The West Rose window, the stunning stained glass windowpane that sits atop the Wisconsin Avenue entrance to Washington National Cathedral, uses rich magentas, forest greens and earthy golds to tell the Old Testament story of creation. Just a few paces away along the south arcade of the nave, another stained -glass window cast in mysterious navy and midnight blues and a piercing blood orange red commemorates man’s voyages into space.

It is not far from this window where history and Christianity intersect in a more figurative sense. Forty years and five days ago on March 30, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. ascended to the main pulpit of Washington National Cathedral to deliver the sermon at the 11 a.m. Sunday service, once again combining his zealous pursuit of Civil Rights with his work as a pastor. Five days later, that sermon would come to be known as his last. Forty years ago today, he was shot and killed as he stood on the balcony of his Lorraine Motel room in Memphis, Tenn.

Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) knows what it means to be a part of the civil rights movement and came to the cathedral to add his own part of the story to the place sometimes called America’s church.

One of the “Big Six” leaders of the movemen, along with King and others, Lewis was arrested over 40 times and received several beatings, some bringing him within moments of death, according to his Web site. As a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Lewis organized non-violent protests across the South.

This past Sunday, the 40th anniversary of King’s last, Lewis, aging and bald, but still lively, ascended to the pulpit — the same one from which King gave his final Sunday sermon — in tribute to his fallen friend and fellow activist.

In addition to delivering a sermon, Lewis was the guest at the Sunday Forum, a weekly program designed to shed light on current events and their relation to faith. The Sunday Forums are one of the many programs that Washington National Cathedral offers to the District and to the nation at-large.

The only Big Six leader still alive, Lewis is an invaluable link to the past. He often recounts his involvement in the movement, weaving stories of his youth and early adult years into powerful messages and societal critiques.

“March 31, 1968, 40 years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. stood where I am standing and delivered his last Sunday sermon,” Lewis began, his voice tinged with a hint of his rural Southern accent. “Somehow, somehow, it was so fitting, so appropriate, and maybe, just maybe, it was divine providence, that this great minister would deliver his last Sunday message in the heart of the nation’s capital, in a church that sees all of America as its congregation.”

Lewis, like King, also focused on caring for the poor. He hearkened to the gospel reading of the day, the story of Lazarus’ ascent into heaven. King would also bring up the story in his final sermon.

“If I had read [King’s sermon], it would still be progressive,” Lewis said, his voice carrying through the huge cathedral. “He would say that we’ve made a lot of progress, that we’ve come a long way, but that we still have a long way to go.”

The words carried over into a forum, where Lewis keyed on the idea that the civil rights movement was not just social or political, but also religious.

Deryl Davis, a cathedral employee responsible for producing the forums, said that Lewis was a logical choice for participating in the forum, even though he was originally invited to the cathedral to give the sermon.

“We felt like it was a good opportunity … [for Lewis] to talk about his life in the civil rights movement and to talk about role his own faith played in his involvement and the role in general that faith and religious belief played in that moment for social justice,” Davis said.

Lewis’ visit was just the beginning of the National Cathedral’s week devoted to “racial reconciliation” and a celebration of diversity. The week, “Remaining Awake,” celebrates and alludes to King’s final sermon, themed “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution.”

The forums have only been a recent addition to the 100-year-old cathedral. According to Davis, the forums, which began this past fall, grew out of the vision of the Cathedral’s dean, Samuel Lloyd III.

“He wanted to have a progressive religious voice and a platform for discussion from an inclusive perspective on issues of faith and public life,” Davis said.

Already in its first half-year of existence, the Forum has played host to a wide range of speakers. Davis said he looks for leaders in various fields and “invite[s] them into conversation about issues that we feel are very pertinent issues in our world and that people of faith should be involved with.”

Recent guests have included the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, evangelical leader Rick Warren, and opera singer Denyce Graves. Davis said that the cathedral has intentionally pursued both liberal and conservative guests, and attendance at the forums can reach as high as 600.

A Long and Storied History

The Washington National Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, has become a landmark for Washingtonians and Georgetown students alike, yet it still remains often overlooked. Through its distinguished speaker list and its unique setting for worship, the cathedral — the second largest in the country and the sixth biggest in the world — is a religious landmark in a city full of secular monuments. Combining the secular and the spiritual, the National Cathedral has played a practical and symbolic role in its capacity as a Washington, D.C., landmark. From the Kennedy wedding to influential civil rights speakers, the cathedral is an emblem of American history.

The cathedral serves as a house of worship for the local Episcopal community while at the same time offering itself to the rest of the nation.

“The cathedral provides a clarion call of hope, justice and religious understanding in the Episcopal Church, the local community and the world at large,” said Rev. Canon Carol L. Wade, a member of the senior clergy.

For Georgetown students, the cathedral represents an additional forum for worship and discussions of faith, but from a different religious perspective — Episcopal — as well as an additional opportunity to engage in interfaith dialogue.

“The cathedral is a unique place of open minds, open doors and open hands and hearts,” Wade said. “Among its many ministries, the cathedral has a vibrant community of young people in their 20s and 30s. They gather in creative ways for worship, community service and social events. It is a very welcoming group.”

The cathedral seeks to be a “convening power,” according to Beth Mullen, a spokesperson for the cathedral, and tries to foster interfaith dialogue. “The post 9/11 challenge is how to be a place of worship for all people,” she says.

The interactions between the religious and the secular is just one of the contrasts embodied by the cathedral. Designed to look like a 14th-century English Gothic church, construction on the cathedral did not begin until 1907 and was not finished until the fall of 1990.

Guests are often surprised by how new the church is, says Audrey Emmett, who greets tour groups to the cathedral.

“They look at the gothic architecture and think it’s 600 years old,” she said.

But being young has its advantages.

“It was surreal — there were restrooms inside,” Liz Kidd, a cathedral visitor from outside of London, said with a chuckle.

The cathedral’s east-west axis is 517 feet long. Visitors enter at the West End, the newest part of the church. The Christian iconography in the church runs west to east, with creation shown on the west façade and just inside the west entrance and the redemption through Christ depicted at the far east end of the nave. A traditional Gothic vaulted ceiling hangs overhead. The center tower, rising 301 feet into the air, is the highest point in the District.

“The first thing people notice is how magnificent the space is,” said Bruce Boyd, a volunteer tour guide.

Cathedral visitors are often most entranced by the 231 stained- glass windows, especially the Space window, which contains an actual piece of moon rock. Other windows illustrate not just Bible scenes, but also secular images such as pilgrims landing in Plymouth, Paul Revere’s ride, the battle at Iwo Jima and George Washington’s presidency. It took more than 20 artists over 80 years to complete the windows.

Each of Washington National Cathedral’s eight chapels boasts unique features, perhaps none more so than the Children’s Chapel. Scaled for six-year old children, this chapel features 14 miniature chairs, needle-point kneeling cushions depicting farm animals, a stained glass window showing Samuel and David as children, a mini altar and a tiny organ. Placards that read, “Children, obey your parents in all things,” and, “Grow in grace,” adorn the altar.

“The intimacy of the tiny chapel in such a huge building, it’s such a small little place, it’s neat,” says Peggy McDermott, a cathedral visitor from Northern Virginia.

The tombs of Helen Keller and Woodrow Wilson, as well as about 150 others, are also housed in the cathedral.

But the blend of new and old conjures the image of past and present, working together to advance the American dream. Near the Wilson tomb on the cathedral’s stately double columns sit flat screen televisions. Beneath the tomb lies a brand-new parking lot for tour buses. But on the exterior, flying buttresses, gargoyles and grotesques conjure images of Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral and London’s Westminster Abbey.

Another Chapter in the History Books

Last week, the National Cathedral was again the site of history when Lewis ascended to the famed pulpit where King had stood. Concluding his sermon, Lewis reminisced with church-goers of his aunt’s shotgun house and how it weathered a storm. One day, as Lewis and a few of his cousins were playing in the dirt front yard, a storm came. The children took shelter in the house, forced to hold corners down to keep the wind from blowing it away.

And he made that rural Alabama shotgun house a church, a city, a country, the world.

“The thunder may roll, the lightning may flash. We must never ever leave the house.”

On Sunday, it was almost as if King himself were up there as he had been 40 years ago, Lloyd said after the sermon. He turned to Lewis and thanked him, and as he turned back to the audience, the sea of people that nearly filled the massive cathedral had already began rising to its feet.