Choral Celebration Tours

Abyssinian Baptist Church
132 Odell Clark Place (138th Street)
Architect: Charles Bolton
Date Constructed: 1923
Baptist

The original congregation of this church was formed in 1808 by black Baptists who had the choice to either accept segregated seating in New York’s existing Baptist church, or start their own. After the turn of the century Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. became the pastor of the congregation, and under his leadership the current church was built. It was completely funded by the congregation—a massive work of community mobilization and involvement. Since its inception, the popular church has been an important center for political activism, civil rights struggles, and liberation theology.

Riverside Church
Riverside Drive @ 123rd Street
Architect: Henry Pelton; Allen & Collens
Date Constructed: 1930
Interdenominational

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. financed this church when he decided that the nearby Cathedral of St. John the Divine was being built to slowly for his taste. Unlike St. John’s, which is built entirely of stone in the genuine Gothic mode, Riverside Church was built with a structural steel frame covered by a decorative Gothic–style stone cladding, which allowed it to be completed much more quickly. The majestic tower houses the world’s largest carillon with a total of 74 bells. The Bourdon (hour–bell) in this carillon was the heaviest and largest carillon bell ever cast. The church is famous for its social progressivism and has often functioned as a center for social and political activism.

St. John the Divine
Amsterdam Avenue @ 110th Street
Architect: Heins and Lafarge, Ralph Cram.
Construction began in 1892
Episcopal

Although it’s still unfinished, the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine is one of the world’s largest cathedrals; the huge interior is 601 feet long and 124 feet high at the main crossing. Construction began in 1892 but was completely halted by World War II. Work began again in 1979 and continues today. The church is the seat of the Episcopal Bishop in New York, but it is also known as a center for nondenominational worship; events such as the annual Blessing of the Animals—featuring elephants, horses, dogs, and many other species—are attended by New Yorkers of all creeds. Side chapels feature such unusual icons as drawings by Keith Haring and a memorial to the Fire Department of New York.

St. Marks–in–the–Bowery
2nd Avenue @ 10th Street
Architect: Ithiel Town
Date Constructed: 1799
Episcopal

St. Marks–in–the–Bowery is the second–oldest surviving church in the city after St. Paul’s; it was built in 1799, and the Greek Revival steeple was added in 1828. It was built on the site of Peter Stuyvesant’s family chapel, and Stuyvesant himself was buried in the churchyard cemetery. In the 20th century it became a center for arts and performance; visiting artists have included dancers Martha Graham and Isadora Duncan, architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and poets Edna St. Vincent Millay and William Carlos Williams. As an alternative performance space, it’s also been a venue for emerging artists and poets through programs such as Danspace and the Poetry Project.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral
5th Avenue @ 50th Street
Architect: James Renwick, Jr
Date Constructed: 1858–1879
Roman Catholic

This Gothic Revival cathedral, loosely based on the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, is architect James Renwick’s masterpiece and the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The cornerstone was laid in 1858 and the cathedral opened its doors in 1879; the two 330–foot spires were constructed between 1885 and 1888. It is the largest fully decorated Gothic cathedral in the United States, with a seating capacity of 2,400. As the seat of the Archdiocese of New York, St. Patrick’s is a highly visible center of Catholicism in the United States; it has been visited by both Pope Paul VI (in 1964) and Pope John Paul II (in 1979 and 1995).

St. Paul’s Chapel
Broadway @ Fulton Street
Architect: Archibald Mcbean and James Lawrence (the tower, steeple, and porch), and Pierre L’Enfant (interior)
Date Constructed: 1766
Episcopal

Modeled after London’s St. Martin–in–the–Fields, St. Paul’s Chapel is the oldest church in New York City and the oldest public building in continuous use. George Washington, General Cornwallis, and the Marquis de Lafayette all worshipped here, and a service was held for Washington’s inauguration as the first U.S. President. Located next to the World Trade Center site, the church miraculously escaped destruction when the twin towers fell and became a spiritual center for rescue workers in the following months.

Temple Emanu–el
65th Street @ 5th Avenue
Architect: Robert Kohn, Charles Butler, and Clarence Stein
Date Constructed: 1929
Jewish / Reform

Emanu–el is one of the largest synagogues in the world, with seats for 2,500 and a congregation that grew from humble beginnings on the Lower East Side (it started in 1844 with thirty–three members) to become the largest Reform congregation in the world. The building itself is magnificent, with Byzantine and Romanesque stylistic elements held together by an Art Deco aesthetic; the detailing includes colorful mosaics and a Tiffany window.

Trinity Church
Broadway @ Wall Street
Architect: Richard Upjohn
Date Constructed: 1846
Episcopal

The first Trinity Church was consecrated in 1698, when New York was still part of the British Empire, but it burned down soon after the American Revolution. A second building lasted only fifty years, due to structural problems. What stands on the site now is the third Trinity Church building, built in a Gothic Revival style. From 1846 until the 1860s the church spire was the tallest structure in Manhattan, and old pictures show it rising far above the one– and two–story buildings below.