St. John the Baptist Church (Manhattan)

Coordinates: 40°44′56″N 73°59′35″W / 40.748885°N 73.992953°W / 40.748885; -73.992953

Church of St. John the Baptist
31st Street facade of church and interior (2011)
General information
Architectural style	Gothic Revival of the French Gothic style (for 1871-1872 church) Brutalist (for monastery)
Town or city	Manhattan, New York City
Country	U.S.
Construction started	1840 (for first church);[1] 1847 (for second church);[1]1871 (for present church);[2] 1888 (for tower)[1]
Completed	1840 (for first church);[1] 1872 (for present church);[2][3] 1872 (for former monastery);[1] 1891 (for tower)[1] 1893 (for "casino")[1]
Demolished	1847 (for first church fire)[1]
Cost	$175,000 (for 1871-1872 church)[2]
Technical details
Structural system	Sandstone masonry
Design and construction
Client	Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
Architect	Napoleon Le Brun (for 1871-1872 church)[2][3]

The Church of St. John the Baptist is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 211 West 30th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the Fur District^[3] of the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. To the church's rear is the Capuchin Monastery of St. John the Baptist, located at 210 West 31st Street across from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden.

History

The parish was established in 1840 as the second parish to serve German Catholics in New York after St. Nicholas' Church, which was establishe in 1833.^[1][4] "Both German [parishes] had lay trustees that were so overbearing that they drove out several pastors."^[2] The first church erected was a small timber structure.^[2] It was dedicated 20 September 1840.^[1] The first pastor was the Rev. Zachary Kunze, O.F.B., who following disharmony with the lay Board of Trustees resigned in 1844.^[1] Rev. Kunze left with a portion of the congregation and founded the Midtown Manhattan Church of St. Francis of Assisi.^[1] The problems were so great with the Board of Trustees that following the resignation of Fr. Kunze, the parish of St. John the Baptist was under interdict until 1845 when the Rev. J.A. Jakob became its second pastor. More disagreements ensued and the church was again closed in June 1846. It variously reopened with different ministers but swiftly burned in 10 January 1847.^[1][2]

Archbishop John Hughes laid the cornerstone for a new brick church on the site on the 14th of March 1847. Until 1851, pastorship of the parish was assumed by the Church of the Nativity until Rev. Joseph Lutz was appointed pastor. Four months later, the parish was again under interdiction. Fr. Lutz explained: "On account of the obstinacy of the parishioners this church was closed and the administration of the Sacraments prohibited by order of His Grace, November 24, 1851." Rev. P. J. Matschejewski arrived as pastor on 7 March 1852 but remained only two weeks. "Rev. Augustine Danter, O.M.Cap., was appointed in 1852 and remained until 1869 when he was obliged to retire and the church remained close for some months."^[1]

In response to the many disputes, Archbishop John Cardinal McCloskey suppressed St. John the Baptist in 1870 and requested the Capuchin Friars assume control of the resurrected parish.^[2] Under the Capuchins, especially the first Capuchin pastor, the Swiss-born Father Bonventura Frey, parish animosity dissipated. Under Fr. Frey, the German congregation began to erect the present substantial church.^[2] Fr. Frey left in 1879 to become the Provincial of the Capuchins, and moved to Calvary, Wisconsin,^[1] but returned from 1888 to 1891 to prepare the parish for its Golden Jubilee.^[1] In 1914, The Catholic population of the parish was 1,500.^[1]

Buildings

The present French Gothic-style stone church was built between 1871 and 1872 to the designs of the prolific ecclesiastical architect Napoleon LeBrun^[2], architect of several New York Catholic churches as well as the cathedral in Philadelphia.^[3] The cornerstone was laid by Fr. Frey on Pentecost Sunday, June 4^[2] or June 11^[1] of 1871. The church is 165 feet long and 67 feet wide, originally accommodating 1,200 people, and costing $175,000 to construct^[2]

Fr. Frey returned to the parish in 1888 and built the central bell tower in preparation for the church's Golden Jubilee held on 18-19 January 1891 and marked by Archbishop Michael Corrigan, Bishop Wigger of Newark, Archbishop-elect Katzer of Milwaukee and Abbott H. Pfraengle of Newark.^[1] The tower has a carillon of five swinging bells cast by the J.G. Stuckstede & Brothers Foundry in St. Louis, Missouri.^[2] The peal still rings each day. The church was dedicated on June 23, 1872, by Archbishop John Cardinal McClosky, the first American cardinal.^[2]

The Capuchin Convent of St. John the Baptist on 31st Street, facing Madison Square Garden

The church's organ and choir gallery, as well as a number of statues and stained-glass windows, were destroyed in a fire on January 10, 1997. The damage was repaired and the organ was replaced with an electronic one.^[2]

According to bronze memorial plaques affixed to the wall of the narthex, for the 160th anniversary of the parish and the Great Jubilee Year of 2000, the bell tower was restored by funds provided by Antonio D'Urso and his wife Giovanna Parpo in 2000. The rededication of the St. Joseph, Ave Maria, St. Clare, St. Fidelis Bells were the gift of Kevin Ward, blessed November 30, 1890 by Archbishop McClosky and rededicated November 7, 1998, by Father Bernard Smith, O.F.M, Cap., the Provincial of the Capuchins.

The AIA Guide to NYC (2010) described the church as "...a Roman Catholic Trinity. The interior of white, radiates light. Worth a special visit."^[3]

The brown brick Capuchin Monastery of St. John the Baptist was built in 1974^[5] in the Brutalist style.

School

Fr. Frey had opened a school in a hotel on Sixth Avenue with 50 children during the winter of 1870-1871.^[1] An additional floor was added to the rectory to accommodate the school and the Brothers of Mary, who were in charge of the boys.^[1] The Sisters of St. Dominic were in charge of the girls. A four-storey-over-basement Collegiate Gothic monastery block of four bays wide and two bays deep was built behind the church, opening 19 April 1872.^[1] The casino for young men was opened 7 April 1893.^[1] In 1914, the school had 160 male pupils and 200 female pupils, in the charge of four Brothers of Mary and six Sisters of St. Dominic, respectively.^[1]

References

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x} Lafort, Remigius, S.T.D., Censor, The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.338.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} "St. John the Baptist's Church" on the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists website (Accessed 4 February 2011)
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} White, Norval, Willensky, Elliot with Leadon, Fran. AIA Guide to New York City. Fifth Ed. American Insitute of Architects New York Chapter Series. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), p.278. ISBN 9780195383867.
4. ^ Dunlap, David W., From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.) p. 215-216.
5. ^ New York City Geographic Information System map

External Links

• "St. John the Baptist" on the New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists website