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St. Thomas Church Fifth Avenue
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by
Gary Reznik |
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Saint Thomas Church, located on 53rd street and 5th avenue, is an Episcopalian
establishment built around 1913. The Episcopal Church is the American branch of the
Anglican Communion. The Anglican Communion consists of both Catholic and Apostolic
traditions dating back from Christ, based in the Church of England. The Episcopal Church
came into existence independently after the American Revolution. Today it has between two
and three million members in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America, all of which are under
the jurisdiction of the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Edmond Browning.
Though Episcopal churches are built in many architectural styles, Saint Thomas is a
prime example of Gothic architecture. Gothic is the form of architecture used in Western
Europe in the late medieval period roughly between 1150 A.D. and 1550 A.D. Specific needs
in places of worship originated from the religious beliefs and customs. These needs were
basically those of the Romanesque church and included space for the worshipers, for the
participating clergy, for the ceremony of the Mass, for altars dedicated to various
saints, for baptismal rites, and for processionals. The arrangement of space for these
purposes was similar to that developed during the early medieval period- a long central
rectangle oriented to the east and flanked by aisles, usually crossed by another
rectangle, the transept. The nave made up the western part of thc first rectangle; the
choir and sanctuary, or apse, the eastern part. The moldings of the doorways were
supported by slender columns combined with figures of saints and angels.
A church on this site was originally constructed in 1866. It was destroyed in a huge
fire in 1905, and redesigned by Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue of the firm
of Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson in 1911. The church did not officially reopen until 1913
for service.
Today St. Thomas is famous for its boys choir. It is the only New York church with an
English style choir school, and as such it attracts many visitors each Sunday purely for
the aesthetic experience. Along with Trinity Church on Wall St., it is famed has having
one of the wealthiest congregations in the United States.
Links:
| Medieval
NewYork | St. Thomas Main | Exterior | Interior |
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© Site Concept and Design: Paul Halsall created 26 Jan 1996: latest revision 12 April 2024 [CV]
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