Washington National Cathedral

John Suter (1890–1977) was installed as the fifth dean of Washington Cathedral on All Saints Day, November 1, 1944, in the last grinding months of World War II. On November 8, he officiated at the full military honors funeral for Field Marshall Sir John Dill, chief of Britain’s Joint Staff Mission during the war. Prior to Suter’s appointment, he had a successful ministry at The Church of the Epiphany, one of the oldest parishes in New York City. During his career, Dean Suter made outstanding contributions to the field of church liturgy. He served as secretary of the Standing Liturgical Commission of the Episcopal Church and was also appointed by the Presiding Bishop as custodian of the Standard Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church. Among his many writings is a prayer known as the “Prayer for Quiet Confidence,” which is engraved on the wall opposite the Chapel of the Good Shepherd. In 1950, Dean Suter resigned to become a member of the faculty of St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, from which a future Dean of the Cathedral—John Thomas Walker—had only recently graduated.