This guest column was published in the Post-Bulletin last Saturday, May 4.

By Barbara Toman

The images of Mayo Clinic’s Bold. Forward. Unbound. plan show the facilities that will carry Mayo’s mission of patient-centered care into the future. Have you ever wondered about the small red brick building, in the middle of these images? That is Calvary Episcopal Church, Rochester’s oldest church building.

People may be unaware that the histories of Calvary and Mayo Clinic have been entwined from the beginning. Calvary isn’t the only worship space in Rochester with ties to Mayo Clinic. But here’s a look back at some of the connections between us.

In 1864, 20 years before founding the clinic that bears his name, William Worrall Mayo and his wife, Louise, were among Calvary’s first members. Their sons — the Mayo brothers, Dr. Will and Dr. Charlie — grew up at Calvary, along with sisters Gertrude and Phoebe. Louise Mayo sewed robes for Calvary’s first boys’ choir.

Statues of Dr. Mayo and Mother Alfred Moes dominate the Feith Family Statuary Park, located next to Calvary Episcopal. After the 1883 tornado, the Mayos took charge of recovery efforts, enlisting the Sisters of St. Francis, led by Mother Alfred. Some of the injured were treated at Calvary, which remained standing amid the devastation.

Afterward, Mother Alfred told Dr. Mayo that she had a vision of God that instructed her to build a hospital, with Dr. Mayo as its director. At the time, collaboration between a Protestant physician and a Roman Catholic sister was highly unusual. But their mission was propelled by the values they shared: compassion and care for each individual, above all other needs.

Calvary Episcopal’s 19th-century parish records read like a who’s who of the early Mayo Clinic:

  • Christopher Graham, the second partner to join the Mayo brothers. He taught Sunday School at Calvary as did his wife, Blanche.
  • Margaret Brackenridge, Blanche Graham’s mother. She was one of Calvary’s first Sunday School teachers, and the parish hall is named for her.
  • Edith Graham Mayo, the Clinic’s first nurse-anesthetist, Christopher Graham’s sister and Dr. Charlie’s wife. The Tiffany stained-glass window above Calvary’s altar was donated by Christopher Graham and Edith Mayo.|
  • Edward Starr Judd, an early chief of surgical staff. He also taught Sunday School.
  • Emma F. Judd, Dr. Judd’s mother and Calvary’s organist and choir director in the 1870s. She also served as secretary/treasurer of the Parish Aid Society. Calvary’s Tiffany window depicting St. Cecilia was given in memory of Emma Judd by Dr. Judd and Cornelius M. Judd.

Our shared history goes well beyond 1800s stained glass and choir robes.

Calvary Episcopal has long served as a spiritual space for Mayo patients and staff. We welcome patients to our worship services, including our weekly Service of Healing. Patients and staff find respite in our courtyard, and our prayer wall there had 1,392 prayer ribbons tied to it last year. Clergy and volunteers regularly interact with patients of all faiths. On the worst days of their lives, Mayo patients find spiritual solace at Calvary.

Our values remain closely aligned. Mayo CEO Dr. Gianrico Farrugia speaks of Mayo serving “as a beacon of hope and healing.” We use the same words every Sunday at Calvary, when we pray “for all who come to Rochester for hope and healing.”

For 150 years, Mayo Clinic and Calvary Episcopal Church have served side by side, ministering physically and spiritually to those in need. We look forward to many more years of respective and entwined ministry.

Barbara Toman is a member of Calvary Episcopal Church and a writer for Mayo Clinic.