St. Michael's Church in Milton, Massachusetts, was built in 1898 as an "early English style of architecture," composed of rough coursed granite blocks set in a random ashlar design with a crenelated battlement tower. It was built in what was said by the Church Militant as "one of the most beautiful suburbs of Boston," and it was the first Episcopal church in Milton. Its design and setting emulated that of an English village church. In fact, the Milton Record in 1917 stated William Ralph Emerson was "one of the first architects] to break away from the ungainly styles of the middle of the past century, and to insist that a design] should combine artistic merit with utility."
Ralph Adams Cram enlarged the church with a Tudor Revival half-timbered Parish House, with stucco emulating medieval wattle and daub. The chancel of the church was enlarged in 1916 with the impressive Lockwood Memorial stained-glass window also designed by Ralph Adams Cram that was placed above the altar, with Cram depicted in a profile as St. Augustine, within a gentle golden circle.
The mission statement of St. Michael's Church states: "We believe that every person is a beloved child of God, all of us have gifts to offer, and we each travel our own journey with God. As a community of faith, our mission is to support and foster spiritual growth within our parish family, in the town of Milton, and in the world beyond through worship, education, stewardship, and outreach."
Look back, look on. Like travelers on a road let us collect ourselves;
connect ourselves with all who came before us to this place and all who come after.
We are their heirs; they ours.
Kay Herzog