St. Michael's Church is a historic

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

church at 225 West 99th Street and Amsterdam Avenue on

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The parish was founded on the present site in January 1807, at that time in the rural

Bloomingdale District Manhattan Valley (also known as Bloomingdale) is a neighborhood in the northern part of the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by West 110th Street to the north, Central Park West to the east, West 96th Street to the ...

. The present limestone Romanesque building, the third on the site, was built in 1890–91 to designs by

Robert W. Gibson Robert W. Gibson, AIA, (1854 in England – 1927 in New York City) was an English-born American ecclesiastical architect active in late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century New York state. He designed several large Manhattan churches and a ...

and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1996. The church building also is noted for its Tiffany stained glass and its two tracker-action

pipe organs The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ...

built in 1967 by the Rudolph von Beckerath Organ Company (Hamburg, Germany); the church has fine acoustics. In addition to traditional

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

services, St. Michael's has services and prayer groups influenced by the

emerging church The emerging church, sometimes wrongly equated with the "emergent movement" or "emergent conversation", is a Christian movement of the late 20th and early 21st century. Emerging churches can be found around the globe, predominantly in North Ameri ...

movement. Sale of

air rights In real estate, air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the Earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by oth ...

that enabled the building of

The Ariel The Ariel East and Ariel West are a pair of apartment buildings on either side of Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway at 99th Street (Manhattan), 99th Street, the tallest buildings on Manhattan's predominantly residential Upper West Side. Ariel East i ...

allowed St. Michael's to finance a major building restoration. On April 12, 2016, the church, parish house and rectory were designated landmarks by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...

. In 2021, it reported 568 members, average attendance of 100, and $743,546 in plate and pledge income.

History

Almost uniquely among upper Manhattan's houses of worship, St. Michael's Church has been located on exactly the same site for two centuries. The first building was a simple white frame structure with a belfry, built for pewholders of Trinity Church, Wall Street, who sought a more convenient place to worship near their summer homes overlooking the Hudson River amid the farms on what is now Manhattan's

. At that time the City of New York was confined to the southern tip of Manhattan. Among the congregation was

Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton Elizabeth Hamilton (née Schuyler ; August 9, 1757 – November 9, 1854) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was the wife of Founding Fathers of the United States, American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton and was a passionat ...

, widow of

Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...

. A second, larger,

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massin ...

building was in use from 1854 to 1891. In the 1840s and 50s Rev. Thomas McClure Peters extended a missionary church in the racially integrated settlement of

Seneca Village Seneca Village was a 19th-century settlement of mostly African American landowners in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, within what would become present-day Central Park. The settlement was located near the current Upper West Side n ...

, demolished to make way for Central Park. In the 1850s the Rector's wife Mrs. William Richmond transformed the John McVickar house, formerly the center of a sixty-acre estate south of St. Michael's, for a Protestant Episcopal "home for Single parent, abandoned women who found no hand outstretched to help them". Subsequently, the church was served by Rev. Peters' son and grandson, John Punnett Peters. Altogether, the three generations of Peters led the parish for 99 years. The third and current building, influenced by the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine styles and designed to seat 1,500 people, was dedicated in December, 1891.New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists]
"St. Michael's Church (Episcopal)"
''The New York City Organ Project''. Retrieved 28 February 2013. The church stands on ground formerly used as a cemetery. In building the church it was decided not to disturb it. Among those still buried there are the Rev. Mr. Richmond, the first rector of the church. The last interment took place in 1872. The present church was erected after an elevated railroad was built on Columbus Avenue (Manhattan), Columbus Avenue absorbing the rural district into the growing city.Christopher Gray (architectural historian), Gray, Christopher (February 5, 1989
"St. Michael's Episcopal Church; Restoration, and Perhaps A Striking Tiffany-Style Finish"
''The New York Times'' In 1895, Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933) was commissioned to design and install the seven great lancet windows representing Michael (archangel), St. Michael's Victory in Heaven, along with a marble altar. Twenty-five years later, Tiffany's overall design scheme was completed with the Chapel of the Angels reredos mosaic depicting the Witnesses of the Redemption. From the 1890s through the 1920s, parishioners donated stained glass windows of eclectic styles. In 1997 St. Michael's Church became a ''Designated Historical Building'' on the

and the New York State Register of Historic Places. Its rectory stands at the head of the former St. Michael's Lane: the ghostly presence of St. Michael's Lane may still be traced in mid-block back alleys and service access between apartment buildings for several blocks south of 91st Street.

Architecture

The church was designed by architect

. The square, Romanesque bell tower rises 160 feet. Tiffany studios created many works of art for the congregation. After the church building was completed, seven windows were commissioned and installed showing "St. Michael's Victory in Heaven." Louis Comfort Tiffany designed the windows which were made in his studios with the assistance of artists Clara W. Parrish, Edward P. Sperry, Louis J. Lederle and Joseph Lauber."Tiffany Windows"
, St. Michael’s Church website. Retrieved 28 February 2013. Two additional Tiffany stained glass windows were later installed in the ''Chapel of the Angels'', in addition to a large Tiffany mosaic behind the altar. Tiffany decorations in the main sanctuary include a white Vermont marble altar, altar rail, and pulpit and the dome of the apse. The many Tiffany features were installed between 1891 and 1920. The windows were restored in 1990. After the windows were restored, the church had the entire interior painted by Fine Art Decoration of New York with the architectural details picked out in an array of colors drawn from the windows and mosaics.

Organ

A Rudolf von Beckerath organ was installed in 1967.

Impact

For most of its existence, and continuing today, St. Michael's has influenced the physical and social development of New York City. St. Michael's founded at least six New York churches, including All Angels' Church, located first in

, in what is now Central Park, and later on West End Avenue. After the Civil War, St. Michael's provided space and financial support for the free Bloomingdale Clinic, District Nurse Association, Day Nursery and Circulating Library.Terepka, Jean Ballar
“History: St. Michael’s Church: Two Centuries and Onward”
, St. Michael’s Church website. Retrieved 28 February 2013. In the 1980s the congregation had dwindled to thirty, but by 1987 it was up to three hundred, thanks in large part to the energies of Rev. Frederick Hill, who retired in 1992 and died in 1997. St. Michael's is known for its wide range of programs and for its congregation's wide ethnic, socio-economic, and sexual orientation diversity. The church draws people from all areas of New York City and its surroundings. In 2013, the church had five choirs and more than 100 children involved in the Christian Formation Program. Social ministries included work for the hungry and the homeless, the ill and their caregivers, the unemployed and their dependents. Both church and parish house provide space for extensive parish activities and major not-for-profit community organizations. Since the early 1990s, St. Michael's has been partnered with St. Michael's, Promosa, in Anglican Diocese of Matlosane, Matlosane, South Africa and, most recently, with the Diocese of Madras in the Church of South India.The Episcopal Diocese of New York, as a whole, has companion partnerships with the Dioceses of Matlosane and Madras (also known as Chennai) as well as Central Tanzania Mainland, Tanganyika, also in Africa. The parishes of this diocese are expected to assist with these partnerships. See the report about th
"Diocese of New York"
at the Global Episcopal Mission Network website.

References

Bibliography

* Salwen, Peter (1989) ''Upper West Side Story: A History and Guide'' New York: Abbeville Press. .

External links

St. Michael's Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Michael's Church, 99th Episcopal church buildings in New York City Churches in Manhattan Upper West Side Romanesque Revival church buildings in New York City Religious organizations established in 1807 Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Renaissance Revival architecture in New York City Churches completed in 1891 19th-century Episcopal church buildings 1807 establishments in New York (state) Robert W. Gibson church buildings New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan