The Church of the Covenant is a historic church at 67

Newbury Street Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It runs roughly east–west, from the Boston Public Garden to Brookline Avenue. The road crosses many major arteries along its path, with an entran ...

in the

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. A

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

, it was built in 1865-1867 by the Central Congregational Church, and is now affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

. The church was designed by Richard M. Upjohn, and its distinctive interior is largely the work of Tiffany & Co.

History

Built of

Roxbury puddingstone The Roxbury Conglomerate, also informally known as Roxbury puddingstone, is a name for a rock formation that forms the bedrock underlying most of Roxbury, Massachusetts, now part of the city of Boston. The bedrock formation extends well beyond ...

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

it was one of the first churches to relocate in the new

and was built largely with funds donated by Benjamin Bates, an industrialist who founded

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

. Designed by Richard M. Upjohn, the son and partner of

Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...

, who insisted on "a high gothic edifice ... which no ordinary dwelling house would overtop." It has a high steeple, that overtops the

Bunker Hill Monument The Bunker Hill Monument is a monument erected at the site of the Battle of Bunker Hill in Boston, Massachusetts, which was among the first major battles between the Red Coats and Patriots in the American Revolutionary War. The 221-foot (67 m) gran ...

. Oliver Wendell Holmes said: "We have one steeple in Boston that to my eyes seems absolutely perfect — that of the Central Church on the corner of Newbury and Berkeley Streets." In the 1890s the sanctuary was redecorated by Tiffany Glass and Decorating Co. with stained-glass windows and mosaics and an electric-light chandelier designed by Tiffany's

Jacob Adolphus Holzer Jacob Adolphus Holzer (1858–1938) was a Swiss-born designer, muralist, mosaicist, interior designer, and sculptor who was associated with both John La Farge and Augustus Saint-Gaudens before he left to direct the mosaic workshops of Louis Com ...

for the World's Columbian Exhibition, Chicago, 1893. The Church of the Covenant is located at 67 Newbury Street. It was known as the "Central Church" until 1932 when the Central Congregational Church merged with the First Presbyterian Church of Boston creating the Church of the Covenant, which is now affiliated with both the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the

. In 1966, th
Back Bay historic district
was established, protecting any building within its boundaries from exterior changes, including this church building. In October 2012 the church building was designated a

(as "Central Congregational Church") in recognition of its unique interior decorations. In 1999 The Church of the Covenant was the setting of the opening scene of the movie Boondock Saints. Two deeply Catholic brothers, Connor and Murphy MacManus (played by

Sean Patrick Flanery Sean Patrick Flanery (born October 11, 1965) is an American actor, author, and martial artist. He is known for playing Connor MacManus in ''The Boondock Saints'' (1999) and its sequel ''The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'' (2009), Greg Still ...

and

Norman Reedus Norman Mark Reedus (born January 6, 1969) is an American actor best known for starring as Daryl Dixon in the AMC horror drama series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2022). He also starred as Murphy MacManus in the film ''The Boondock Saints'' (19 ...

respectively) show their devotion in church as the priest rails against the passive indifference to evil. Given the nature of the script, there were problems finding a church liberal enough to permit filming inside. The company finally got permission from the Church of the Covenant. This isn’t actually a Catholic church though and that imposing crucifix was built just for the film.

Gallery of interior views

File:Altar - Church of the Covenant (Boston) - DSC08161.JPG, Altar Ceiling - Church of the Covenant (Boston) - DSC08263.JPG, Ceiling detail Tiles - Church of the Covenant (Boston) - DSC08247.JPG, Tile detail Stencilling - Church of the Covenant (Boston) - DSC08252.JPG, Stencilwork

Notes

External links

Church of the Covenant website
{{Authority control Gothic Revival church buildings in Massachusetts Churches in Boston Churches completed in 1867 Congregational churches in Boston 19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Presbyterian churches in Massachusetts United Church of Christ churches in Massachusetts Towers in Massachusetts Richard Michell Upjohn church buildings National Historic Landmarks in Boston Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Back Bay, Boston Historic district contributing properties in Massachusetts National Register of Historic Places in Boston

History

Gallery of interior views

See also

Notes

External links