All Angels' Church

All Angels' Church is located on 251 West 80th Street in the Upper West Side of New York City. It is a member of the Episcopal Church in the United States and the Anglican Communion worldwide.

History^[1]

All Angels' parish was founded in the 1830s and the church itself was founded in 1846 by St. Michael's Episcopal Church. It was intentionally established as a mission-focused church, with the goal of ministering to residents living in Seneca Village, a free black neighborhood which would later become a part of Central Park. The first church building was wooden and housed a racially mixed congregation, including freed African American slaves and recent European immigrants. Approximately 270 African American residents of Seneca Village were among the 1,600 people evicted under eminent domain during 1857, for the creation of Central Park.^[2]

In 1856 All Angels' relocated to her new building—constructed two years later—on West End Avenue and 80th street. Its interior was altered in 1896 by Karl Bitter Studio. A 2005 reminiscence in The New York Times described the interior as spectacular:

Among its treasures was a two-and-a- half-story Tiffany window and a pulpit ringed with limestone angels that wrapped around the banister and paraded toward the top. There, a carved wooden angel leaned out and blew his trumpet into the center of the sanctuary. The pulpit is conserved in the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
There was a wonderful effect in the afternoon, when the setting sun, the afternoon sun, would hit the Tiffany window, which was on the northwest corner, and so it bathed the whole back end of the church in this very golden light, because there’s a lot of gold and gray-blue in that window. Of course you had oak pews, and you had the red carpeting, so all of that was made more golden out of the light.^[3]

The main church building was used until 1979, when it was demolished and replaced by a large apartment building.^[4] The congregation moved its worship to the parish house, at 251 West 80th Street.Services were moved to the parish house nearby, and have been held there ever since.

Ministry

The church holds morning and evening worship services every Sunday, with Holy Eucharist. The evening service invites homeless individuals from the community to join in worship. Following the service, the community shares in a meal together as a continuation of their Eucharist celebration. The church also holds a Sunday evening shelter, staffed by volunteers from the congregation. In addition to the community meal every Sunday, There is also a weekly program called Pathways, which provides showers, clothing, as well as social, medical, and psychiatric services for individuals who need them.^[5]

Besides large gatherings, All Angels' has a number of "house churches," located all throughout Manhattan, as well as individual ones in Jersey City, Bergen County, Queens, and Brooklyn, which foster community growth through sharing meals, studying Scripture, and group prayer. In many respects, these small group gatherings mirror the experiences of early Christian worship.^[6]

The ministry of the church also has children and youth programs. The Children's Ministry includes Sunday School, a separate worship service, as well as events throughout the year such as "Footsteps to the Cross" (a dramatic re-enactment of the events of Holy Week), and the Christmas Pageant.^[7] The Youth Ministry consists of a youth group for children in grades 6 through 12 to grow in fellowship with each other, other church members, and also with the community and wider world through social justice and outreach projects.^[7]

Staff

All Angels' Church experienced a renewal in the 1980s. The congregation has outreach activities to the local poor. Currently, All Angels' is led by Reverend Milind Sojwal. Rev. Sojwal was born and educated in India, where he attended seminary. He received further schooling in theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and came to All Angels' in 2000.

Vision

Motivated by the profound implications of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, All Angels' hopes to nurture not only a deep spirituality through worship and the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, but also a heart for selfless service and hospitality to others in need of healing. Because of this, the church has never strayed very far from its historical roots as a mission-focused congregation. The vision of All Angels' Church is outlined in greater detail at the church's website, but is also cited here:

The vision of All Angels' is to see people transformed by the gospel,
formed into the image of Christ,
and empowered for missional living.

References

Coordinates: 40°47′5.73″N 73°58′48.12″W / 40.7849250°N 73.9800333°W / 40.7849250; -73.9800333