St. Clement's Episcopal Church 423 West 46th Street
St. Clement's Episcopal Church, located just west of the Theatre District in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan, occupies a Victorian Gothic church originally built for the Faith Chapel of the West Presbyterian Church. Edward D. Lindsey designed the building, which was constructed from 1870 to 1872. Faith Chapel merged with Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church on West 66th Street, and the vacated building was used by St. Cornelius Episcopal Church, which then merged into St. Clement's Church.
St. Clement's Church was founded in 1830 and in 1831 built its first church at 108 Amity Street (renamed West Third Street in 1875) in Greenwich Village. St. Clement's moved to its present location in 1920, absorbing members of the Chapel of St. Chrysotom, which was the first mission chapel established by Old Trinity Church. In 1962, St. Clement's was reconfigured to include the Off-Broadway American Place Theatre, founded by the Rev. Sidney Lanier and Wynn Handman. In 1971, the American Place Theatre moved to its own home, but St. Clement's continued a notable theatre ministry, experienced every Sunday through its "Mass in the Theatre." The church is New York's oldest, continuously used, Off-Broadway theatre. | ||||||||
