Grace Church in Newark (Episcopal) is an active and historic Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Newark. It is located on

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

's Broad Street where it has stood since 1837. Grace is a traditional church that worships in the Catholic tradition. Grace is notable for its architecture, music, and as the birthplace of the tune "

America the Beautiful "America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two neve ...

History

Grace Church was founded on

Ascension Day The Solemnity of the Ascension of Jesus Christ, also called Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday, commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into heaven. It is one of the ecumenical (i.e., shared b ...

in 1837 at the behest of Bishop

George Washington Doane George Washington Doane (May 27, 1799 – April 27, 1859) was an American churchman, educator, and the second bishop in the Episcopal Church for the Diocese of New Jersey. Early life and career Doane was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He gradu ...

. As part of what is today called the

Oxford Movement The Oxford Movement was a movement of high church members of the Church of England which began in the 1830s and eventually developed into Anglo-Catholicism. The movement, whose original devotees were mostly associated with the University of ...

, Grace's founders emphasized the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol of the rea ...

al worship and succession of bishops of the Episcopal Church as their direct link to Christ, the Apostolic community and its

Eucharist The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was institu ...

ic worship –a sister to the Roman Catholic Church. A daughter parish of Trinity Church, Bishop Doane explicitly founded the church in the growing city to be the standard bearer for

Anglo-Catholicism Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

in the diocese. To this day, Grace's remains dedicated to offering its timeless worship to the city and its people. Grace Church High Mass

The church building, designed by Richard Upjohn, who was also the architect of

Trinity Church, New York Trinity Church is a historic parish church in the Episcopal Diocese of New York, at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Known for its history, location, architecture and en ...

, was consecrated on October 5, 1848. It is widely esteemed as an outstanding example of Gothic Revival architecture in the United States, and was designated 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 liste ...

for its architecture in 1987. The church was built on the site of the old Essex County Courthouse and Jail which burnt down on August 15, 1835. The massive, single bell in the tower was an early replacement for one purchased and installed before the consecration in 1848; the original bell produced a horrible sound, drawing complaints from parishioners and local citizens, and was replaced with a "more agreeable toned bell" purchased by Jermiah C. Garthwaite, one of the 1837 founding members of the church. Paid for by an Episcopalian textile manufacture in Newark, the bell has been rung for many solemn occasions, including to support the Federal soldiers defending

Fort Sumter Fort Sumter is a sea fort built on an artificial island protecting Charleston, South Carolina from naval invasion. Its origin dates to the War of 1812 when the British invaded Washington by sea. It was still incomplete in 1861 when the Battle ...

in 1861. The tune for "

," called "Materna," was written here by the parish organist Samuel A. Ward in 1882.

Today

Grace remains widely known for its high church, sacramental

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...

, or order of service, at the center of which, in the

tradition A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

of the Church as handed down from the Apostles, is the

. The Eucharist, otherwise known as Holy Communion or the Mass, is Grace's form of weekly worship on Sundays. Grace teaches the Catholic faith, holding that Christians gain access to the Mystical Body of Christ through the sacramental worship of the community and are aided by the sequential liturgy, incense, and Eucharistic sacrifice to an experience of heaven.

Incense Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also b ...

, lights, and ceremonial

vestments Vestments are liturgical garments and articles associated primarily with the Christian religion, especially by Eastern Churches, Catholics (of all rites), Anglicans, and Lutherans. Many other groups also make use of liturgical garments; th ...

are used, which render the liturgy intelligible to all the senses, and the contemporary-language rite from the 1979

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

(Rite II) is used. Much of the congregation actively participates in the service. Grace does hold High Mass on occasion, complete with liturgy sung in Latin by the ordained clergy, as it did to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 2020, complete with special music performed by a collective of choirs from Grace Church and other nearby areas in the diocese. The diverse congregation includes people from Africa and the Caribbean as well as Europeans, Caucasian Americans, and African Americans. Its members are young and old, married and single, gay and straight. The parish is committed to Catholic faith and practice in The Episcopal Church, but is receptive to new insights, including the ordination of women and affirmation of same-sex relationship. The Rev. Dr. J. Brent Bates became the parish's seventeenth rector in March 2011.

Music

Music plays an important role in worship, and Grace has always maintained a strong choral tradition in its adult and children's choir. Both choirs perform mass settings throughout the year, and weekly sing the

Gregorian Chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed mainly in western and central Europe dur ...

mass propers from the early, medieval and renaissance tradition. Grace holds choir concerts and organ recitals on the 48-stop tracker instrument built by

Casavant Frères Casavant Frères is a Canadian organ building company in Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, which has been building pipe organs since 1879. As of 2014, the company has produced more than 3,900 organs. Company history Brothers Joseph-Claver (1855–1933 ...

in 1990. The Grace Church Music Society, organized in 2008, each year sponsors a series of recitals and concerts. Tyrone Whiting, an award-winning English organist and conductor and graduate of the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including perform ...

in London, England, is the current Director of Music. He was preceded by Jim Hopkins, Joe Arndt, and James McGregor, who held the position for forty-eight years.

Masses and services

Masses are offered on Sundays at 8:00am and 10:30am (High Mass) with Sunday School, and on many weekdays at 12:10pm. Additional family and youth activities are held weekly and forms of worship like Stations of the Cross and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament are held during Lent.

References

External links

Official SiteHistorical resources
from

Project Canterbury Project Canterbury (sometimes abbreviated as PC) is an online archive of material related to the history of Anglicanism. It was founded by Richard Mammana, Jr. in 1999 with a grant from Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold, and is ho ...