ST. EDWARD'S

The Reverend William Vinton Derby (Paniagua), OGS, Rector

14 East 109th Street
New York, NY 10029
Email | 212-369-1140

Architect George A. Bagge designed the Gothic church that was built in 1887. The church was financed by Elbert Henry Gary (1846–1927), one of the founders of U.S. Steel, and for whom Gary, Indiana was named. In 1883 when the church was organized, the neighborhood was rural, with "squatters, goats, cows and chickens." 110th Street was a fishing stream! Father Edward Wallace–Neil, the founding Rector celebrated the founding Mass on March 18, 1883, the feast of St. Edward the Martyr, with a celebration of Holy Communion in the parlor of the house at 181 East 109th Street. The parish was incorporated on August 2, 1885 and the lot on which the present church was purchased in the same year. On August 4th, 1888, the Church applied for admission to the Diocese of New York. The first Mass was held in the new building on Advent Sunday, November 28th, 1889.

  • St. Edward's was the first Episcopal church in Harlem with a vested choir. From the beginning the liturgy was carried out with as much Anglo-Catholic splendor as it could manage, with full Eucharistic vestments, the Reserved Sacrament, a stature of the Blessed Virgin Mary with votive lights, a Holy Water stoup, and the Stations of the Cross.

    The original church building and the parish house were expanded in 1903 with a new sanctuary designed by Charles r. Lamb. This magnificent Sanctuary, its Lamb mosaic reredos of Christ the King and lovely white marble Altar are each unique works of art. It is one of the most striking and elaborate in New York City. It is something that must be seen!


  • The Reverend John Dulfer, Honorary Assistant
    Daniel A. Shockley, Senior Warden
    Sarah King, Junior Warden
    Dennis Zavolock, Treasurer

    ST. MARTIN'S

    The Reverend Dr. Johan Johnson, Rector

    230 Lenox Ave.
    New York, NY 10027
    212–534-4531

    The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission named this granite structure "undoubtedly the handsomest example" of the Romanesque Revival architectural style in all of Manhattan (Landmarks Preservation Commission Designation Report, 1970, page 3). Hearkening back to European buildings of the eleventh century, this church design by William A. Potter was built from 1887-89. Two fires, the latest in 1939, caused extensive damage to the building, leaving only the stone walls standing.

  • Restoration each time speaks to the strong resolve of the congregation of St. Martin's. In the late 1940's, the members of the church commissioned the manufacture and installation of a 42-bell carillon in the tower. This largest of percussion instruments, manufactured in the Netherlands and installed in 1949, is the second largest in New York City.

    The church involves itself with the secular side of neighborhood life as well -- the St. Martin's Federal Credit Union is the oldest such institution affiliated with a church. The Credit Union was founded in 1937 by Reverend John H. Johnson to make it possible for African-Americans to obtain mortgages and acquire real property, thus empowering them in a segregated society.

    ST. PHILIP'S

    The Reverend Keith Johnson, Rector

    204 West 134 Street
    New York, NY, 10030 USA
    Email | 212-862-4940
    St. Philip's Church



    Since 1809, St. Philip's Church—through its clergy and congregation, its tradition and service, its goals and dreams—has been an institution of major spiritual and civic importance in the Harlem community. Reaching back to 1704 when Elias Neau, a former galley slave turned prosperous businessman, opened a School for Negroes under the auspices of the London-based Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. The Christian family now known as "St. Philip's" traces its origins to this beginning.

    After worshiping for almost a century under the supervision of Trinity Church on Wall Street on Sunday afternoons, in 1809, these African American parishioners formed their own community of worship—the Free African Church of St. Philip. They laid the foundation of what became, in 1818, St. Philip's Episcopal Church, the first African–American Episcopal parish in the City of New York. Over the years, the congregation flourished, and by the 1950s, St. Philip's was the largest Christian congregation in the United States. As the neighborhood began to change, the parish ministry increasingly reached out to the wider community.

    Throughout its history, St. Philip's has been at the vanguard of religious and social activism. Beginning with the Rev. Peter Williams, Jr., a leading abolitionist and the church's first rector (1826–1840), St. Philip's played a key role in the debate on slavery and injustice. Later generations of clergy joined parishioners and prominent community leaders in the struggle to secure civil rights and economic justice for all people.

  • St. Philip's also has a strong tradition of outreach into the community including: the purchase and management of a cemetery for New York's African American residents; the Female Assistance Society which provided aid and insurance to sick New York residents; the St. Christopher's Club for teenage boys; building and later purchasing apartment buildings to ensure fair and safe housing for African Americans on 30th Street and later on 135th Street. Since that time, St. Philip's has expanded its commitment to serve the community through a variety of programs addressing the needs of children, teenagers, the elderly, the sick and the poor and promoting theater, jazz, and studio arts in the Harlem community.

    The current building is the fourth home of the parish. St. Philip's has been located in the first communities of African American New York residents. Its first two sites were on Centre Street. In 1822, a brick building replaced the original wood frame church damaged by fire. This same building would undergo two more reconstructions. In 1834, irate whites vandalized the church and in 1863, New York City police used the church as a barrachs for militia and police handling draft riots. By 1886 the church was located on 25th Street. Continuing the tradition of previous generations, St. Philip's utilized the services of African American professionals to locate property, design, and build a new church in 1910 on 134th Street.

    The present church building is a New York City Designated Landmark. It was designed in neo–Gothic style by the firm of Tandy & Foster under the direction of the first African American licensed as an architect in New York. St. Philip's Church is also included in the National and State Registers of Historic Places.