The Building
1924 The Building is Completed
Robert M. McFarlin's plans for building a memorial to his son, Robert Boger McFarlin, were indeed grandiose. The final cost of the McFarlin Memorial Methodist Church in 1924 was $700,000 for the building and furnishings, a fabulous sum at that time that would translate into more than $7,000,000 in 1999 dollars. When the small congregation of 832 members in a town of only 11,800 people (including students) had difficulty coping with maintenance costs, Mr. McFarlin added an endowment of $200,000. Income from the endowment still helps with salaries and special projects.
Headlines in a special edition of The Norman Transcript, Sunday, Dec. 7, 1924, in honor of the dedication of the Church, provide many interesting facts regarding the construction of what was at that time called "a temple-the finest South Methodist Church in the United States."
"Methodist Church Offers Itself as a Community Center"
"Organ Ranks Among Best Instruments Found in America"
"Tower Chimes Are Feature of Church"
"Church Gymnasium Offers Recreation for Old and Young"
"Choice Equipment for Dining Room" ("the choicest of linens-thirty dozen each of knives, forks, and spoons-the same number of plates, cups, saucers, and glasses")
"Deaf Persons Hear Sermons Through Receivers in Pews"
"M'Farlin (sic) Church Has Wonderful Acoustics"
"Barren Ground Is Turned to Lawn with Bermuda Sod"
"Tablet Tells Why Church Was Built"
A bronze tablet located at the rear of the Sanctuary in a memorial canopy lined with Venetian gold mosaic and marble is mounted on a marble block. The wording on the tablet is as follows:
The McFARLIN MEMORIAL METHODIST CHURCH was erected in the years of our Lord Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-three and Nineteen Hundred and Twenty-four, to the glory of Almighty God, with prayers that His Spirit may dwell here: BY ROBERT M. McFARLIN And His Wife IDA BARNARD McFARLIN In memory of their son, ROBERT B. McFARLIN whose dust now reposes in the cemetery one mile North of this Church. This House of Worship is built for the Youth of Oklahoma and the People of Norman, and Whomever may find it in his heart to worship here.
The Church has not forgotten this great gift of love nor the infant it honored. A fresh flower has been placed in a vase beside the plaque each Sunday since that 1924 Dedication Day. Also, altar flowers that are provided by the McFarlin Endowment in July on the Sunday nearest the date of Robert McFarlin's death are taken to the IOOF Cemetery following the morning worship service.
The Building
The Church was built in a Collegiate Gothic style of architecture following the style of a number of university buildings during that era. Indiana Lithic limestone that was shipped on 70 rail cars directly from the quarry to Norman was used in its construction. The Church towers 84 feet above ground at the pitch of the roof, which is a little higher than an average eight-story building. The interior is finished in Bedford and Caen stone from France. The woodwork is gum and walnut. Windows in the Sanctuary and Foyers are of tapestry glass. There are eight stone windows with art glass filigree on each side of the Sanctuary, with the largest stone tracery window located on the south end. It is 56 feet high and 32 feet wide. The altar railing, pulpit, and organ screen are "singularly beautiful and solemnly impressive" with hand-carved woodwork that extends from the choir space to the ceiling. The Church dimensions are 103 x 180 feet, including the Sanctuary wing and the four story Educational wing. The Sanctuary seats 1,200 people, including the balcony and overflow room.
In the Sanctuary there are ten chandeliers that hang 40 feet above the congregation. The Church tower is a landmark in the community, rising 112 feet above the ground and housing a set of chimes that cost $10,000, with 18 notes rather than the usual 16 so that "The Star Spangled Banner" can be played. The original Hillgreen and Lane pipe organ that cost $27,000 in 1924 and "ranked among the most beautiful organs in America" was in use in the McFarlin Sanctuary for more than 60 years. It was replaced in 1988 with a new Noack tracker organ costing $500,000 that is considered to be one of the finest instruments in this area at the present time.
The Dedication
The Sunday, Dec. 7, 1924, Dedication was a splendid event! The evening before, Mr. and Mrs. McFarlin were honored at a reception in the new Church, and its 95 rooms were open for visitors to tour.The day, began with the chimes playing at 7:45 a.m. and again at 9:15 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. Dr. Leonard Logan, University professor and Superintendent of the Sunday School, opened the new Education wing for 22 Sunday School classes.
Then the organ pealed out "Holy, Holy, Holy" as the worship service began. The choir, directed by Josef W. Noll, chose "The Heavens Are Telling" from Haydn's "The Creation" for the first anthem, and it has been reported there were canaries in cages in the choir loft to join with the human voices.
Some 2,500 people were said to have been present for this service. Mr. and Mrs. McFarlin made the presentation of the building with the simple words, "We present this House to the further worship of God." Two Methodist Bishops, Edwin D. Mouzon of Nashville and John M. Moore from Dallas, plus Dr. C.C. Selecman, President of Southern Methodist University, were speakers for the various services that first Sunday and for the week following.
A special edition of The Oklahoma Methodist, the news organ of the Indian Mission and the East and West Oklahoma Conferences, Dec. 18, 1924: "Here is a great church edifice, modern in every particular and representing a great outlay of money. If it has significance for Norman only, then much money has been injudiciously spent. But if it is truly representative and if Methodists all over the state shall come to realize an interest and responsibility in it, then every dollar put into this great temple has been well spent.
The McFarlin Memorial Church is tremendously important in its peculiar location, situated adjacent to and in the town with our great central state university where boys and girls from every section of the state and from all classes come for their mental equipment, but with little moral and religious development. A great temple like the McFarlin Memorial Church built of massive stone and majestic in its grandeur is bound to inspire in the youth of Oklahoma moral and religious ideas.
Already every Methodist in the state who knows anything about it is proud of it and rejoices that its builder is a Methodist, but it is not only representative of the denomination but all other religious people in the state feel that they too have an interest and a part in it. And may its custodians always be above narrow sectarianism! While it serves well its denomination, may its door always be open to all classes and its sacraments free to all communions."