Church of the Epiphany

In 1874 the church finally moved uptown. The Church of the Reformation owned four lots on the South Side of East 50th between 2nd and 3rd Avenues (228 East 50th Street)

A small wooden church, in poor condition, was on two of the lots and the other two were vacant. Epiphany and Reformation exchanged properties-Reformation obtained the Stanton Street property which it used for mission work and Epiphany finally had a stronghold uptown. Epiphany and Reformation merged their parishes. The congregation moved to 50th Street. The Reverend Uriah T. Tracy had been the rector of Reformation. He was asked to be the Rector of the merged church and he remained, becoming the Rector of Epiphany.

An apartment building, the Eastminster, was built on the two empty lots. An apartment was reserved therein for the Rector and his wife. The rest of the building was rented and the parish used the income-it was the church’s primary revenue for twenty years. The parish continued to struggle financially.

In 1881, the wooden 50th Street church in a state of decay, Epiphany purchased a stone church, St Alban’s, on the South Side of East 47th, West of Lexington. The congregation moved there in 1881. The  church of St Alban’s had been offered to Epiphany at very favorable terms, and  on that very day someone showed up with cash, offering to buy the church’s two lots on East 50th Street. Thus the deal was made with little additional financial stress for Epiphany. Edward Black, the Treasurer of the Church in 1881, asked for funds from members of the community to help with the upkeep of the church. He summed up the feelings of the parishioners: “That their  church is greatly needed where it stands; that it is free to all; that its ministry is chiefly to the poor; that it has no wealthy members and that the people themselves have contributed to the extent of their power.”

RECTORS

Dr Uriah T Tracy was the Rector from 1874-1884. Originally the Rector of Church of the Reformation, he became the Rector of Epiphany when the two churches merged.

He resigned in 1884 due to ill health. He moved to Long Island and eventually to New Mexico where he worked as a missionary. He died in Carlsbad,NM in1917.

Dr Alford Butler 1884-1892 Dr Butler, a graduate of the Theological Seminary at Cambridge, was from Trinity Parish in Bay City, Michigan. He was held in high esteem by all who knew him. He was called to be the Rector of Epiphany  on February 10th, 1884. He remained at Epiphany until 1892 when he stepped down because of ill health and moved to Minnesota.

CONGREGATION

The number of parishioners increased under Dr Butler. But still the parish struggled to stay financially stable.  In 1884, the congregation numbered about 150 people. In 1887, probably helped along by a concert and a fair held that year, the floating debt the church was carrying markedly decreased. In April of 1887, the debt was down to $293.53. Mr H.O. Beebe generously donated $100, and was followed by the Senior Warden with the same donation. The other members of the Vestry donated, as did the Rector, and that debt was paid off. In 1884 Rev. Butler suggested every other pew be reserved for regular contributors to the church, but such reservation was not meant to exclude others from sitting there. This was an attempt to help raise additional funds for the church.