The Upper Room

The focal point of The Upper Room Chapel is a nearly life-size woodcarving of Leonardo da Vinci's painting. The Last Supper, sculpted by Ernest Pellegrini of A. H. Davenport, Irving and Casson of Boston, MA. The woodcarving is an extraordinary work of art, created by fifty people over fourteen months' time. The carving is seventeen feet wide and eight feet high and seems to have a depth of many feet, although the greatest depth in the carving is only eight inches. The chancel of the chapel is patterned after the carving, with the ceiling, tapestries, and altar table designed to reflect the setting in Pellegrini's work.

Christ is the figure of interest in this scultpure; it has been said that in the original painting, the artist painted the saddest face in all the world and did not feel worthy enough to paint Christ’s eyes so they are downcast. The carving captures the mood at the moment when Jesus is saying to his disciples, “One of you will betray me.”

The Last Supper Attendees:
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Far Left of Jesus: Bartholomew, James the Lesser and Andrew
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Left of Jesus: Peter, Judas, John
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Right of Jesus: Thomas, James the Greater, Philip
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Far Right of Jesus: Matthew, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot

The pulpit in the chapel, with its winding stair and canopy, has features of several significant pulpits: City Road Church in London, made famous by John Wesley; St. George's Church in Philadelphia, PA; and St. Philip's Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where Wesley preached when he was a missionary in Georgia. The front of the pulpit bears the Chi Rho, said to be the oldest monogram of Christ.

This walnut pulpit has 8 sides representing the 8 pointed star, a symbol for baptism, 7 steps symbolize completion or perfection. This shape is often called a Wesley or tulip style pulpit.

About the Window The tall, stained glass window at the back of the chapel is the World Christian Fellowship Window. Twenty feet high and eight feet wide, with over 9,000 pieces of glass, it was created by the D'Ascenzo Studios in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The window commemorates
the presence of the Holy Spirit in the original upper room twenty centuries ago. But more than that event, the window depicts the work of servants of Christ who have been empowered by the Holy Spirit down through the centuries since Pentecost.

Prayer Room:

The Alone With God prayer room is a living memorial to Dr. Grover C. Emmons, the founding editor of The Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the quiet of the
prayer room, to leave prayer requests that are taken daily to the Living Prayer Center and sent out to covenant prayer groups across the USA. The altar cherubs are patterned after Raphael's Sistine Madonna and were painted by Gonippi Raggi of Boston, MA. The center shield of the altar rail is an abbreviation for Jesus name in Greek, IHCOYC.