St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Chelsea, familiarly known as St. Peter's Chelsea, is a historic church of the

Episcopal Diocese of New York The Episcopal Diocese of New York is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, encompassing three New York City boroughs and seven New York state counties.

at 346 West 20th Street between Eighth and

Ninth In music, a ninth is a compound interval consisting of an octave plus a second. Like the second, the interval of a ninth is classified as a dissonance in common practice tonality. Since a ninth is an octave larger than a second, its ...

Avenues in the

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, began as an outgrowth from the nearby

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...

, which had been founded in 1827. After some years in which local residents joined students and faculty from the Seminary for services, it became clear than a new, separate congregation was necessary, and this was organized on May 9, 1831."Then & Now"
on the St. Peter's Church website

Clement Clarke Moore Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Moore was Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature ...

, whose estate "Chelsea" gave the name to the neighborhood, and who donated the land of his apple orchard for the Seminary to be built on, leased land to the new congregation – which he later deeded to it. He became an active member of the St. Peter's congregation: at various times he was a warden, a vestryman, and the church organist. A Greek revival-style , p.85 chapel was built which was consecrated on February 4, 1831. Five years later, builder James W. Smith began constructing the present Gothic revival church from designs made by Moore, and this present church building was consecrated on February 22, 1838; the chapel became the church's rectory. The wrought-iron fence in front of the church is older than the church and the rectory. It dates from c.1790, and was originally part of the second incarnation of Trinity Church, the primary and oldest Episcopal congregation in New York City at the time. It was moved to St. Peter's sometime in the 1830s. The clock in the church's bell tower was installed in 1888, and it operated without interruption until April 1949, when a hand on one of its faces broke loose. The third building in the complex is the East Hall, which was constructed beginning in 1854 and had a church-like facade added in 1871. It is now used by the

Atlantic Theatre Company Atlantic Theater Company is an Off-Broadway non-profit theater, whose mission is to produce great plays "simply and truthfully utilizing an artistic ensemble." The company was founded in 1985 by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and 30 of their ac ...

as their mainstage, the Linda Gross Theatre. The entire church complex is part of the

Chelsea Historic District Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, which was designated by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in 1970 and extended in 1981., p.70 In 2020, St. Peter's Church reported 115 members, 59 average attendance, and plate and pledge income of $260,069. St. Peter's also hosts services for the Chelsea Community Church, a non-denominational Christian church."Welcome"
on St. Peter's Chelsea website. Accessed:2011-02-02

References

External links

*
Official websiteChelsea Community Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter's Episcopal Church, Manhattan Episcopal church buildings in New York City Chelsea, Manhattan Churches in Manhattan Churches completed in 1836 Religious organizations established in 1831