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6 Churches to check out in NYC during the 6 weeks of Lent

In honor of Lent I am going to feature one church for each of the six weeks to check out. While this isn’t meant to be religious proselytizing, it is meant to show off the amazing architecture that New York City offers us. Check out some of these gems.

#6 Plymouth Church

The Statue of Henry Ward Beecher in the Plymouth Churchyard. “Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody expects of you. Never excuse yourself.“- HWB

#6 Plymouth Church (57 Orange St, Brooklyn, NY 11201) known as the “underground railroad depot” in the 1800’s. While many African-Americas sought their own freedom in the north, this became a rest stop before moving on to Canada. The congregation held slave auctions, in which communally congregants would give money to buy an enslaved person their freedom.

#5 St. Peter’s Church

The beautiful piano and natural light at St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church.

#5 St. Peter’s Church (619 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022) is known as the “jazz church” for its weekly jazz vespers. This super modern church doubles as an art gallery and musical event space. This church has occupied the current site since 1904, and is the world’s only relationship between commercial property and a church; in the 70’s when National City Bank (now Citigroup) wanted to create condominiums on the site and the church negotiated 5% ownership of the whole site (and the building of a new church!) Jazz Vespers are Sunday’s at 5:00PM.

#4 Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral 

Don’t let the outside of Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral fool you…its stunning inside.

#4 The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral (263 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012) It is so hard to try to start a “creative project” right now, while everything seems so surreal. I am struggling because it feels inappropriate to post about something “normal”, I am pushing myself to post this just to keep on some semblance of normalcy, so in the future weeks when I KNOW it is going to get worse, that I will have something to do besides have anxiety/depression about the at-risk population and our healthcare system as a whole.

Basilica of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral has the only catacombs in New York City.

 Without further talk of the coronavirus, and in honor of St Patrick’s Day tomorrow, I want to write about The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, dubbed the “sexiest congregation” by Elizabeth Hasselback from Fox News.  Martin Scorsese was an alter boy here and featured some of the anti-catholic sentiment in the movie, Gangs of New York. There is actually a tunnel from the Bishop’s house across the street to the Cathedral to protect against Nativist violence in the 1800’s. This church was used for filming where the “godfather” became THE Godfather. Built 50 years before the new and far better known St.Patrick’s Cathedral that was way out in the country when it was built. 

Rehearsal practice on the 150 year old Erben Organ! The organ needs nearly $200,000 worth of upkeep, you can donate at the website, https://erbenorgan.org/

Somehow this “side project” seems more important than ever while we keep talking about having faith during a trying time. But I want to push people further, I believe in “prepare for the worst and hope for the best” so we must have faith but ALSO we must all do our best to protect our elders and vulnerable populations.

#3 Trinity Church

#3 Trinity Church (75 Broadway, New York, NY 10006). The stunning Trinity Church is nestled between skyscrapers, on the corner of Broadway and Wall St. Third time’s the charm for this Episcopal church: the first structure burned down in the Great New York City Fire of 1776, the second was torn down because of snow damage, and the third and current building was consecrated in 1846.

The ornate reredos and altar were created in honor of William Backhouse Astor, Sr. This historic house of worship was a welcome site of refuge from the massive debris in the aftermath of September 11th. Trinity’s burial grounds are the final resting place of Alexander Hamilton, Albert Gallatin (Founder and first President of NYU), and Robert Fulton (credited with creating the first commercial steamboat).

#2 St. Patrick’s Cathedral (5th Ave, New York, NY 10022)

Happy Palm Sunday. If you believe in a higher power now more than ever is the time to send global prayers. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is thought of as the St. Peter’s Basilica of the United States. Skeptics initially thought of the proposed construction project as “Hughes Folly” after Bishop “Dagger” Hughes had the idea to build this huge cathedral in what was then mostly farm or uninhabited land.  He knew that New York City was going to expand north and he would need a large church to house the parishioners. It was designed by noted architect James Renwick, Jr., who also built the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., the Renwick Gallery in D.C., and Grace Church and City College in NYC. It is situated across the street from Rockefeller Center, this 5th Avenue iconic Roman Catholic cathedral is on many NYC top ten attractions list.

#1 Church of the St. John the Divine

#1. Church of the St. John the Divine (1047 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025)

The 6th largest church in the world! When you walk in, you realize the ENORMITY of the space. I personally love stained glass dedicated to different professions, especially sports and education. Both are rare to see inside a Cathedral.

If you enjoy learning more about NYC, consider checking out some of my A Day in itineraries in Red Hook and Crown Heights, Brooklyn.

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