Grace Church (Manhattan)

Grace Church is a historic parish church in Manhattan, New York City which is part of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. The church is located at 800–804 Broadway, at the corner of East 10th Street, where Broadway bends to the south-southeast, bringing it in alignment with the avenues in Manhattan's grid. Grace Church School and the church houses—which are now used by the school—are located to the east at 86–98 Fourth Avenue between East 10th and 12th Streets. In 2021, it reported 1,038 members, average attendance of 212, and $1,034,712 in plate and pledge income.[7]

Grace Church
Grace Church is located in Lower Manhattan
Grace Church
Grace Church
Grace Church is located in New York City
Grace Church
Grace Church
Location800–804 Broadway
Manhattan (NYC), New York
CountryUnited States
DenominationEpiscopal
Websitegracechurchnyc.org
History
StatusParish church
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Years built1846–1847[1]
Specifications
Number of spires1
Spire height230 feet (70 m)[2]
MaterialsSing Sing marble exterior;
lath and plaster interior
Administration
ProvinceProvince II
DioceseNew York
Clergy
RectorThe Rev. J. Donald Waring[3]
Laity
Organist/Director of musicDr. Patrick Allen
(Organist and Master of Choristers)
Grace Church and Dependencies
Grace Church (Manhattan) is located in Lower Manhattan
Grace Church (Manhattan)
Coordinates 40°43′55.1″N 73°59′27.2″W
ArchitectJames Renwick Jr.
et al. (see below)
Architectural styleGothic Revival
NRHP reference No.74001270
NYSRHP No.06101.000063
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 28, 1974[4]
Designated NHLDecember 22, 1977[5]
Designated NYSRHPJune 23, 1980[6]
Designated NYCLChurch & rectory:
March 15, 1966
Church houses:
February 22, 1977

The church, which has been called "one of the city's greatest treasures",[8] is a French Gothic Revival[9] masterpiece designed by James Renwick Jr., his first major commission. Grace Church is a National Historic Landmark designated for its architectural significance and place within the history of New York City,[5][10][11] and the entire complex is a New York City landmark, designated in 1966 (church and rectory) and 1977 (church houses).[9]

History and architecture
Grace Church, circa 1900

Grace Church was initially organized in 1808 at Broadway and Rector Street, on the current site of the Empire Building.[12] Under rector Thomas House Taylor, who began service at the church in 1834,[13] the decision was made to move the church uptown with the city's expanding population. In 1843, the land on which the church was built was purchased from Henry Brevoort. The 25-year-old architect James Renwick Jr.—a nephew of Brevoort—whose sole completed work at the time was the Bowling Green Fountain, was commissioned as the architect.

The cornerstone for the new church was laid in 1843 and the church was consecrated in 1846. Grace Church was designed in the French Gothic Revival style out of Sing Sing marble,[8] and vestry minutes from January of that year break down some of the expenses for building a new church—including items ranging from the cost of the workers from Sing Sing state prison who cut the stone to the cost of the embroidery for the altar cloth. The church originally had a wooden spire, but under the leadership of the rector at the time, Henry Codman Potter, it was replaced in 1881 with a marble spire designed by Renwick.[12] The interior of the church is primarily constructed from lath and plaster.[14]

The east window over the high altar created by the English stained glass manufacturer Clayton and Bell in 1878, dominates the chancel, and the whole church; a "Te Deum" window, its theme is praise. The figures with their faces raised toward Christ, who is seated at the top center, represent prophets, apostles, martyrs and all the world. Other windows in the church are by Henry Holiday.[15] The reredos, with mosaic figures of the evangelists, is made of French and Italian Marble and Caen stone, and shows the four Gospel writers, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, flanking the Risen Christ as he gives the great commission, "Go into all the world and make disciples ..." This piece, along with the altar, was designed by Renwick and executed by Ellin & Kitson in 1878. The choir furniture was installed in 1903 after the chancel was lengthened an additional fifteen feet in a renovation designed by Heins and La Farge. On the lawn in front of Renwick's Grace House (1880–1881), which connects the sanctuary to his Rectory (1846–1847), stands a terra-cotta Roman urn dating from around the time of the Emperor Nero.[15]

For a full generation after it was built it was the most fashionable church in New York: "For many years Grace has been the centre of fashionable New York", Matthew Hale Smith observed in 1869: "To be married or buried within its walls has been ever considered the height of felicity".[16]

  • The Church at dusk
    The Church at dusk
  • Renwick's 1847 rectory
    Renwick's 1847 rectory
  • Grace House, also by Renwick (1881)
    Grace House, also by Renwick (1881)
  • Edward T. Potter's chantry was built in 1879, and added to in 1910 by William W. Renwick; this is the view from Broadway
    Edward T. Potter's chantry was built in 1879, and added to in 1910 by William W. Renwick; this is the view from Broadway
  • The church houses on Fourth Avenue, behind the church: Renwick's Memorial House takes up the three bays in the center, with Clergy House by Heins & LaFarge to its left, and Neighborhood House to its right.
    The church houses on Fourth Avenue, behind the church: Renwick's Memorial House takes up the three bays in the center, with Clergy House by Heins & LaFarge to its left, and Neighborhood House to its right.
The marble steeple was installed in 1883, and had its lean fixed in 2003.

Date[17] Building or action Architect
1843–1846 sanctuary (800 Broadway) James Renwick Jr.
1846–1847 rectory (804 Broadway) James Renwick Jr.
1878–1879 chantry Edward T. Potter
1880–1881 Grace House (802 Broadway) James Renwick Jr.
1881 front garden Vaux & Co.
1881–1882 Memorial House (92–96 Fourth Avenue) James Renwick Jr.
1883 replacement of wooden spire with marble spire   James Renwick Jr.
1902–1903 Clergy House (90 Fourth Avenue) Heins & LaFarge
1903 extension of chancel Heins & LaFarge
1906–1907 Neighborhood House (98 Fourth Avenue) Renwick, Aspinwall & Tucker
1910 additions to chantry William W. Renwick
1975–1976 addition to rear of church houses for school
2003 straighten lean in spire Walter B. Melvin Architects[15]

Chapels

Like Trinity and the First Presbyterian Church, Grace Church spun off new congregations by building chapels elsewhere in the city. Its first chapel was on Madison Avenue at East 28th Street, built in 1850. The congregation became the Church of the Incarnation in 1852 and built its own sanctuary, and the chapel, which is no longer extant, was renamed the Church of the Atonement.[15]

Grace's second chapel was located at 132 East 14th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues and was built in 1861. This Renwick designed Chapel (later Church) of the Redemption burned down in 1872. The next chapel was built on the same site, designed by Potter & Robinson, and was used as a community center for the indigent residents of the area, providing classes in English and other educational programs geared to the immigrant population.[12] The second chapel is also no longer extant.[15]

Finally, Grace Church built a chapel and hospital at 406 East 14th Street between First Avenue and Avenue A, both designed by Barney & Chapman. This was closed in 1943 and sold to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, which converted it into the Church of the Immaculate Conception and Clergy Houses.[15] This complex still exists, and is New York City landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places.

Grace Church School
Main article: Grace Church School

Grace Church School, which is now located at 86 Fourth Avenue, and also occupies the church houses to the north of it in the complex, was organized in 1894, and was the first place where choir boys could receive formal training for their duties.[18] The day school began in 1934,[18] and the school now offers complete secondary education for boys and girls from pre-K to twelfth grade.[19]

In 2006, the School became a legal entity separate from the Church, and owns the buildings on Fourth Avenue from #84-96, which includes Clergy House, Memorial House and Neighborhood House. The Church owns #80 (Huntington Close), as well as #100 and 102, two red-brick buildings north of the landmarked church houses.[13]

Grace Church School's high school building is located in Cooper Square. It opened in 2011.[20]

Services and programs

Grace Church offers a full schedule of prayer and Eucharist services throughout the week and is also available for special occasions such as weddings and baptisms. The church has a history of providing social services to its congregants and the surrounding neighborhood: it is thought that the church provided the first day-care center in New York City, located in Renwick's Memorial House on Fourth Avenue.[9] Today, the church provides services including a community outreach program, spiritual education classes for adults, and children and youth services. A shelter for homeless men is located in one of the church's Fourth Avenue buildings.[12]

The church is known for its Choir of Men and Boys, which was established in 1894,[21] and its rich musical program[22] which includes regular organ recitals.[23]

Personnel

Notable rectors

Clergy
  • The Reverend J. Donald Waring, Rector[25]
    • The Reverend Chase Danford, Associate Rector[26]
    • The Reverend Julia Offinger, Assistant Rector for Youth and Family Ministry[26]
    • Dr. Patrick Allen, Organist and Master of Choristers[26]

Organists

See also

References
  1. Bahamón, Alejandro and Losantos, Àgata. New York: A Historical Atlas of Architecture (New York: Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers, Inc., 2007), p.99.
  2. New York Architecture Images — Grace Church (Episc.)
  3. About Us — Meet the Staff
  4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  5. "Grace Church". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-14. Archived from the original on 2007-03-12.
  6. "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. November 7, 2014. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  7. "Explore Parochial Trends". Episcopal Church. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
  8. White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5.
  9. New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 67–70. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1.
  10. Pitts, Carolyn (April 19, 1977). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination" (pdf). National Park Service.
  11. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory" (pdf). National Park Service. 1983.
  12. Wosh, Peter J. "Grace Church in Jackson, Kenneth T., ed. (2010). The Encyclopedia of New York City (2nd ed.). New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 539. ISBN 978-0-300-11465-2.
  13. "A History of Grace Church in New York" Archived 2016-12-04 at the Wayback Machine on the Grace Church website
  14. Briggs, Charles Frederick, ed. (1853). "Putnam's Monthly Magazine of American Literature, Science, and Art, Volume II". New York: G. P. Putnam & Co.: 247. Retrieved October 17, 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. Dunlap, David W. (2004). From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-12543-7., pp.88–89
  16. Smith (1869) Sunshine and Shadow in New York p.38
  17. Unless otherwise noted, all information in this table comes from New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission; Dolkart, Andrew S.; Postal, Matthew A. (2009). Postal, Matthew A. (ed.). Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1., p.67–68, and White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-8129-3107-5., p.165
  18. Federal Writers' Project (1939). New York City Guide. New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-60354-055-1. (Reprinted by Scholarly Press, 1976; often referred to as WPA Guide to New York City.), p.136
  19. "Overview" Archived 2011-03-04 at the Wayback Machine on the Grace Church School website
  20. Hollander, Sophia (August 25, 2011) "New School Sets Agenda" The Wall Street Journal
  21. "Choir of Men and Boys" on the Grace Church website
  22. "Music" on the Grace Church website
  23. "Weekend Organ Meditations" on the Grace Church website
  24. Bowie, Walter Russell. Learning to Live, Abingdon Press, New York, 1969.
  25. Grace Church. Staff Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  26. Grace Church Staff. Retrieved July 03, 2019.
  27. Karl J. Raudsepp (December 16, 2013). "Samuel Prowse Warren". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
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