Saint Thomas Church

A Photo-Essay on Ecclesiastical Craftsmanship

Saint Thomas Church is at the corner of 5th Avenue and 53rd Street in the heart of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

Saint Thomas Church was incorporated as an Episcopal parish on January 9, 1824, an intentional merger of three separate parishes agreed upon months earlier. Its first edifice, located at the southeastern end of Greenwich Village, was completed in 1826, later suffering a fire on March 2, 1851 and subsequently being rebuilt the following year on the same site. With the character of the neighborhood coarsening over time, the parish eventually sought and acquired a new property further uptown for its third edifice, which was completed in 1870. Yet another fire destroyed all but its Tower in 1905, resulting in the fourth, current edifice constructed on the same property and consecrated on April 25, 1916.

The principal facade of the Church as seen from the east across 5th Avenue.

The Church as seen from the southeast.

Designed by Ralph A. Cram (1863–1942) and Bertram G. Goodhue (1869–1924), the current edifice features French High Gothic conventions and florid ornamentations in Flamboyant style, with sculptures of Biblical figures, Saints, and Anglican leaders adorning the facade. Its aesthetic grandeur was an unexpected consequence of compassion shown by Rev. Ernest Stires, Church Rector during 1901–25, who diverted the accumulated balance of the parish’s building fund to aid victims of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. This act provoked unsolicited donations to the parish throughout the nation that replenished the building fund beyond its original balance.

The southern facade of the Church as seen from across 53rd Street.

Left: The Tower in detail. Right: The ornamentations of the principal facade in detail.

The main entrance portal.

The Church’s exterior is made of Kentucky ashlar limestone from Bowling Green while its interior is made of Kentucky sandstone from South Carrollton, featuring a high Nave with Clerestory and open Triforium. As its architects wanted a historically authentic construction, the original structure was purely stone-on-stone, with load-bearing rib vaulting and no steel reinforcement. However, after the northern wall began to bulge years later, steel was added in 1925, with further additions in the 1930s beneath the Chancel as a precaution due to Subway construction.

Left: The interior of the Church as seen from within the Narthex. Right: One of the four consecrated Altars of the Church, part of its World War II Memorial, on the northern wall of the Narthex. The Eucharist is celebrated here on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Featured is a book of illuminations on parchment that lists the parishioners who served in the War, with names in red belonging to those that gave their lives. It is surmounted by a prayer of peace, flanked by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, and a wooden carving featuring enameled discs representing the branches of the armed services as well as busts of the Chiefs of Staff of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines.

Left: The floor of the Narthex, which is also part of the World War II Memorial. At its center is a world mosaic made of tan marble for the continents and glass for the bodies of water. The shields are also mosaics, representing the Allied Nations. Right: The coffered oak ceiling of the Narthex, supported by stone corbels. The inner four corbels shown represent the four seasons, while those at the corners, not shown, represent the four ancient Greek elements of earth, water, air, and fire.

The Adoration of the Magi, a painting attributed to Peter Paul Rubens (1577–1640), on the southeastern wall of the Church at the foot of the gallery stairs.

Beyond the grand Nave, the interior floor plan further yields two symmetrical Aisles and the Chantry Chapel, which is asymmetrically situated in its own arcade beyond the southern Aisle. The Church’s hallmark ornament is the Great Reredos, a massive sculpture designed by Goodhue and shaped by sculptor Lee Lawrie (1877–1963), which was inspired by the altar screen of Winchester Cathedral in England. The Reredos mirrors the motif of the Church’s facade in featuring Biblical figures, Saints, and Anglican leaders.

The Nave of the Sanctuary, with dimensions of a grand cathedral despite an otherwise limited land plot. The Church maximally measures 214 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 95 feet high at the crowns of the vaults, which are made of Guastavino tiles.

Left: Our Lady of Fifth Avenue at the eastern end of the southern Aisle, given in honor of Rev. Canon John Andrew’s (1931–2014) fifteenth anniversary as Rector in 1987. It is a bronze rendering by Mother Concordia Scott (1924–2014) of the Benedictine Order at Minster Abbey in Kent, England. Center: The World War I Memorial, adjacent to Our Lady and created by Lee Lawrie, featuring the Archangel Michael driving his Lance into Satan. The relief that crowns the portal depicts soldiers departing for the War, leaving Saint Thomas Church on the left, representing the United States, for Rheims Cathedral on the right, representing France. At the sides are names of the parishioners who served in the War, with the golden names at the top belonging to those who gave their lives. The shields on the wall represent the branches of the armed services, while the shields on the door represent the Allied Nations. Right: The Altar of St. Thomas, Apostle and patron saint, at the eastern end of the northern Aisle.

Left: The southern half of the Nave, with the Chantry Chapel running along the wall beyond the southern Aisle. Right: The northern half of the Nave. The grand stained glass windows above the Nave are 32 feet high and 18 feet wide. Most of the windows in the Church, except for two, were made by Whitefriars Glass Limited (James Powell & Sons).

The Chantry Chapel along the southern wall, used for daily Eucharists, baptisms, small weddings, and funerals. The floor tiles were made in Doylestown, Pennsylvania by Henry Mercer’s (1856–1930) Moravian Pottery & Tile Works, which also did the floor tiles of the Church’s Chancel.

The Chapel Chancel. The Spanish wooden sculpture at the left of the Blessed Virgin holding Child Jesus was carved in the 14th Century and polychromed in the 16th Century.

Left: The Chapel Altar, Tabernacle, and gilded, polychromed wooden Reredos in detail. The latter is Florentine in design, with its lower portion depicting the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, the marriage at Cana, and Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Its upper portion depicts the Annunciation. Right: The stone Baptismal Font built into the Altar railing of the Chapel Chancel, with small insets saved from the 1905 fire. Its octagonal cover is carved oak featuring plant motifs.

The nature of worship at the Church has varied through different periods of its history, but since the 1970s has been in line with high-church traditions. The Church is notably home to the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, the boys of which are enrolled at the Saint Thomas Choir School. The School is the only church-affiliated residential choir school in the United States, while the only other two in the world are Westminster Abbey Choir School in England and Escolania de Montserrat in Spain.

The Chancel of the Church, featuring two primary Organs, the High Altar following English preference, and the Great Reredos consistent with late English Gothic Perpendicular style. The Parapet is inset with mosaics of unpolished colored stones, with the northern segment behind the Pulpit depicting episodes from American history and the southern segment behind the Lectern depicting motifs related to Christ’s Church.

The High Altar, featuring a gilt Cross that survived the 1905 fire, and the Great Reredos in detail. As sculptor of the Reredos, Lee Lawrie shaped the figures to specifically reflect their personalities. As designer of the Reredos, Bertram Goodhue received the 1925 gold medal from the American Institute of Architects, but returned it requesting that Lawrie’s name be added as well.

Left: The carved oak Lectern on the southern side of the Chancel. Its bottom portion features Moses, Elijah, Job, and Isaiah, while its top portion features Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Right: The carved oak Pulpit, featuring nineteen famous preachers throughout history. Adjacent to the Pulpit is a Spanish wooden carving of Christ crucified from the late 16th or early 17th Century. It was given in memory of the World Trade Center victims of 9/11, dedicated in 2002 by The Most Reverend George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury. The carving is superimposed on a stone Latin Cross installed earlier from the Greek Chapel at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.

Left: The southern Chancel Organ (Great, Swell, Choir, Positive, Solo, Pedal) built by Dobson Pipe Organ Builders, Ltd. in 2018. Right: The northern Chancel Organ (Great, Positif, Vorwerk, Swell, Grand Choeur, Pedal) built and rebuilt by E.M. Skinner in 1913 and 1945. It was further revised by Æolian-Skinner Organ Company, Inc. in 1956, with additional work by Gilbert Adams in the late 1960s and by Mann & Trupiano Organ Builders in the early 1980s.

Left: The western terminus of the northern Aisle, featuring a smaller division of the northern Chancel Organ. Below it is the portal to the Chapel of the Resurrection. To the right of the portal is a Russian icon of Christ from the 18th Century. Right: The Chapel of the Resurrection as seen from its portal, completed in 1992 and designed by Gerald Allen & Associates. The cabinets enclose the Saint Thomas Columbarium, which contains 500 niches for cinerary urns of the faithfully departed. The reredos painting is by American artist Taber Sears (1870–1950).

In light of its Anglican heritage, the parish immediately reached out to local British expatriates after the 9/11 attacks, as its victims included many British citizens. This outreach resulted in a special interfaith service at the Church nine days later, which was broadcasted live throughout the United Kingdom with Prime Minister Tony Blair a featured speaker. Rev. Andrew C. Mead, the contemporary Church Rector, was later recognized by Queen Elizabeth II as an honorary Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on October 28, 2002.

The eastern end of the Nave, featuring the Rose Window and the Loening-Hancock Gallery Organ. The Window is 25 feet in diameter and reminiscent of the west rose of Amiens Cathedral (1221). The Organ (Hauptwerk, Oberwerk, Brustwerk, Pedal) was built by Taylor & Boody Organbuilders in 1996. Its case is inspired by 16th Century Dutch organ builders.

A reverse perspective on the Nave of the Sanctuary.

The story of Saint Thomas Church is manifestly one of craftsmanship beyond just that which is architectural, aesthetic, and choral. It is a testament to how, even with societal secularization, great worldly endeavors have continued to arise out of the realm of religion. From the compassion following the 1906 earthquake to the solidarity following 9/11, the Church’s history reveals that the spiritual and material rewards of temporal life are often not mutually exclusive, but positively entwined in the craftsmanship of gracious faith.

Saint Thomas Choir School is located on 58th Street between 7th Avenue and Broadway in Midtown Manhattan.

Most of the photos of the Church were taken on a single day utilizing both a standard zoom lens and a wide angle lens, the latter also utilized for the photo of the School that was taken on a separate day. The exception is the updated photo of the Great Reredos, which was incompletely lit on the first day of photography. Acknowledgments and gratitude go to the Parish for providing an elaborate self-guided tour pamphlet and to The Reverend Matthew Moretz, Associate Rector, for graciously reviewing the draft of this photo-essay.