Consider this: St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Church was in debt early on. Later, it became a free church. Now, we stand before the Church of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew. It stands on Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn. This is not the first church at this location. Trinity Church was here first in 1835. But Trinity Church failed. St. Luke’s Protestant Episcopal Church was founded here in 1842.
St. Luke’s grew to be the largest Episcopal church in Long Island. It later merged. St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church joined in 1943. The Church of St. Michael and St. Mark joined in 1993.
The original St. Luke’s building had issues. Elias Combs built it in 1835. He was a building and hardware merchant. His widow said he was not paid. Trinity Church went bankrupt around 1841. This allowed St. Luke’s Church to buy the building below market value. Mrs. Combs’ accusation was confirmed by other churches and a judge.
St. Luke’s Church responded. There was no malicious attempt to avoid paying the builder. It occurred through mismanagement. The church offered Mrs. Combs compensation. She got one of the best pews and a deed to her husband’s vault.
Someone tried to set the church on fire in 1846. It was detected early. The Mayor of Brooklyn offered a reward. Lightning struck the steeple in 1856. It tore away woodwork but did not cause structural damage.
Major repairs occurred in 1880. The vestibule was enlarged. The front porch was new. The gallery shape was altered. The old rectory became a parish hall. An anonymous donor funded a new chapel in 1881. It was consecrated in October 1882.
The congregation bought a house at 520 Clinton Ave in 1883. It was for the rector. A major fire happened in November 1887. A defective furnace duct caused it. The organ, altar, and chancel were destroyed. The original building remained intact. Sunday services continued. A new Sunday school and parish hall were built.
The current building was built from 1888 to 1891. John Welch designed it in the Romanesque Revival style. The AIA Guide calls the facade “Eclecticism gone berserk”. The Landmarks Preservation Commission calls it “one of the grandest ecclesiastical buildings in Brooklyn”. It became a New York City Landmark in 1981. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The new building included a new organ. A member donated it. It cost $6,000. It was installed in 1889. A new Sunday school building and parish hall were added. The old stone church was dismantled after the new buildings were ready. The new building seated 1,500 people. The mortgage was still $33,000 in 1892. Members paid it off by 1896. Tiffany crafted most of the nave windows. They were installed in 1896. The rose window was installed in 1890. It was a gift from the Sunday school children.
Another major fire in 1914 destroyed the interior. Sections of the roof collapsed. The outer walls remained. Damage was estimated at $300,000.
The church was reconstructed after the 1914 fire. The outer walls were used. The design was largely the same. The Sunday school was enlarged. The parish hall was redesigned. It reopened on September 19 1915. The organ was rebuilt in Hagerston Maryland. It was designed to be the largest in the city. It had four manuals and sixty stops.
In 2012, another fire damaged the building. It was contained to the foyer, entry doors, and facade.
A Green Infrastructure Grant funded sidewalk improvements in 2017. A rain garden and permeable pavement were installed. In 2018, the church began selling air rights. This would fund facade reconstruction. Rezoning was approved in 2019.
In 1869, St. Luke’s became a “free church”. No pews were rented. Anyone could attend for free. St. Luke’s was viewed as “a most remarkable example of the success of the free church system”.
St. Luke’s set up a chapel in 1883. It became St. Bartholomew’s Church. The church had a choir early on. Women raised funds for the organ in 1865. A new organ was installed by January 1866. A concert was held with the choir of Trinity Church New York. The church boasted three choirs by 1885.
In 1943, St. Luke’s merged with St. Matthew’s. The merged churches became the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew. St. Matthew’s brought a stained glass window of the Apostle Matthew. It was installed in the chapel.
The Church of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew served as Brooklyn headquarters for Occupy Sandy relief efforts.
The Church of Saint Luke and Saint Matthew stands as a testament to resilience and community spirit, a landmark that has weathered storms and fires, and continues to serve its congregation and the wider world.