Grace Church (Newark)

Last updated

Grace Church
Grace Church Newark in Fall.jpg
Location map of Essex County, New Jersey.svg
Red pog.svg
USA New Jersey location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location950 Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey
Coordinates 40°43′50.22″N74°10′27.77″W / 40.7306167°N 74.1743806°W / 40.7306167; -74.1743806
Built1847
Architect Richard Upjohn, C. Harrison Condit
Architectural style Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No. 72000776
NJRHP No. [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPNovember 2, 1972 [2]
Designated NHLDecember 23, 1987 [3]

Grace Church in Newark (Episcopal) is an active and historic Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Newark. It has stood since 1837 on Broad Street, Newark, New Jersey, US. It worships in the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

Contents

History

Grace Church was founded on Ascension Day in 1837 at the behest of Bishop George Washington Doane. As part of what is today called the Oxford Movement, Grace's founders emphasized the sacramental worship and succession of bishops of the Episcopal Church as their direct link to Christ, the Apostolic community and its Eucharistic worship – a sister to the Roman Catholic Church. A daughter parish of Trinity Church, Bishop Doane explicitly founded the church in the growing city to be the standard-bearer for Anglo-Catholicism in the diocese. [4]

10:30am High Mass at Grace Church in Newark. Grace Church High Mass.jpg
10:30am High Mass at Grace Church in Newark.

The church building, designed by Richard Upjohn, who was also the architect of Trinity Church, New York, was consecrated on October 5, 1848. It is an example of Gothic Revival architecture in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture in 1987. The church was built on the site of the old Essex County Courthouse and Jail, which burnt down on August 15, 1835. [5] The massive, single bell in the tower was an early replacement for one purchased and installed before the consecration in 1848; the original bell produced a horrible sound, drawing complaints from parishioners and local citizens, and was replaced with a "more agreeable toned bell" purchased by Jermiah C. Garthwaite, one of the 1837 founding members of the church. [6] The bell, paid for by an Episcopalian textile manufacture in Newark, is rung for solemn occasions, and was rung to support the Federal soldiers defending Fort Sumter in 1861. [4]

The tune for "America the Beautiful," called "Materna," was written here by the parish organist Samuel A. Ward in 1882. [7]

Today

Grace uses an Anglo-Catholic, sacramental liturgy, or order of service, at the center of which, in the tradition of the Church as said to be handed down from the Apostles, is the Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion or the Mass. Grace teaches the Catholic faith, holding that Christians gain access to the mystical body of Christ through the sacramental worship of the community and are aided by the sequential liturgy, incense, and Eucharistic sacrifice to an experience of heaven. [8] Incense, lights, and ceremonial vestments are used. The contemporary-language rite from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (Rite II) is used. Grace holds High Mass on occasion, with liturgy sung in Latin by the ordained clergy. In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 2020, a mass was celebrated with music performed by choirs from Grace Church and other nearby areas. [9]

The congregation includes people from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Caucasian Americans, and African Americans of all ages and sexual orientation. The parish follows Catholic faith and practice in The Episcopal Church, but accepts the ordination of women and affirmation of same-sex marriage.

The J. Brent Bates became the parish's seventeenth rector in March 2011.

Music

Grace has an adult choir and a chorister program, performing mass and weekly singing the Gregorian chant mass propers from the early, medieval and renaissance traditions. Grace holds choir concerts and organ recitals on the 48-stop tracker instrument built by Casavant Frères in 1990. The Grace Church Music Society, organized in 2008, each year sponsors a series of recitals and concerts. Directors of music have included Daniel C. Romero, Tyrone Whiting, James M. Hopkins, [10] Joseph Arndt, and James McGregor, a composer, conductor, and organist who held the position for forty-eight years and was widely known throughout the Episcopal Church. [11]

Masses and services

The church offers masses, other forms of worship, and family and youth activities. [12]

See also

Related Research Articles

Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity, with around 110 million adherents worldwide as of 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass (liturgy)</span> Type of worship service within many Christian denominations

Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term Mass is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in some Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches, and on rare occasion by other Protestant churches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Catholicism</span> Anglicanism that emphasises its Catholic heritage

Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasize the Catholic heritage and identity of the Church of England and various churches within the Anglican Communion. Anglo-Catholics are primarily concerned with restoring the liturgical and devotional expression of the Christian faith in the life of the Anglican Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thurible</span> Metal vessel on chains for burning incense

A thurible is a metal censer suspended from chains, in which incense is burned during worship services. It is used in Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Assyrian Church of the East and Oriental Orthodox, as well as in some Lutheran, Old Catholic, United Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian Church USA, and Anglican churches. In Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican churches, the altar server who carries the thurible is called the thurifer. The practice is rooted in the earlier traditions of Judaism dating from the time of the Second Jewish Temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian worship</span> Act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God

In Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer to the term worship. One is proskuneo which means to bow down to God or kings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Rite</span> Most widespread liturgical rite in the Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Rite is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the sui iuris particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs rites such as the Roman Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours as well as the manner in which sacraments and blessings are performed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altar bell</span> Small hand-held bell or set of bell

In the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, Methodism and Anglicanism, an altar bell is typically a small hand-held bell or set of bells. The primary reason for the use of such bells is to create a “joyful noise to the Lord” as a way to give thanks for the miracle taking place atop the altar.

In keeping with its prevailing self-identity as a via media or "middle path" of Western Christianity, Anglican sacramental theology expresses elements in keeping with its status as a church in the catholic tradition and a church of the Reformation. With respect to sacramental theology the Catholic tradition is perhaps most strongly asserted in the importance Anglicanism places on the sacraments as a means of grace, sanctification and forgiveness as expressed in the church's liturgy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eucharist in Anglicanism</span>

Anglican eucharistic theology is diverse in thought and practice. Its sources include prayer book rubrics, writings on sacramental theology by Anglican divines, and the regulations and orientations of ecclesiastical provinces. The principal source material is the Book of Common Prayer, specifically its eucharistic prayers and Article XXVIII of the Thirty-Nine Articles. Article XXVIII comprises the foundational Anglican doctrinal statement about the Eucharist, although its interpretation varies among churches of the Anglican Communion and in different traditions of churchmanship such as Anglo-Catholicism and Evangelical Anglicanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catholic liturgy</span> Customary public worship service

Catholic liturgy means the whole complex of official liturgical worship, including all the rites, ceremonies, prayers, and sacraments of the Church, as opposed to private devotions. In this sense the arrangement of all these services in certain set forms is meant. Liturgy encompasses the entire service: prayer, reading and proclamation, singing, gestures, movement and vestments, liturgical colours, symbols and symbolic actions, the administration of sacraments and sacramentals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass in the Catholic Church</span> Central liturgical ritual of the Catholic Church

The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross, is present and offered in an unbloody manner". The Church describes the Mass as the "source and summit of the Christian life", and teaches that the Mass is a sacrifice, in which the sacramental bread and wine, through consecration by an ordained priest, become the sacrificial body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ as the sacrifice on Calvary made truly present once again on the altar. The Catholic Church permits only baptised members in the state of grace to receive Christ in the Eucharist.

The Church of the Ascension is an Anglo-Catholic parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago. Founded in 1857 as a mission of St. James Church, it is now located on North La Salle Drive on Chicago's Near North Side. The church became a part of the Anglo-Catholic movement in 1869. The principal service on Sunday is the Solemn High Mass celebrated at 11 a.m., according to Rite II in the Episcopal Church's Book of Common Prayer (1979). This Mass is celebrated at the High Altar, and includes three sacred ministers, many acolytes, incense, and music provided by a professional choir. The mass includes processions and other devotions on certain feasts and holy days.

<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 Bartholomew's Church, Dublin</span> Church in Ireland

Saint Bartholomew's Church, Dublin, is a Church of Ireland (Anglican) parish church located on Clyde Road in Ballsbridge on the Southside of Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Church, Newton</span> Historic church in New Jersey, United States

Christ Church, also known as Christ Episcopal Church, is a Christian house of worship located on the corner of Church Street and Main Street in Newton, New Jersey. It is a parish overseen by the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. The congregation first met on 28 December 1769 and was granted a charter by New Jersey's last Royal Governor William Franklin on behalf of Britain's King George III. Christ Church is the oldest church in Newton and the third oldest parish in the Diocese of Newark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Peter's Episcopal Church (Morristown, New Jersey)</span> United States historic place

St. Peter's Episcopal Church is an active and historic Episcopal church in the Diocese of Newark in Morristown, New Jersey. Located on South Street, St. Peter's congregation has roots going back to the 1760s. Officially founded in 1827, with the current building consecrated in 1911, it is notable for its gothic-revival architecture, medieval interior and fine stained glass. St. Peter's congregation has traditionally worshipped in the High Church tradition. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places, listed as a contributing property of the Morristown District, on October 30, 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grace Episcopal Church (Madison, New Jersey)</span> Historic church in New Jersey, United States

Grace Episcopal Church is an active and historic Episcopal church in Madison, New Jersey, United States. Established in 1854, Grace has the largest membership of any parish in the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, with traditional "high church" Christian worship and a strong choral music program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania)</span> Church in Pennsylvania, United States

The Church of the Good Shepherd in Rosemont, Pennsylvania, is an Episcopal parish church in the progressive Anglo-Catholic tradition. It is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania and is located in the Philadelphia Main Line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Alban's Church, Olney</span> Church in Olney, Pennsylvania, United States

St. Alban's Church, Olney was a church of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania in the Olney section of North Philadelphia. Through the ministry and influence of its most significant rector, Archibald Campbell Knowles (1865-1961), St. Alban's was considered a major Anglo-Catholic parish of the American Protestant Episcopal Church. The building is inscribed as landmark No. 56 of the Philadelphia Historical Commission. The cornerstone for the congregation's second building was laid on January 24, 1915, and it was consecrated on June 20, 1915 by Bishop Reginald Heber Weller of the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac. Its architect was George T. Pearson in the Philadelphia firm of Sloan & Hutton; his other work includes St. Luke's, Germantown, Market Square Presbyterian Church in Germantown, buildings at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, college buildings throughout the United States, and several railroad stations and hotels in Virginia.

References

  1. "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places - Essex County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection - Historic Preservation Office. April 1, 2010. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 27, 2009. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. "NPS Summary". Archived from the original on March 2, 2007. Retrieved February 3, 2008.
  4. 1 2 "Grace Church". NewarkHistory.com. April 2007. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  5. "THE OLD JAIL ON NEW STREET". New Jersey History's Mysteries. Archived from the original on January 1, 2011. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
  6. Bataille, Edward F. (1937). Grace Church in Newark: The First Hundred Years, 1837-1937. Newark, New Jersey: The Kenny Press. pp. 47–48. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  7. Di Ionno, Mark (March 17, 2016). "'America the Beautiful' began in Newark". NJ.com . Advance Local Media . Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  8. "Grace Church in Newark". www.gracechurchinnewark.org. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.
  9. Kiefer, Eric (January 17, 2020). "NJ Celebrates Racial Progress: MLK Day Events in Essex County". Patch . Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  10. "Brick City Live". brickcitylive.com. Retrieved May 5, 2021.[ failed verification ]
  11. "James McGregor Obituary (2022) - Newark, NJ - the Star-Ledger".
  12. "Grace Church in Newark". www.gracechurchinnewark.org. Archived from the original on September 19, 2016. Retrieved September 18, 2016.