Stephen H. Tyng

Stephen H. Tyng

The former Dr. Tyng's Church, Madison Avenue, New York
Nationality USA
Occupation Clergy
Known for Episcopal Church evangelical preacher in New York City

Stephen Higginson Tyng (born March 1, 1800, died September 3, 1885), was an Episcopal Church evangelical preacher in New York City. He recognized that a new urban ministry was needed in parts of the city with growing numbers of immigrants. He instituted social service programs as well as altering church interiors to make people feel more welcome.

Born March 1, 1800, in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and a graduate of Harvard University in 1817, Tyng had a strong conversion experience that led him to leave business to pursue the ministry. With Bishop Griswold as his advisor, Tyng studied theology, and ultimately, married the Bishop's daughter, Anne. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Jefferson College in 1832, and by Harvard in 1851.

Tyng was considered to be one of the most notable preachers of the time,[1] and leader in the evangelical wing of the Episcopal Church. Tyng was the rector at Church of the Epiphany, Philadelphia, before relocating to New York City in 1845. He was pastor of St. George's Episcopal Church for 33 years from 1845 through 1878. Initially St. George's was affiliated with Trinity Church and located in Lower Manhattan at Beekman and Cliff Streets, near Wall Street. Tyng converted J.P. Morgan to the faith who in turn helped build a new church on East 16th Street and Rutherford Place, facing Stuyvesant Square in New York. Under Tyng, the new St. George served the rich and the poor together, with 2,000 children in its Sunday School, and funds raised and sent to four churches in Africa and a school in Moravia [1]. In 1865 the church suffered a major fire and Tyng supervised reconstruction after a fire.[2] Under his instructions, the interior of the rebuilt church reflected his views: the altar, for instance, was a plain communion table.[3] The architect supervising the interior remodeling was Leopold Eidlitz.[1][1][4]

One of his sons, also named Stephen Tyng, founded in 1874 the now demolished Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, commonly referred to as Dr. Tyng's Church. The former Episcopal parish church was located on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue and 42nd Street, "just a block from Grand Central Station." Tyng used the architect Leopold Eidlitz for a High Victorian hybrid design of the German Romanesque. He was described as the "hardworking churchman, the younger Stephen H. Tyng, who organized it in 1874."[5] In 1895 the parish merged with St. James's Episcopal Church, and Holy Trinity was deconsecrated, sold and demolished.[6] Stephen Higginson Tyng died on September 3, 1885, in Irvington-on-Hudson, Westchester County, New York.

Tyng is the namesake of American industrialist Stephen Tyng Mather (July 4, 1867 – January 22, 1930).

References

  1. ^ a b c New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. Guide to New York City Landmarks (4th ed.) New York:Wiley, 2009. ISBN 978-0-470-28963-1, pp.85-86
  2. ^ Burrows & Wallace, p.1171
  3. ^ Federal Writers' Project. New York City Guide. New York: Random House, 1939 ISBN 0-403-02921-X (Reprinted by Scholarly Press, 1976; often referred to as WPA Guide to New York City), p.190
  4. ^ White, Norval & Willensky, Elliot (2000). AIA Guide to New York City (4th ed.). New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 0812931076. , p. 209
  5. ^ Nathan Silver, Lost New York, (New York: Weathervane Books, 1967), p.149
  6. ^ Church of the Holy Trinity (Episcopal), American Guild of Organists New York City Chapter. Retrieved 2010-11-25.