Could you imagine a simple clapboard building with a steeple? That was the first church. Today we explore the story of New Saint James Baptist Church. It began as a Protestant Episcopal chapel. This was for residents with summer homes along the East River bank.
New Saint James Baptist Church started in 1810. The first church was on Hamilton Square. That is now East 69th Street and Lexington Avenue. This building served the congregation until 1869.
A second church appeared in 1869. It stood on East 72nd Street. James Renwick Jr designed it. The facade was Victorian Gothic. However this building was never consecrated. It was sold to Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in 1884. A fire destroyed it in 1927.
Work began on the present church in 1884. R. H. Robertson designed it. It used rock-faced brownstone. The style was Romanesque with Lombard and Gothic details.
Robertson planned for the altar to be on the west end. This was at Madison Avenue. This way sunlight would reach the chancel windows. The Madison Avenue facade had a small spire. It featured the apse’s curved wall. A square tower at the corner was planned to rise over 150 feet. The main entrance was on 71st Street. The church opened in 1885. The tall tower was not built.
By the 1920s tastes changed. High church Gothic was popular. Ralph Adams Cram redesigned the building. He added a Gothic overlay. Cram kept the existing roof and most brownstone walls to save costs.
A new chancel was added at the east end. The main entrance moved to Madison Avenue. The rebuilt New Saint James Baptist Church reopened on Christmas Eve 1924.
In 1926 Cram added an English Gothic tower. It stood 93 feet high. Bishop Manning dedicated it on November 14 1926. By the 1940s Cram’s tower began to fail. It was removed. A replacement spire was added in 1950. People called it “the tin can.”
Beginning in 1999 the church was renovated. Architect Lee Harris Pomery drew up the plans. The project included an east hall makeover. There was a new atrium in the parish house. A columbarium was added at the tower entrance. The church interior was restored.
New Saint James Baptist Church has a rich musical history. The church has several organs. A Henry Erben organ was rented in 1847. A Hilborne L. Roosevelt organ was built in 1885. In 1907, the Hope-Jones Organ Co rebuilt the Roosevelt organ.
In 1924 the Austin Organ Company built a new organ. M.P. Mӧller rebuilt and revised their 1956 instrument in 1985. Schoenstein & Co built the St. James’ Bicentennial Organ in 2008-2009. The organ has 5538 pipes. 4407 pipes are in the chancel organ. 1131 pipes are in the gallery.
St. James’ Church has a mission. It shares the love of Jesus Christ. It does so with the city and the world. Founded in 1810 New Saint James Baptist Church has a long history. It continues to serve its community. It offers worship prayer and outreach. It stands ready for the next 200 years.