A Walk through Ossining – Calvary Baptist Church Annex

According to “Village of Ossining Significant Sites and Structures Guide, Page 85“:

The Calvary Baptist Church Annex, originally built as the rectory for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, was constructed in 1864 to house the congregation’s minister. When the congregation moved to its current site in the Town of Ossining in 1958, the Annex was purchased by the publishers of the Citizen Register newspaper, who used the building for their offices. In 1973, the newspaper donated the Annex to the Baptist congregation that owns and operates the Calvary Baptist Church today.

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Sigma 18-50mm f2.8

A Walk through Ossining – Calvary Baptist Church

According to “Village of Ossining Significant Sites and Structures Guide, Page 35“:

The Calvary Baptist Church, constructed in 1834 and originally named St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, is the oldest surviving religious buildings in the Village. The lot on which the church sits was purchased for $800 from Richard Austin, a Sing Sing-based lawyer who also built the house that shares his name located at 196 Croton Avenue (see Richard Austin entry). The Church was built when Ossining was at its peak as an industrial center in Westchester County and was built to house the growing Episcopal congregation in Ossining, which occupied the site for more than 100 years until moving to a larger site on Ganung Drive in the Town of Ossining in the mid 1950s. In 1958, the building was purchased by the Baptist congregation that occupies the site today. The Church is also one of the few surviving buildings designed by Calvin Pollard (1797-1850) in New York State. Pollard, who is best known for his involvement in the design of Brooklyn Borough Hall in New York City, also served as Benjamin Brandreth’s architect when he designed and built one of the first structures within the Brandreth Pill Factory complex.

The Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as architecturally significant for its status as the best preserved early Gothic Revival church in Westchester County. The Church was added to the National Register in 1978. It is also historically significant as the
oldest church in Ossining. The Church Annex, located across the street from the Church, was also inducted to the National Register under the same entry.

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Sigma 18-50mm f2.8

A Visit to Boston – Day Three – Trinity Church

According to the history section of the church’s website:

Trinity Church in the City of Boston is recognized for its National Historic Landmark building, considered by members of the American Association of Architects as one of this country’s top 10 buildings. The parish that calls it home was actually founded in 1733, more than 150 years before the current church was built.

TRINITY’S RECTORS
Phillips Brooks, Rector from 1869-1891, is considered the greatest American preacher of the 19th century; his sermons are still read. His Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” is how most Americans might know him today. Other influential Rectors known for their preaching have included the Rev. Theodore Parker Ferris (1942-1972) and the Rev. Spencer Rice (1982- 1992).

THE BUILDING
The famous Copley Square building is the third home to this parish. The first two were located in what is now the Downtown Crossing area of Boston. After the second church was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1872, Brooks moved the parish to Boston’s new Back Bay neighborhood, a recently land-filled marsh.

The builders of the existing Trinity Church—Phillips Brooks, H. H. Richardson, John La Farge, Robert Treat Paine, Sarah Wyman Whitman and many others—envisioned the new space for worship unlike any other. The stunning result catapulted this new church building into the first rank of American art and architecture.

The needs of the parish have changed over the years. In the late 1990s, under the leadership of its Rector, the Rev. Samuel T. Lloyd, the parish launched another ambitious building project. Much needed common space for programs and ministries—today’s Undercroft—was created by excavating more than 13,000 square feet below the church. The adjoining Parish House was renovated, and Aeolian-Skinner organs repaired. At the same time, innovative, eco-sensitive new technologies were installed for the heating/cooling systems.

MURALS AND STAINED GLASS WINDOWS RESTORATION
Painter John La Farge aimed to create “the feeling that you are walking into a painting” with his murals that cover nearly every inch of Trinity’s church interior. By 2000, the ravages of pollution and natural elements had begun to damage this priceless artwork. Ten stained glass windows were also in need of care. Conservation specialists stabilized and cleaned surfaces in the Central Tower in addition to restoring and preserving priceless murals while stained-glass experts cleaned and releaded ten windows. The rest of the church interior needs similar care.

SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY
Thriving outreach ministries have been as much a part of Trinity’s DNA as its architecture, preaching, teaching, and pastoral care. With our baptismal vows, we promise to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to strive for justice, peace, and dignity among all people. These ministries have often reflected the needs of the time—job training and child care for recent immigrants, responding to health crises such as tuberculosis and AIDS, feeding the hungry, and helping to house the elderly and homeless.

Trinity has long been a leader in establishing transformational programs for people in the city. Many of these programs continue as independent entities today. Trinity Church Home for the Aged, founded in 1910, is an offshoot of parish ministry. It now serves the community as Sherrill House, a nonprofit skilled nursing and rehabilitation facility. In the 1980s, AIDS Support Committee’s work led to the founding of Trinity Hospice, and a new residence for HIV-positive clients. In partnership with Pine Street Inn, another Trinity ministry known as Yearwood House that was established in 2007 provides independent housing to previously homeless persons.

Perhaps most notably, in the 1990s Trinity established two programs that have continued to grow and support Boston’s youth. Trinity Education for Excellence Program (TEEP) and Trinity Boston Counseling Center (TBCC), became part of the Trinity Boston Foundation (TBF), which was established in 2007 as an affiliated nonprofit organization to grow these programs with additional support from outside the parish

Below: reflection of Trinity Church in a neighboring building.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS

A Visit to Boston – Day Three – Old South Church

“Old South Church in Boston, Massachusetts, also known as New Old South Church or Third Church, is a historic United Church of Christ congregation first organized in 1669. Its present building was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Charles Amos Cummings and Willard T. Sears, completed in 1873, and amplified by the architects Allen & Collens between 1935–1937. The church, which was built on newly filled land in the Back Bay section of Boston, is located at 645 Boylston Street on Copley Square. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural significance as one of the finest High Victorian Gothic churches in New England.[3] It is home to one of the oldest religious communities in the United States.” (Wikipedia, which also provides much more information)

Additional information on the history of the church can also be found on the church’s website.

Again, I would have liked to explore the interior, but didn’t have the time.

Taken with a Sony A6000 and 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 OSS

All Saints-Day Service at All-Saints Episcopal Church, Briarcliff Manor

This pleasant old church stands about two blocks away from my house.

All Saints’ Episcopal Church is a historic Episcopal church in Briarcliff Manor, New York. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002. John David Ogilby, whose summer estate and family home in Ireland were the namesakes of Briarcliff Manor, founded the church in 1854. The church was built on Ogilby’s summer estate in Briarcliff Manor.

Richard Upjohn designed the church building, which was constructed from 1848 to 1854 and expanded in 1911. The church has several memorial windows, including one by John LaFarge and a rose window by Frederick Wilson of Tiffany Studio.

The church’s opening service was held on December 13, 1854, and Ogilby donated the church’s current building and grounds in 1863. He gave the church its first name, “All Saints’ Church, Brier Cliff, Sing Sing, N. Y.”, naming his property Brier Cliff after his family home in Ireland. In 1910, the church building was enlarged to the present cruciform shape, and it was consecrated on November 1, 1911. In 1945, the church purchased property to the north and east of the building; a parish hall was built there in 1949 and dedicated on January 29, 1950.

Notable rectors include Thomas Hazzard and John Adams Howell.) Hazzard was the founder of Hope Farm, and was a football player and coach, as well as a minister, dairy farmer, treasurer, and missionary in Liberia. John Adams Howell invented the Howell torpedo and other naval devices; he was also a rear admiral in the US Navy.

The church building was designed by architect Richard Upjohn and built between 1848 and 1854. The church was modeled on Saint Andrew’s in Bemerton, England, and it is an example of the modest English Gothic parish church popular in the region during the mid-19th century.

The building was originally designed with a simple rectangular nave with a high-pitched slate-covered gable roof and exterior walls of random-coursed granite ashlar in the Gothic Revival style. A transept and enlarged chancel were added in 1911. There is a metal steeple at the gable crossing. Memorial windows include one by John LaFarge (1889) and a rose window “Adoration of the Magi” (1911) by Frederick Wilson of Tiffany Studios. Also on the property is a Stick Style rectory dated to 1883 and an Arts and Crafts-style Old Parish Hall built in 1904. (Wikipedia).

I have been for some time meaning to make a photograph about this church. Over time I’ve taken photographs of the exterior; the interior; the rectory; the gardens; the parish hall etc. I thought I was just about finished when I realized that I didn’t actually have any pictures of people: the congregation and the staff. I went over and spoke to Rev. Kevin Veitinger who invited me to come to the All-Saints Day Service to take some pictures. These are what I came up with.















Taken with a Sony A7IV and Rokinon/Samyang AF 75mm f1.8 FE