Church of the Heavenly Rest

Last updated

Church of the Heavenly Rest
Church of the Heavenly Rest (51624552099).jpg
Church of the Heavenly Rest
Location1085 Fifth Avenue, New York City
Country United States
Denomination Episcopal Church (United States)
Website heavenlyrest.org
History
Founded1865
Architecture
Heritage designation National Register of Historic Places, 1921
Architect(s) Mayers, Murray & Phillip
Style Neo-Gothic style
Completed31 March 1929
Administration
Diocese Diocese of New York
Clergy
Bishop(s) Matthew Heyd
Rector The Rev. Bob Dannals (interim)
Assistant priest(s) The Rev. Margaret Rose, the Rev. Robert M. Pennoyer III, the Rev. Dr. Meredith Hawkins
Curate(s) The Rev. Cindy Stravers
Laity
Director of music Janet Yieh

The Church of the Heavenly Rest is an Episcopal church located on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 90th Street, opposite Central Park and the Carnegie Mansion, on the Upper East Side of New York City. The church is noted for the architecture of its building, its location on Museum Mile, its outreach, thrift, music and arts programs, and some of its congregation members.

Contents

In 2020, it reported 1,866 members, but no figures for attendance or plate and pledge income.

Congregation history

45th Street in the 1890s (King1893NYC) pg357 CHURCH OF THE HEAVENLY REST, PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL, FIFTH AVENUE.jpg
45th Street in the 1890s

The church was founded in 1865 (officially established in 1868) by American Civil War veterans, with the assistance of the Reverend Robert Shaw Howland. It was meant as a memorial to soldiers who had died in the Civil War. By 1900, the church had amassed close to 1000 members. The church was originally located on Fifth Avenue and 46th Street before moving to its present site. [1]

Present church building

The land for the current site was sold to the church in 1926 by Louise Whitfield Carnegie, Andrew Carnegie's widow. Carnegie purchased the site in 1917 for $1.7 million shortly after a sign was erected reading "for sale without restrictions"; his ownership prevented apartment house development there that would intrude on his mansion's surroundings, but the site remained undeveloped with only a few billboards and a lemonade stand on one of the city's most expensive addresses. Its subsequent sale to the church carried the restrictions that the land could only be used "for a Christian church no higher than 75 feet, exclusive of steeple" through 1975. [2]

The limestone church was designed in the neo-Gothic style by the firm Mayers, Murray & Phillip, successors to Bertram Goodhue. Goodhue died before the first stone was laid. Mayers, Murray & Phillip took over construction. [3] It opened on Easter 1929, seating 1,050, at a cost of $3.2 million. Sculpture was to be executed by Malvina Hoffman, Lee Lawrie, and other artists. [2] The architecture and sculpture combined neo-Gothic styles with Art deco details. [1] However, over two-thirds of the sculptural program was never executed; sculptor Janet Scudder withdrew from a commission in 1928 after it was downsized. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 ended other work, and the blocky limestone facade was retained without sculpture. [4]

Innovative design features included unobstructed views of the altar, indirect lighting and a high-tech sound system. [2] The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021. [5]

Music program

The church has a number of choirs, including boys' and girls', a mixed adult choir, and a bell choir. For its patronal feast, which is All Saints' Day, the hymns "For All the Saints" and "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God" are commonly sung.

Notable people

The funeral of Chester A. Arthur, former President of the United States, was held at the church in 1886, [6] and the ashes of the actress Gloria Swanson were interred there in 1983. [7] The Rt. Rev. Matthew Heyd, Bishop of New York, was rector of the church from 2013 to 2023.

The church is featured in a scene in the 1997 film The Devil's Advocate starring Keanu Reeves. In the film, Kevin finds his wife Mary Ann sitting on a bench in the church, where shen reveals her naked body to be covered in cuts and bruises, accusing Milton (Satan) of raping her. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chartres Cathedral</span> Medieval cathedral in France

Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres, is a Catholic church in Chartres, France, about 80 km southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly constructed between 1194 and 1220, it stands on the site of at least five cathedrals that have occupied the site since the Diocese of Chartres was formed as an episcopal see in the 4th century. It is one of the best-known and most influential examples of High Gothic and Classic Gothic architecture, It stands on Romanesque basements, while its north spire is more recent (1507–1513) and is built in the more ornate Flamboyant style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Lawrie</span> American sculptor

Lee Oscar Lawrie was an American architectural sculptor and an important figure in the American sculpture scene preceding World War II. Over his long career of more than 300 commissions Lawrie's style evolved through Modern Gothic, to Beaux-Arts, Classicism, and, finally, into Moderne or Art Deco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Architecture of cathedrals and great churches</span>

Cathedrals, collegiate churches, and monastic churches like those of abbeys and priories, often have certain complex structural forms that are found less often in parish churches. They also tend to display a higher level of contemporary architectural style and the work of accomplished craftsmen, and occupy a status both ecclesiastical and social that an ordinary parish church rarely has. Such churches are generally among the finest buildings locally and a source of regional pride. Many are among the world's most renowned works of architecture. These include St Peter's Basilica, Notre-Dame de Paris, Cologne Cathedral, Salisbury Cathedral, Antwerp Cathedral, Prague Cathedral, Lincoln Cathedral, the Basilica of Saint-Denis, Santa Maria Maggiore, the Basilica of San Vitale, St Mark's Basilica, Westminster Abbey, Saint Basil's Cathedral, Antoni Gaudí's incomplete Sagrada Família and the ancient cathedral of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, now a mosque.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ralph Adams Cram</span> American architect (1863–1942)

Ralph Adams Cram was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic Revival style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked. Cram was a fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Thomas Church (Manhattan)</span> Church in New York City

Saint Thomas Church is an Episcopal parish church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York at 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Also known as Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue or Saint Thomas Church in the City of New York, the parish was incorporated on January 9, 1824. The current structure, the congregation's fourth church, was designed by the architects Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in the French High Gothic Revival style and completed in 1914. In 2021, it reported 2,852 members, average in-person attendance of 224 and $1,152,588 in plate and pledge income.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Vitus Cathedral</span> Church in Prague, Czech Republic

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saints Vitus, Wenceslaus and Adalbert is a Catholic metropolitan cathedral in Prague, and the seat of the Archbishop of Prague. Until 1997, the cathedral was dedicated only to Saint Vitus, and is still commonly named only as St. Vitus Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertram Goodhue</span> American architect

Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was an American architect celebrated for his work in Gothic Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival design. He also designed notable typefaces, including Cheltenham and Merrymount for the Merrymount Press. Later in life, Goodhue freed his architectural style with works like El Fureidis in Montecito, California, one of three estates he designed.

Mayers, Murray & Phillip was an architecture firm in New York city and the successor firm to Goodhue Associates, after Bertram Goodhue's unexpected death in 1924. The principals were Francis L.S. Mayers,Oscar Harold Murray, and Hardie Phillip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church (Manhattan)</span> United States historic place

St. Bartholomew's Church, commonly called St. Bart's, is a historic Episcopal parish founded in January 1835, and located on the east side of Park Avenue between 50th and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, in New York City. In 2018, the church celebrated the centennial of its first service in its Park Avenue home.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Germain-des-Prés (abbey)</span> Abbey located in Paris, in France

The Church of Saint-Germain-des-Prés is a Roman Catholic parish church located in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés quarter of Paris. It was originally the church of a Benedictine abbey founded in 558 by Childebert I, the son of Clovis, King of the Franks. It was destroyed by the Vikings, rebuilt, and renamed in the 8th century for Saint Germain, a 6th century bishop. It was rebuilt with elements in the new Gothic style in the 11th century, and was given the first flying buttresses in the 12th century. It is considered the oldest existing church in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois</span> Church in Paris, France

The Church of Saint-Germain l'Auxerrois is a medieval Roman Catholic church in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, directly across from the Louvre Palace. It was named for Saint Germanus of Auxerre, a medieval bishop of Auxerre, who became a papal envoy and met Saint Genevieve, the patron saint of Paris, on his journeys. Genevieve is reputed to have converted queen Clotilde and her husband, French king Clovis I to Christianity at the tomb of Saint Germain in Auxerre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angers Cathedral</span> Roman Catholic church in Angers, France

Angers Cathedral is a Catholic church dedicated to Saint Maurice in Angers, France. It is the seat of the Bishops of Angers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bordeaux Cathedral</span> Historic Catholic cathedral in Bordeaux

Bordeaux Cathedral, officially known as the Primatial Cathedral of St Andrew of Bordeaux, is a Catholic church dedicated to Saint Andrew and located in Bordeaux, France. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Bordeaux.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">66th Street (Manhattan)</span> West-east street in Manhattan, New York

66th Street is a crosstown street in the New York City borough of Manhattan with portions on the Upper East Side and Upper West Side connected across Central Park via the 66th Street transverse. West 66th Street is notable for hosting the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts between Broadway and Columbus Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint-Merri</span>

The Church of Saint-Merri or Église Saint-Merry) is a parish church in Paris, located near the Centre Pompidou along the rue Saint Martin, in the 4th arrondissement on the Rive Droite. It is dedicated to the 8th century abbot of Autun Abbey, Saint Mederic, who came to Paris on pilgrimage and later died there in the year 700. In 884 Mederic was declared patron saint of the Right Bank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St. Vincent Ferrer (Manhattan)</span> Historic church in New York, United States

The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer is a Catholic parish in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1918 by the Dominicans; the attached priory serves as the headquarters of the Eastern United States Province of the order. Its architecture has some unusual features: above the front entrance is one of the few statues of the Crucifixion on the exterior of an American Catholic church; and inside, the Stations of the Cross depict Christ with oil paintings instead of statuary or carvings. It has two Schantz pipe organs. The church building, at the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 66th Street in the Lenox Hill section of the Upper East Side, has been called "one of New York's greatest architectural adornments."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of All Saints (Albany, New York)</span> Historic church in New York, United States

The Cathedral of All Saints, Albany, New York, is located on Elk Street in central Albany, New York, United States. It is the central church of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany and the seat of the Episcopal Bishop of Albany. Built in the 1880s in the Gothic style and designed by Robert W. Gibson, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Previously it had been recognized as a contributing property to the Lafayette Park Historic District, listed on the Register in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Mt. Kisco, New York)</span> Historic church in New York, United States

St. Mark's Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church at the junction of N. Bedford Rd. and E. Main Street in Mt. Kisco, Westchester County, New York. It was designed by architect Bertram Goodhue in 1907 and built from 1909 to 1913 in the late Gothic Revival style. The church was expanded in 1927–1928. It is a two-story building constructed of square cut local granite and schist. It has carved limestone trim and copings and a statue of St. Mark by Lee Lawrie. Its intersecting gable roof is covered by green and purple slate shingles. A tower was added in 1919–1920. Connected to the church is a contributing parish hall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of Petrópolis</span> Roman Catholic cathedral in Petrópolis, Brazil

The Cathedral of Saint Peter of Alcantara, also known as the Cathedral of Petrópolis, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Petrópolis, Brazil, dedicated to the city's patron saint, Peter of Alcantara. The cathedral is also the final resting place of the last Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, and his family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gothic cathedrals and churches</span> Overview of building classification

Gothic cathedrals and churches are religious buildings created in Europe between the mid-12th century and the beginning of the 16th century. The cathedrals are notable particularly for their great height and their extensive use of stained glass to fill the interiors with light. They were the tallest and largest buildings of their time and the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture. The appearance of the Gothic cathedral was not only a revolution in architecture; it also introduced new forms in decoration, sculpture, and art.

References

  1. 1 2 "Church of the Heavenly Rest: Our History and Mission". Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved December 17, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 Gray, Christopher. New York Streetscapes: Tales of Manhattan's Significant Buildings and Landmarks. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003), p. 280.
  3. "New York Architecture Images: Church of the Heavenly Rest" . Retrieved December 17, 2008.
  4. Gray, Christopher. New York Streetscapes: Tales of Manhattan's Significant Buildings and Landmarks. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2003), p. 282.
  5. "Weekly listing". National Park Service.
  6. Reeves, Thomas C. (1975). Gentleman Boss . New York, New York: Alfred A. Knopf. p.  418. ISBN   0-394-46095-2.
  7. Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Omnibus. p. 887. ISBN   0-7119-9512-5.
  8. "The Devil's Advocate Film Locations". On The Set of New York.

40°47′01″N73°57′29″W / 40.7837°N 73.958°W / 40.7837; -73.958