Church of the Holy Apostles | |
 | |
    | |
| Location | 296Ninth Ave. Manhattan, New York City |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°44′57″N73°59′57″W / 40.74917°N 73.99917°W /40.74917; -73.99917 |
| Built | 1845-48 1853-54 1858 |
| Architect | Minard Lafever Charles Babcock |
| Architectural style | Italianate |
| NRHP reference No. | 72000867[1] |
| NYSRHP No. | 06101.000439 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 26, 1972 |
| Designated NYSRHP | June 23, 1980 |
| Designated NYCLPC | October 19, 1966 |
TheChurch of the Holy Apostles is anEpiscopal parish located at 296Ninth Avenue at28th Street in theChelsea neighborhood ofManhattan,New York City. Its historic church building was built from 1845 to 1848,[2] and was designed by New York architectMinard Lafever.[3] The geometric stained-glass windows were designed byWilliam Jay Bolton.[4] The church facesChelsea Park across 9th Avenue.[5] The building is aNew York City landmark and on theNational Register of Historic Places.[6]
In 2020, it reported 115 members, average attendance of 86, and $239,257 (~$290,696 in 2024) in plate and pledge income.
The Holy Apostles congregation "was founded in 1844 as the result of an outreach byTrinity Church to immigrants who worked on the Hudson River waterfront to the west of the Church’s location in the Chelsea section of Manhattan",[7] evolving out of a Sunday school.[4] Construction on the sanctuary began in 1845 and continued through 1848, although Lafever enlarged the building by 25 feet by adding achancel in 1853–54.[2] In 1858 the congregation needed to expand, so architectCharles Babcock of the firm ofRichard Upjohn & Son enlarged the building into a cross-shaped sanctuary with the addition oftransepts.[2]
The church, the only one that Lafever designed which remains extant in Manhattan, is also one of the very few there ofItalianate design,[2] although the church has also been described as an early example ofRomanesque Revival architecture.[8] The vestry is in "pure Tuscan" style.[9] Lafever's sanctuary was a three-aisledbasilica. The ceiling was vaulted with plaster groins "small in scale but beautiful in proportion." Original Lafever touches in the details include thecorbels from which the ribs spring.[9]
The church's congregation has always been a socially active one. It is rumored that the church was a stop on theUnderground Railroad during theAmerican Civil War.[4] In the 1970s, the church was instrumental in the foundation ofCongregation Beit Simchat Torah, a synagogue for gays and lesbians begun by Jacob Gubbay. It hosted the congregation from 1973 to 1975, and again from December 1998 until it found a permanent home in April 2016.[4] In that same decade, Holy Apostles hosted theordination of the first woman priest (and openly lesbian) in the New York diocese, Rev.Ellen Barrett.[4] In 1982, the congregation began theHoly Apostles Soup Kitchen, which continues to serve the indigent of the area.
The Church of the Holy Apostles is located inPenn South, a housing cooperative. During the construction of Penn South in 1959, builders considered demolishing the church to make way for Penn South.[10] Ultimately, four churches on the site, including the Church of the Holy Apostles, were saved. The UHF's president,Abraham Kazan, later called the preservation a "mistake" because it had prevented Penn South from being developed earlier.[11]
The sanctuary was badly damaged in 1990 by a fire, in which some of the stained-glass windows were lost,[8] but most survived without serious damage.[2][4] A restoration began almost immediately, and was completed in 1994 under the supervision of Ed Kamper, without interruption of the social services the church provides.[2][4]
The Church of the Holy Apostles was designated aNew York City landmark in 1966, and was added to theNational Register of Historic Places in 1972.
"Hungry Minds," an extensive profile inThe New Yorker's May 26, 2008, issue, gives an account of the church's history with special attention given to the soup kitchen and the writing workshop that Frazier and others conducted there.[12]
Media related toChurch of the Holy Apostles (Manhattan) at Wikimedia Commons