In 1938, Shadyside Church made a radical change to its worship space, using the divided chancel design. This refers to a division between the nave and chancel – a division which, at Shadyside, is clear but does not represent a sharp distinction between worship leaders and worshipers.  Four worship centers are clearly defined:  the pulpit, lectern, communion table and baptismal font.  These speak to a balanced view of worship in Word and sacrament – the Word proclaimed, the Word read and the Word made visible in the Lord’s Supper and Baptism.

After experiencing the intimate and worshipful shape of the sanctuary, first time visitors are surprised to see the obviously Byzantine mosaic  of the  Transfigured Christ.

It is installed in the apse which was extended, in 1938, from the chancel (itself carved from the space previously devoted to the church organ and to office space.

On the congregation’s right, a much-beloved Tiffany window (a feature of the original sanctuary) depicts, in stained glass, Corregio’s Nativity.  The balance of the windows, from the late teens and early twenties, show Christ’s life and ministry in a more archeologically correct – if less dramatic – stained glass design.

Explicit Christian symbolism is found throughout the 1938 sanctuary – unusual for a Reformed church, but consistent with Byzantine execution of the redesign.  The  conception of the furnishings and symbols is firmly rooted in a focus on Jesus Christ, as revealed in God’s Word.

Surprisingly, the use of carved symbolism and ornament inside the church followed that used outside on the original construction.  Before there was the Winged Man, symbol of St. Matthew (above), worshipers were greeted at the front door by the  regal visages of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (below).

Far above on the lantern tower, purely ornamental  grotesques looked down on visitors.  A lovely by-product of the 1938 construction was the cloister formed between church and chapel by the addition of office space on the north.

Shadyside Church has been fortunate to be able to add to the structure in the same style and with compatible materials.  New construction has been done to the north of the original buildings.  In 1953, the  Parish Hall was completed with a combination gathering hall-gymnasium, stage, classrooms and kitchen (below).

The use of explicit Christian symbols was continued on the Parish Hall.  See the Eagle for St. John (below).

Needing more meeting and classroom space for a growing ministry, the church built a near mirror-image of the original South Porch to the North (below) in the early 1980s.  A decade later, the  soot from Pittsburgh’s former smoky years was removed from the original buildings.  See Tour Part 3 The 21st Century