,800 and was consecrated on St. Luke’s Day, October 18, 1872. The Rev. John Wilkinson was rector of our parish.

In 1869, a new stone church was conceived. The completion of the building, in 1871, was a triumph for the parish whose ranks had been thinned by the departure, from Dixon, of many members after the church was organized. A Hook and Hastings pipe organ was purchased and installed in 1885 soon after the church was completed.

 

 

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THE HIGH ALTAR of St. Luke's features a Christ window original to the 1871 building. A fire on Oct. 25, 1935, gutted the interior and the congregation was without a building for almost a year. Following the fire of 1935, the interior of the building was redesigned and decorated to more closely emulate the Gothic exterior of the church. At a cost of nearly $30,000, a new altar and reredos of carved wood was constructed and installed.