Church of the Epiphany

“A clergyman (The Rev. Dr. McVickar), having occasion one Sunday in the autumn of 1832 to pass through Stanton Street, encountered throngs of idle and destitute boys playing in the street or lounging in the sun. Addressing one of the group with the question why they were not at Sunday School, he was answered that there was none; why they were not at church, that there was no church. His heart was moved at the situation of these children and their parents, and he reported the case to two Christian ladies, who at once placed in his hands seventy five dollars, saying: ‘We will have on that spot a mission church.’ A room was sought for in that vicinity, and with some difficulty obtained. It was a small, dark room over an engine house. Here were assembled on the sixth of January 1833--the Festival of the Epiphany--six adult worshippers with two prayer books, and a few ragged children who were persuaded to enter. Hence, the church then commenced was most appropriately called ‘the Church of the Epiphany.” 

--From an address given by the Rev. Lot Jones, first Rector of the Church of the Epiphany, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Church

The following Sunday, services were held in a hall on the corner of Allen and Houston Streets. The congregation grew rapidly—and quickly outgrew its space. A new, bigger lot was purchased on the North side of Stanton Street between Essex and Norfolk streets. On Saturday, June 28, 1834, the new church building was completed. It was established as a Missionary Church.

The Church was formally admitted into union with the convention of New York on September 25, 1845, having incorporated earlier in the year: It then ceased to be a Missionary Church and became an independent parish.

CONGREGATION

The congregation quickly added to its numbers from the six adults and children who started the church, and by the second week of its existence, Sunday School was established, with two students from Columbia University acting as superintendent and assistant. From the end of January until the middle of May 1833 the congregation numbered more than 200; the Sunday school had 29 teachers and between 200 and 300 students. By 1834, the congregation had increased to 400 people, and by April 1845 there were 511 communicants.

The original congregants of the Church felt very strongly that it be a place that welcomed all—and that no one had to buy a pew in order to worship. There was no official vestry, since the church had not yet been incorporated. Instead, there was a group of men known as the “Superintending Committee,” who had been appointed by the City Mission Society.  With their leadership, guidance and support, Epiphany became the first free church in New York City.  The first vestry came into being in 1845.

RECTORS

Mrs. Cornelia Beach Lawrence, upon hearing the Mission Church of the Epiphany needed a Rector, suggested the Rev. Lot Jones. She had known Mr. Jones through some of her family members whom he had tended to during illness, and she was very impressed by his manner and piety. Mrs. Lawrence  personally guaranteed his salary for the first six months. He was invited in a letter written by the first minister to hold services at Epiphany: “There is a prospect of getting up a Mission in the upper part of this City, in the most populous, but not the most wealthy part of it.” Lot Jones immediately accepted the call, and he officiated his first service on January 27, 1833. On February 1, he took over as Missionary in Charge. Lot Jones, born in Brunswick, Maine in 1797, was raised as a Quaker. While a student at Bowdoin College he became interested in the Episcopal Church, and went on to receive a Doctor of Divinity degree from Bowdoin and Columbia College. He was ordained by Bishop Griswold. He served in the “Eastern District”, Christ Church in Macon, Georgia, and Leicester, Massachusetts.

By all accounts the Rev. Jones was a remarkable man. It is said the work done by the Church of the Epiphany under his leadership is one of the most remarkable instances of devoted parish work, and the community greatly profited from his guidance and leadership. While he was rector, despite the changing neighborhood around the church and the dwindling number of parishioners with money, he refused to allow the church to move to a more affluent area. He said the work of the church would always be needed in that neighborhood. His life was cut short when he fell and died while attending the diocesan convention in Philadelphia in 1865. Following his death, the Rev. Benjamin Leacock became Rector from 1868 until 1871. The Rev. Joseph Rambo was Rector from 1872 until 1873.