1. Religion and the
Performing Arts in
Indianapolis in the
20th Century
Prologue Occasional Paper Series
vol. 1, no. 2

2. Religion and the Performing Arts
In June 1908, members of the Indianapolis Ministers’ Association met to consider the results of
their investigation of dancing in the city’s public schools. Following a heated debate the
association voted 22-21 to reject a resolution calling “modern dance a subtle foe to the highest
and best development of the moral life of our young people.” The group, however, did “caution
and urge those in charge of this work to see to it that they do not either by direct teaching or by
simple suggestions create in the mind of the child a desire that afterwards can find satisfaction
only in the ballroom.”1
The investigation of dancing in the public schools was a relatively minor incident in the long
and complicated relationship between religion and the performing arts in Indianapolis. But its
decision to launch an investigation into the inclusion of dance into the city’s schools, as well as
the narrow margin by which a resolution condemning such activities was defeated, the
ministerial association’s actions in the summer of 1908 perfectly epitomized what had been an
uncertain, often antagonistic relationship. In later decades, many Indianapolis religious
institutions actively sought to bridge this conflict between the performing arts and religion either
by developing their own artistic programs or by providing support to other artistic endeavors. By
century’s end, the increasingly rich cultural life of Indianapolis owed as much to the city’s
religious institutions as it did to any other force in the city. That this turned out to be the case is
just one of the many ironies that follow.
THE EARLY YEARS: OPPOSITION
Music is generally conceded to be the “oldest, largest, and most visible of the performing arts in
Indianapolis, with its roots extending into the early years of the 19th century.”2 The first musical
performances in the city took place in churches, namely by the choirs at First Baptist Church,
Second Presbyterian, and Meridian Methodist Church. In 1824, the Society for the Cultivation of
Church Music became the first voluntary organization to promote the arts in Indianapolis. During
the pastorate of the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher (1839-1847), Second Presbyterian Church
established the city’s first music school and sponsored its first orchestra – a string and flute
ensemble comprised of fifteen members – both under the direction of Beecher’s younger brother
Charles.3
At the same time the Beecher brothers were promoting the music program at Second
Presbyterian Church, however, Henry Ward Beecher was also busily denouncing theater and
dance in a series of essays eventually published in 1844 as Lectures to Young Men. In the 1850s,
like-minded individuals argued in the pages of the Indiana Journal that the theater was “the most
fruitful source of crime, profligacy, and misery to be found in our great city” and that “there is no
greater exhibition of human depravity than for children to be educated in dancing.” In addition,
members of many city congregations viewed the use of music in church services as “pagan” and
made a point of not attending worship until the music concluded.
When there was something of a local boom in support for the performing arts even after the
Civil War, the city’s religious institutions continued to question the morality of such activities
both inside and outside the church. At Roberts Park Methodist Church, for instance, music
remained banned until 1876 when the quarterly conference decided that an organ and choir
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3. Religion and the Performing Arts
would appear in public worship for the first time in the church’s history, a move that infuriated
some members who remained adamantly opposed to its use in the service for years to come. The
tension between religion and the arts extended beyond the congregation as well. In 1877, the
Indianapolis City Council, at the urging of local religious leaders, adopted an ordinance banning
all theatrical performances on Sundays. This ban remained effective, and mostly unchallenged,
until the early 20th century when owners of local movie theaters joined baseball fans and barbers
(among others) in their fight against the various Sunday closing laws.
The relationship between religion and the performing arts in Indianapolis remained ambiguous
as the 19th century ended. While most of the city’s churches were incorporating music into their
worship services, religious opposition to the performing arts in general remained strong. Even as
theater, dance, and secular music grew in popularity, local religious leaders and institutions
remained ever vigilant in their oversight of public morals (as witnessed by the 1908 investigation
of dance in the public schools by the Indianapolis Ministerial Association) and kept close tabs on
all aspects of the performing arts in Indianapolis.
THE MIDDLE YEARS: ACCEPTANCE
During the first half of the 20th century the city’s churches gradually grew less monolithic in
their opposition to the performing arts. While organizations such as the Indianapolis Ministerial
Association, the Church Federation, and the Christian Endeavor Union continued to equate
performing arts with vice and worked to suppress them accordingly, a growing number of
churches and individuals of faith championed the growth of the performing arts in the name of
civic pride. As in the 19th century, it was in the field of music that the most significant
breakthroughs occurred.
The best example of support of the performing arts by religious-minded individuals was the
formation of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) in 1930. All prior attempts to establish
a professional symphony orchestra in Indianapolis failed within a season or two. Under the
guidance of conductor Ferdinand Schaefer, however, in 1930 the Kirschbaum Community
Center’s orchestra expanded from about thirty chairs to sixty and formed the ISO. With the
support of civic-minded individuals such as Leonard A. Strauss, president of the Jewish
Community Center, and Jack and Sarah Wolf Goodman, members of Beth-El Zedeck
Congregation, the ISO by 1953 was recognized by critics as one of the nation’s top ten
symphony orchestras.4
A rather different sort of cultural-religious development occurred in the city with the opening of
the Cadle Tabernacle in 1921. Built at a cost of $305,000, the building had a seating capacity of
10,000, with an additional 1,500 places reserved in the choir loft. Although the Cadle
Tabernacle’s principal purpose was to serve as the headquarters of evangelist E. Howard Cadle’s
ministry, it quickly emerged as one of the city’s most important sites for civic, cultural, and
educational events. During the 1920s, for instance, the Tabernacle hosted both performances of
Handel’s Messiah by the People’s Chorus of Indianapolis. Cadle lost ownership of the
Tabernacle at the end of the decade, and the building served as the location of Klan rallies, dance
marathons, and prize fights instead of religious events. After he regained control of the facility in
1931 the Cadle Tabernacle was returned to its original religious purposes, eventually becoming
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4. Religion and the Performing Arts
home to the largest permanent choir in the world, the most popular religious program of its day
on the radio (the Nation’s Family Prayer Period), and even a popular religious program for
television.
During these same years individuals like the Montani brothers and Elmer A. Steffen
successfully carved out careers in both secular and religious music. From 1890 into the early
1920s, brothers Guy, Domenico, Pasquale, Antonio, and Nicolo Montani performed as the
Montani Brothers Orchestra throughout the Midwest. After retiring from performing as a group,
the brothers continued to teach and perform individually in the city. In 1926, Nicolo Montani
(1880-1948) was knighted by Pope Pius XI in recognition of his work as a leading composer of
Catholic liturgical music. A life-long resident of Indianapolis, Elmer A. Steffen (1890-1963)
cofounded the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir in 1938 while serving as both music director of the
Roman Catholic archdiocese and master director of the Schola Cantorum Choir at SS. Peter and
Paul Cathedral. In 1939, Steffen also received a papal knighthood in recognition of his service in
sacred music.
Throughout the early 20th century the cultural-spiritual conflict that had plagued the white
community also existed in the city’s African-Americans community. While Indianapolis
developed a nationwide reputation as a jazz center of note, developing a unique sound known as
“Indianapolis Blues,” church members all too often viewed pursuit of a career in either jazz or
the blues as choosing the world over religion. One area where religion and the performing arts
did merge, however, was in Gospel music, through groups such as the Jordan-Aires.5
RECENT YEARS: PARTICIPATION
Today Indianapolis boasts a world class symphony orchestra, a variety of chamber ensembles,
professional dance companies, and a successful opera company. Indianapolis also plays host to
thriving professional and community theaters and supports a number of major music
competitions (such as the quadrennial International Violin Competition) and music festivals
(such as the Indiana Avenue Jazz Festival). In addition, the city claims a variety of nationally and
internationally recognized choral groups, most notably the Christ Church Cathedral Choir of
Men and Boys. Mirroring the changing relationship between religion and the performing arts that
slowly developed over the 19th and early 20th centuries, many of today’s religious institutions
choose to take a prominent role in promoting the performing arts in Indianapolis.
This new attitude toward the arts was first expressed by the city’s religious institutions in the
area of music. Beginning with its renowned men and boys choir, Christ Church Cathedral in
particular took an early lead to foster what has since developed into a flourishing classical music
scene. Founded in 1883, the Christ Church Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys first gained
national (and then international) acclaim in the 1950s. Since that time the group has undertaken
several successful tours of Great Britain and Europe and made a number of highly regarded
recordings. The only fully professional church choir in the city, it routinely performs with the
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and presents an annual concert series. During the church’s
sesquicentennial in 1987 performances of T.S. Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral, Benjamin
Britten’s adaptation of the medieval miracle play Noyes Fludd, and the premiere of Richmond
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5. Religion and the Performing Arts
Indiana native Ned Rorem’s mass Te Deum were all featured components of the year-long
celebration.
Equally more important to the overall history of religion and the performing arts in Indianapolis,
however, was Christ Church Cathedral’s participation in the formation in 1969 of the Cathedral
Arts. Initially conceived as a support organization for the men and boys choir, Cathedral Arts
now sponsors the quadrennial International Violin Competition of Indianapolis, a Juried
Exhibition of Student Art (involving over 75,000 elementary through high school students
statewide) and the Midsummer Festival on Monument Circle, which features contemporary
music. Cathedral Arts also sponsors additional ongoing cultural programs—for example, Suzuki
and Friends and the Ronen Chamber Ensemble—and has produced special events like the Pan
Am Music Festival of Champions in 1987 and the Cole Porter Centennial celebration in 1991.
Christ Church Cathedral’s support of the performing arts in Indianapolis is impressive but far
from unique. Since the 1970s a growing number of religious institutions has enriched the city’s
cultural life through support and participation in music, drama, and dance. This new era of
engagement was launched in 1971 by two events, the incorporation of the Repertory Theatre
(known as the Edyvean Repertory Theatre since 1991) at Christian Theological Seminary and the
premiere of A Song ofMankind. An original work by seven Hoosier composers, A Song of
Mankind, united over 2000 singers and 200 musicians in a performance before an audience of
75,000 in front of the Indiana War Memorial. Sponsored by Faith for a City, with funding from
the Lilly Endowment, the Indiana State Arts Commission and the Church Federation of Greater
Indianapolis, the cantata was based on the work of Hoosier poet Jamie Lee Cooper.6
The roots of the Edyvean Repertory Theatre stretch back to the 1960s when a professor of
communications, the Reverend Alfred Edyvean, established the Seminary Players at Christian
Theological Seminary (CTS). Growing out of Edyvean’s belief that “the most important thing in
training for the ministry [was] to learn to communicate” and that “acting [was] the best way to
learn to communicate effectively,” the repertory theater recruited from the seminary as well as
the community. With a self-declared interest in “classical drama,” Edyvean believed Indianapolis
lacked “thought-provoking theater” and that works by authors such as Ibsen, Chekhov,
Shakespeare, and Shaw were necessary to the life of the community because they had something
to “teach” audiences about God and life. Through support from organizations such as the Lilly
Endowment and the Arts Council of Indianapolis, the group developed into a community theater
with a professional staff and supported such outreach efforts as the Jumping Mouse Players (now
known as the Level Playing Field) for individuals with disabilities, the Epworth Forest Summer
Theatre (for Methodist youth in northern Indiana), and Matrix pre- and post-show discussions. In
1998, the group left CTS and took up residence at the University of Indianapolis where it
continues to pursue its founder’s ideal of “theater with a purpose.”7
Further examples of the growing cooperation between the city’s religious institutions and the
performing arts include Bethlehem Lutheran Church’s Arts of Religion competition, St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church’s sponsorship of both the Indianapolis Arts Chorale and the Festival Music
Society, the Festival of Jewish Cultural Arts at Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, and Trinity
Episcopal Church’s support of the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra in its early years (ca. 1984-
1989). Over the past decade several city churches also began sponsoring special concert series,
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6. Religion and the Performing Arts
such as the North Church Concerts (North United Methodist Church), performances by the
Ensemble Ouabache (Trinity Episcopal Church), and the Indianapolis Pro Musica (St. Paul’s
Episcopal Church).
Since the 1970s, however, the most remarkable development in this emerging partnership has
been the increasing endorsement of both drama and dance by the city’s religious institutions.
Starting with the formation of both Catholic and Episcopal theater guilds, the city’s theatrical
calendar expanded to include the formation of a number of church-based drama companies in the
1990s. Among those congregations forming such troupes were All Soul’s Unitarian Church (the
Channing Street Players), Wesley United Methodist Church (the Wesley Theatre Company), and
Central Avenue United Methodist Church which sponsored the Central Players (recipient of the
Encores’ “Rookie of the Year” award for 1991). Children’s theater, such as the Broadway Camp
at the Jewish Community Center and the Young Actors Theatre, founded in 1976 as part of the
Free University and currently hosted by Central Avenue United Methodist Church, provides yet
another avenue for religious organizations to support the performing arts in the city. Even dance
now finds support among some Indianapolis religious institutions. In 1994, Indiana Night of the
Episcopalian’s national convention included shows of dance and music at Christ Church
Cathedral and the Circle Theatre. The Hosanna Sacred Arts dance company moved its artistic
headquarters to the city in 1997 and in 1999 the Eastern Star Baptist Church Choir joined forces
with the Nubian Community Theatre to present a music and dance-filled adaptation of Langston
Hughes’ Black Nativity at the Madame Walker Theatre Center.
CONCLUSION
In Indianapolis, the relationship between the performing arts and religion is long and complex.
Early in the city’s history many religious individuals and institutions favored a strict regulation
of public morals (through the passage of Sunday observance law for instance) and expressed
open hostility toward dance and drama. In some cases, even music came in for attack, as many
individuals disapproved of its use in worship services. Following the Civil War, religious
opposition to all the performing arts gradually began to wane. Incidents such as the 1908
investigation of the Indianapolis Ministerial Association into dancing in the public schools,
underscored both the increasing acceptance of the arts in the life of the city and the continued
concern such activities aroused in its religious institutions. During these same years support from
religious-minded individuals proved vital to the foundation of some of the city’s most significant
cultural institutions. Since the 1950s the relationship between the performing arts and religion in
Indianapolis has steadily grown closer.
In the last few years, several remarkable examples of this new partnership between the arts and
religion are worth noting. In 1995, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church began holding its
contemporary Sunday morning worship service at the Beef & Boards dinner theater, a reversal of
the Phoenix Theatre’s 1988 move into an abandoned church. The flurry of church-based theater
companies that began to emerge in the 1980s and 1990s entered a new stage in 2000 with
Southport Presbyterian Church’s decision to incorporate its theater company (the Southport
Prologue Players) into a larger arts ministry christened Center Stage. And in 1995, the Polis
Center at IUPUI organized Spirit & Place, the first of what has become an annual civic festival
of the arts, humanities, and religion. This collaborative event now involves close to 75
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Indianapolis organizations, including arts and civic groups, universities, and congregations. As
the city enters the 21st century, Spirit & Place stands as a rather remarkable example of the
evolving relationship between religion and the performing arts in Indianapolis over the past
century.
Questions for Discussion
1. How has the relationship between religion and the performing arts changed over the past
century? How have these changes affected you personally?
2. How has your congregation’s attitude toward the performing arts changed since it was
founded?
3. How has the attitude of the city’s religious institutions affected the performing arts in
Indianapolis? How has this affected the cultural life of the city? How do changes in this attitude
affect the city today?
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8. Religion and the Performing Arts
1 Indianapolis Star, 2 June 1908.
2 David J. Bodenhamer and Robert G. Barrows, The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis (Bloomington:
Indiana University Press, 1994), 142.
3 George W. Geib, Lives Touched by Faith: Second Presbyterian Church 150
Years (Indianapolis: The Second Presbyterian Church of Indianapolis, 1987), 27-28.
4 The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis, 146, 632-633; Judith E. Endelman,The Jewish Community of
Indianapolis: 1849 to the Present(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1984), 133, 145.
5 Indianapolis News, 17 October 1963.
6 Indianapolis Star, 27 September 1971.
7 Indianapolis Star, 22 January 1994; Indianapolis Star, 18 October 1996.
Author: Jeffery Duvall
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