C. S. Lewis in St. Mark’s Dundela.
We shall celebrate the centenary of his baptism in January 1999. If you wish to look for the objects associated with C.S. Lewis in this church, follow the path shown by arrows in the plan and the words in italics in this leaflet.
The pilgrimage of life begins with Baptism at the font. When you stand here in the baptistry, remember that this man was called, almost against his will, to serve God by writing and speaking about 'mere Christianity', in philosophical books and science fiction, in childrens' stories and on the radio. Many thousands have heard and are hearing his message, for his books still sell in great numbers all over the world.
Look towards the Communion table at the east end of the church. See how the architect, William Butterfield, has designed it so that the table, from which worshippers receive the bread and wine of Communion, is the most important object in the church, standing higher (and therefore more important) than the pulpit from where the preacher preaches, or the lectern from which the Bible is read.
William Butterfield (1814-1900) was an Englishman who designed a large number of churches in England and abroad, according to the ideas of the Tractarian Movement This was a religious revival which aimed to renew the faith of the Anglican Church by providing symbolic decoration in each church building to express ideas of worship. Butterfield used powerful, vigorous arches, pillars and walls in his buildings, decorated with multi-coloured stripes and patterns of stone and brickwork.
Follow the arrows which lead you along the nave (2) between the pews to a point halfway up the church. Look to your right.
C. S. Lewis and his brother, Warren, known as ‘Warnie' presented this window (3) to the church in 1935 in memory of their father and mother. Three Saints are shown: two Gospel writers, St Mark and St Luke, on either side of St James. We may wonder why St James, the son of Zebedee, is the central figure. Perhaps because his shrine at Compostela in Spain was a mediaeval place of pilgrimage - the pilgrim's bag and staff and the pilgrim's badge, the scallop shell, shown in the window hint at this. But perhaps simply because Albert Lewis's second name was James. The Saint holds a silver chalice, similar to one which Albert and his family presented to the church in 1908 in memory of their father, Richard Lewis, engineer and shipbuilder, who lived at Ty Isa, near the Holywood Arches.
The Latin inscription below the window is translated:
To the greater glory of God and dedicated to the memory of Albert James Lewis, who died on the 25th September 1929, aged 67, and also of his wife, Flora Augusta Hamilton, who died on the 23rd August 1908, aged 47.
The two brothers, Warnie and Jack (as he had always been called, since the age of four years old) were very pleased with the window when they made a special journey to Belfast to see it completed. It was created by the Irish artist, Michael Healy (1873-1941), a member of the Tower of Glass, a well-known group of stained-glass window artists of the time.
Walk down the aisle (the narrow side passage) to see the memorial window (4) to the Rev Thomas Hamilton, first Rector of St Mark's (1826-1905). He was C.S. Lewis's grandfather and baptized him. His daughter, Flora, Lewis's mother, died when the boy Jack was only 9 years old and this grievous loss stayed with the grown man all his life.
Now look at the lectern (5) with its open Bible - the eagle is the symbol of St John the Gospel writer and represents the Word of God being carried on eagle's wings across the world. The Lectern was presented to the church by cousins of C.S. Lewis. The Lewis family sat in one of the front pews close to the pulpit, so the boy Jack would have been right under the eye of his grandfather, while he was preaching the sermon.
Stand and look up towards the Communion table. Notice how the tiles on the floor of the chancel are more highly decorated than the floor you are standing on. Then walk up between the choir stalls to the sanctuary (6). Do not go past the railings. Again the tiles are even more highly decorative, symbolising the near approach to the Communion table. Above it the letters I H S are perhaps a shortened form of the Greek name of Jesus.
The east window (7) is a memorial to Isabella, Lady Ewart, the wife of Sir William, a wealthy linen magnate, who was one of the founders of St Mark's church. The nave, aisles and tower were built in 1878 and the chancel and transepts were added in 1891 at the expense of the Ewart family, as a memorial to Sir William. On the south wall of the sanctuary is the tablet which records his life and Christian service. His son, Sir William Quartus Ewart, is remembered in the window of the side chapel in the south transept.
His wife, Mary Warren Heard, was a cousin and dear friend of Flora Hamilton. So the Lewis boys were often invited to the Ewart's house, Glenmachan. C.S. Lewis in his autobiography, "Surprised by Joy" has much to say about the family. It was Cousin Mary, he records, who 'took upon herself the heroic work of civilising my brother and me'.
In this church and among these families young Jack Lewis grew up. After his mother's death, he was sent away to boarding school in England and his life was totally changed. Although as a young man he and his father grew apart, yet he never lost his fond memories of his childhood in Strandtown.
