The Queen Anne Silver

 The Queen Anne Silver Holy Communion Service consists of two large silver flagons, one large paten, one small paten, one large chalice, and one large alms basin. On each piece is engraved the Royal Arms of Great Britain between the letters "A" and "R," and each piece bears the following inscription:

The Gift of Her Majesty Ann, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, and of her Plantations in North America, Queen, to her Indian Chappell of the Onondawgus.

Replicas of the silver are used on certain holy days at St. Peter's and can be viewed the rest of the time in a display case inside the church not far from the main doors. The original silver is kept in storage for security reasons, but it is occasionally used for special worship celebrations.

Queen Anne reigned over Great Britain from 1702 until 1714. In 1712, the Queen sent seven sets of communion silver to the English colonies in the Americas in an effort to form religious and political alliances with the First Nations that were present here.

 The communion silver at St. Peter's, a replica of the set used in Queen Anne's coronation, was originally commissioned for a Chapel of the Onondagas that was never built. Instead, the silver was entrusted to the chapel near Albany's Fort Frederick, which also served as the chapel for all of the Native Americans in the Province who had become Anglican Christians. That chapel later became St. Peter's Church, and the silver remains here to this day.