As seen in Part One, the retirement of Fr. White was on the eve of the building of the new chapel attached to the west side of the existing House in 1964. Contracts for the new chapel were let June 30, 1964. In the same paper it was announced that Fr. Paul K. Abel would be taking over the reins of the chaplaincy. Fr. Abel, when he saw the plans for the new chapel, he was amazed that nothing had been done about updating the organ. In consultation with local organ builder, H. Frederick Fuller, an updated design was formulated. The new chapel was opened for business December 5th of the same year while finishing touches, like the pews, had yet to be installed. The mosaic from Germany, held up by a strike by longshoremen, wouldn’t be installed until 1965, nor would the relocated organ. (Footnote: 1) Organ updated: Bill Mueller, email 8/29/2021. 2)Mosaic and organ installed 1965: Bill Mueller, email 9/6/2021; ) While services were held, the new church wouldn’t be dedicated and consecrated by Bishop Hallock until March 13, 1965. (Footnote: Order of Service Bulletin, “Secularization of St. Francis Church,” March 10, 2012. ) St. Dunstan’s Episcopal church, five miles west on University Ave., had been dedicated just months before with Fr. Abel preaching. (Footnote: 1) “First Service in St. Francis Chapel Set”, Wisconsin State Journal, hereafter WSJ, 5 Dec 1964, Section 1, page 4; 2) “St. Dunstan Church Dedicated on Sunday,” WSJ, 19 Sep 1964, Section 1, page 1. )

Under Fr. Abel as chaplain, services continued as 8 and 10 a.m. on Sundays with Evensong at 5:30. Fr. Abel invited guest lecturers and was a fan of services with folk music; the Wisconsin State Journal reported December of 1967 that SFH “holds folk services frequently, and each time the services are packed.” (Footnote: “Seminary Students Change Image – Folk Mass Gaining in Popularity” WSJ, 9 Dec 1967, page 11. ) He and Mrs. Otto did not get along all that well, and the sixty-nine-year-old housemother retired at the end of the 1964-65 academic year to be replaced by the Rev. Claud Thompson in the apartment on the second floor of SFH in 1966. He remained until his marriage September 1, 1968. Fr. Thompson was working a Ph.D. in English and celebrated the Eucharist services in the interim between Fr. Abel’s retirement (Footnote: In the services notices in the WSJ he is named as holding the services, but in a note in the March 23, 1967 Capital Times he is referred to as “formerly priest-in-charge of St. Francis House…Recently resigned” - Capital Times, 23 Mar 1968, page 4, Col 5 under “Grace Church” where he was preaching at both services, AND holding services at SFH. He couldn’t have been in two places at the same time. ) in the early spring of 1968 and the hiring of Fr. Lloyd in June.Another priest who filled in and helped around the House was the Rev. John Denny Fischer, a musician and student of English. There is a good biography of him on his Find-a-Grave memorial.

A popular, if rather enigmatic figure at the House during this time and into the 1970s was Fr. Wandile Kuse, a South African priest who spoke frequently around the city and area on apartheid and intrigued folks by occasionally speaking his native Xhosa “click” language; he was studying its literature. He filled in on services at SFH and around Madison living for one year in the small bedroom on the second floor. He received his MA in 1972 and completed a Ph.D. from U of Wisconsin in 1978. Returning to South Africa he became a noted professor. His Worldcat Identity notes 9 works in 26 publications as editor, translator, or author.

The same month that MAHE began meeting at the House, anti-war protests and teach-ins proliferated around the campus and the country. October 15, 1969 was the first Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam and march on Washington; the Capital Times, in an article on those teach-ins reported “An unusual interfaith service was under way this morning at St. Francis House, 1001 University Ave., the Episcopal student center. Lowell Fuwster of the Baptist Campus Ministry, and the Rev. Ed Beers of the United Church of Christ Campus Ministry, standing on opposite side of the church, took turns reading accounts of the war from various newspapers and periodicals, interspersing their litany with the words, ‘Lord have mercy.’” (Footnote: “Jam-Packed Teach-ins Mark Protest Here”, Capital Times, 15 Oct 1969, page 49. )

The war, and the protests were escalating. In November nine regulars of St. Francis House bordered a VW mini-bus to make the trip to Washington as part of the National Mobilization by the Committee to End the War in Vietnam, the second Moratorium of that fall. (Footnote: Mini-bus trip to Washington: Personal experience. I was one of the nine; it was my vehicle. One of the SFH regulars, Chris Beck, has this blurry memory: "Strange tidbits I remember: the driver’s door came off the bus while we were getting ready to leave. I can’t remember what happened or how you fixed it. We had a blowout on the freeway outside of Chicago, which you handled incredibly well. We stayed at a church in DC — must have been either Episcopal or RC because I remember trying to sleep on the kneeler. (??) Maybe the pews had dividers so they were too short to lie down? Somebody stole my wallet and everyone else on the bus chipped in to buy food for me on the way home. Other than those rather odd memories, much of what happened was a blur. We were too far from any stages to see much/hear much, and we marched along the sidewalk past the White House in a drizzling rain, so it was all quite somber. ) (Footnote: The October event corresponded with the first Moratorium to End the War. The November event saw some 600,000 people descend on Washington. The Wikipedia article on the second one is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moratorium_to_End_the_War_in_Vietnam ) Six months later, in the wake of the killings at Kent State on May 4, 1970 which followed increased bombings of North Vietnam and the invasion of Cambodia, all hell broke loose on campuses across the country, and Madison was no exception. St. Francis House found itself in the middle of tear gas during several days of riots as a "safe house" and medical center; a huge red cross was posted on the front door. The May 7th Capital Times reported that over 300 people were treated at the House the previous night. A week later a basement room in the chapel was designated for collection of draft cards, and it wasn’t soon after that telephones were brought in and a draft counselling center was set up that continued for several years.

Capital Times, May 7, 1970

Later that year, on August 6, 1970, the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Fr. Lloyd organized, along with other clergy, an Exorcism of, in the words of Fr. Lloyd, “Demons of indifferent stone and glass, demons of neutrality and national pride, demons of oppressive law, in the name of God we command you to depart!” It was part of ongoing objections on campuses around the country to universities participating in military weapons research, and the object in this case was, among other sites, Sterling Hall which housed the Army Math Research Center on campus. At the same time, four men were planning the bombing of Sterling Hall which occurred eighteen days later killing one researcher.

At the 100 anniversary of SFH in 2015 the late Charley Taylor reflects on this in a YouTube video.

While the anti-war activity raged, Broom Street Theater (BST) performed its first production,The Junk Show, at SFH in the chapel in October of 1970. (Contrary to the Wikipedia article on BST, the performances were not in the basement, but in the chapel, and it was members of the vestry who objected to a scene in the summer of 1974 production of Song of Bernadette and spelled the end of BST's welcome.) Two more performances after Song were performed in the chapel, the last being a revival of The Good Woman of Mazomanie in February of 1975.) (Footnote: The information about the basement and the bishop's objection came from Dan Levin’s excellent 2012 documentary “Filthy Theater” in which are some interviews with persons several decades later who were not there in the 1970s but relied on hearsay. I was present at the time, performed in several plays and built sets as well. It was during Song of Bernadette that I met my wife to be, Cara McManis, who was the Virgin Mary in the play. “Filthy Theater” is now on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/52300037 ) The controversial theater’s production of Lysistrata in May of 1969 and the departure of its founder left BST with no permanent home and no venue would touch it. Joel Gersmann, the artistic director, approached Fr. Lloyd about using the chapel for rehearsals and performances and he agreed. After five years and the objections engendered by Song of Bernadette, the vestry gave Gersmann a grace period to find a new location, which they did on the east side of Madison; BST is still going strong. (Footnote: BST’s website is https://bstonline.org/ ) Click here to see a complete list of Broom Street's performances at St. Francis House.

Father Lloyd retired as chaplain in 1977, moving on to other causes, but the activism remained as a feature of the House’s ministry. Indeed, in 1983, along with Fr. Lloyd and other chaplains who had been highlighting the plight of Central American refugees, Fr. Woodward and the congregation offered sanctuary in St. Francis House to some of those who had fled. St. Francis House became the first congregation in Madison to give refugees from the war in El Salvador a home, against the will of the U.S. Immigration Service. (Footnote: “Salvador refugees find sanctuary,” WSJ 24 May 1983 Section 4, page 1 with picture https://www.newspapers.com/image/404687853 ) Father Woodward had been announced as the new chaplain in October of 1977, (Footnote: “Welcome new chaplain at St. Francis House,” Capital Times, 15 Oct 1977, page 14. An outdoor service on the State Street Mall presided over by Bishop of Milwaukee Charles Gaskell. ) a post he held for eleven years. In an article about the magic tricks and mime he would use around campus the author described him as one who “isn’t afraid to thrust flames dramatically down his throat if it will bring home a point to his parishioners.” (Footnote: “Clowning around religiously,” Capital Times, 29 Oct 1983, page 1. With picture of him eating fire. )

The sanctuary service was documented in this half-hour film, "The New Underground Railroad" from Carl Hersh on Vimeo.

The Rev. Woodward’s leaving for Salinas, California was announced in the papers in August of 1988 to take up a new post in Salinas, California at St. Paul’s. (Footnote: 1) Capital Times, 17 August 1988, page 2; “St. Paul’s Episcopal Church welcomes new rector,” 2) The Californian (Salinas, CA) 3 Sept 1988, page 6B. ) When the Rev. Virginia Lund was installed as chaplain in September of 1991 the Wisconsin State Journal noted that she had been “associate chaplain” since 1988. She brought an ecumenical spirit to the House; worship notices in the paper advertised 10 am Sunday worship, “St. Francis House University Episcopal Center - Inclusive Worship Community – Student Coop – Ecumenical & Interfaith – UW campus ministry.” She brought something else, a fervent concern for abused women and feminism. In an article in the Wisconsin State Journal about abuse and incest she stated that she came to feminism in seminary and realized that after years as a “righteous social activist, I was always going to save them – people of color, Nicaraguans, that other group. I could never admit to my own victimization. I thought that by saving someone else, I could indirectly save myself, but you can’t do that until you admit what happened to you – and get good and angry about it.” (Footnote: “Surviving our lives”, WSJ 30 May 1993, Page 4D continued from Page 1D. https://www.newspapers.com/image/406413185/ )

The Rev. Lund left in the summer of 2003 to be replaced by the Rev. Melissa Wilcox, at which point the tenor of the advertisements in the paper changed to “Holy Eucharist Wednesday at 12 Noon and Sunday at 5 PM. Worshiping community serving the students, faculty and staff at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.” Indeed, Melissa, in her words, “moved the House from being a housing co-op to an Episcopal Campus ministry. I reinstated an Episcopal liturgy after many years with none.” (Footnote: Rev. Melissa Wilcox, email, 8/24/2021. )

In short order following the leaving of the Rev. Lund, the Rev. Shannon Kelly was appointed chaplain. Priested seven years earlier she came to Madison with her husband, the Rev. Thomas Ferguson who followed her service as an interim chaplain. He saw through the initial plans to demolish the 1964 chapel and move the original house to the west to make room for an apartment building. Financial support for the campus ministry had dwindled in the Diocese and in May of 2011 a proposal to build a 12-story, 90-unit apartment building was presented to the Madison Plan Commission. That hit a snag with the objections of Luther Memorial next door that the height of the apartment building would cast a shadow diminishing the value of its stained-glass windows. After several months of debate, an 8-story apartment building proposal was accepted by the Madison City Council by a vote of 15-4 paving the way for the move of the House. (Footnote: 1)Rev.Tom Ferguson, email, 8/28/2021; 2) “Council OKs St Francis project,” WSJ, 22 Sep 2011, page A3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/523113500/ )