| Church for All Nations | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian Gothic |
| Town or city | Manhattan, New York City |
| Country | U.S. |
| Construction started | 1885 |
| Completed | 1897 |
| Technical details | |
| Structural system | Structural red brick masonry with terra-cotta dressing |
| Design and construction | |
| Client | The Catholic Apostolic Church |
| Architect | Francis H. Kimball[1] |
The Church for All Nations, at 417 West 57th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1886-87 for the Catholic Apostolic Church, an English group which believed in an imminent Second Coming.[2] In 1995, with the congregation dwindling, the church was donated to the Lutheran Church, which rededicated it as the Church for All Nations.[2]
On February 7, 2001, the church was designated a New York City landmark.
Catholic Apostolics first began worshiping in New York City in 1848, utilizing a sanctuary at 126 West 16th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues.[2] By 1885, the congregation numbered around 400, and it purchased two lots for a new church "in a middling area of tenements and flats."[3]
The English-trained American architect Francis H. Kimball designed the Victorian Gothic Revival church in 1897. The design features deep red bricks and abundant terra-cotta ornamentation, typical of Kimball's noted style. The doorway arches deeply protrude from the church with molded terra-cotta leaves and angelic heads; the building is set back from the street by a black wrought-iron fence with flame-shaped posts.[3] It was praised by influential New York architectural critic Montgomery Schuyler, who wrote that there was "no more scholarly Gothic work in New York."[3]
By 1893, the church hosted two daily services, recorded in King's Handbook of New York City. Because of a lack of clergy in the greater Catholic Apostolic Church, the Episcopal priest Henry O. DuBois served as Angel of the church in conjunction with his Episcopal duties, until his death in 1949. When the church congregation diminished to a few members, it was decided to donate the structure to another church instead of allowing the structure to be adaptively reused for a secular purpose. In 1995, the church was donated to the Lutheran Life's Journey Ministries.[2]
The building has been described as "a superior work of urban architecture."[1]