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The Rev. Dr. McVikar “having one Sunday…to pass through Stanton Street, encountered throngs of idle and destitute boys playing in the street or lounging. His heart was moved…and he reported the case to two Christian women who immediately placed in his hands seventy-five dollars saying: ‘We will have on that spot a mission church’. A room was sought, and with some difficulty obtained. It was a small, dark room over an engine house.”

Andrew Jackson is elected President. Manhattan’s population is 250,000. In June, cholera appears; 3,000 New Yorkers die within weeks. Crowded working-class neighborhoods below 14th Street— particularly the notorious Five Points Ward just blocks from Epiphany—are hit first.

First “free church” and mission chapel opens at 130 Stanton Street, located between Essex and Norfolk Streets. The Rev. Lot Jones is called as Rector.

New York City populace migrates northward with The New York and Harlem Line, extending horse car service up to 84th Street.

Rev. Lot’s sister-in- law, Harriet Beecher Stowe’s antislavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin is published.

The publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin has a profound effect on attitudes toward slavery and is said to have “helped lay the groundwork for the American Civil War.” It is the second best-selling book of the 19th century, following the Bible.

Epiphany moves uptown to 50th St., its third home, a small wooden church owned by Church of the Reformation. They exchange properties and Epiphany gets title to 228 East 50th St. Members of both churches became one congregation, retaining the name Church of the Epiphany. Uriah Tracy is called as Rector.

A new place of worship is needed as the wood begins to rot at the 50th Street building. Epiphany buys St. Alban’s, a stone church, “on favorable terms” on East 47th Street. This will be Epiphany’s home –its fourth — for the next twelve years.

In an effort to consolidate costs, Epiphany merges with St. John the Baptist, located at Lexington Avenue and 35th Street. It remains in its fifth location until 1936. The Church of the Epiphany again keeps its name, as it is the oldest of the two. The Rev. Dr. Cornelius Roosevelt Duffie, a wealthy New Yorker, is called as rector of the two churches. He serves the parish with little or no salary.

The Rev. William T. Crocker is called as rector. He serves until 1933— nearly one-third of the entire history of the church.

Epiphany moves to St. Thomas Chapel, 230 East 60th Street (now All Saints Episcopal Church). This is Epiphany’s sixth location until the new church is completed at 1393 York Ave at East 74th Street.

October 16: Epiphany’s 105th anniversary is celebrated. Parishioners, dignitaries and descendants of early congregants gather to lay the cornerstone of the new church.

October 29. Bishop Manning dedicates the new church at 74th St. and York Ave., at its first service, the 2nd Sunday after Trinity. The church is designed in a simplified Norman Gothic style by the firm Wyeth and King.

November 1 — A Society Benefit featuring Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo is held at the Metropolitan Opera House to raise money for the completion of the new church.

World’s Fair opens in Queens.
LaGuardia airport opens.
Germany invades Poland.

The Rev. Hugh D. McCandless is called as rector. He serves at Epiphany for 27 years.

Epiphany’s rector, the Rev. McCandless, preaches against the Vietnam War, declaring: “Every American, Vietnamese and even Vietcong men (sic) killed this summer in South Vietnam are my brothers. Every war is a civil war, a quarrel among brothers.”

Image: An Anti-War Protest in Central Park

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers a speech at Park Sheraton Hotel, commemorating the 100-year anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Epiphany’s neighborhood continues to change, as high rises are built near the York Avenue corridor.

The Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Rev. Constance Coles becomes the first woman curate at Epiphany, and the first woman ordained at the church. Epiphany celebrates its 40th Anniversary. Rector Emeritus McCandless reminds parishioners, “The essence of Epiphany is that it has been formed by its challenges…whatever the needs of the City were at that particular time.

The Rev. Andrew Mullins is called as rector, upon the recommendation of Rev. Zorowick. They had studied at General Theological Seminary together.

Epiphany joins Carpenter’s Kids — a program that provides school uniforms, supplies and breakfast for Aids/HIV orphans in Tanzania. Associate Rector Jennifer Reddall visits the school in August. Vacation Bible School (VBS) reestablished.

Lay Eucharistic Minister program launched, allowing laypersons to administer communion to hospital patients and home-bound parishioners.

Vacation Bible School (VBS) reestablished.

Construction resumes on the 2nd Avenue subway, a project proposed in 1929 and abandoned in the 1970s.

Associate Rector Jennifer A. Reddall is appointed rector at Epiphany when Rev. Mullins retires.

Dec: Rev. George Packard arrested for trespassing at Occupy Wall Street.

Occupy Wall Street, a protest movement against economic inequality begins in NYC’s financial district and spreads across the U.S. and globally. The protest gives rise to the slogan, “We are the 99%.”

Same-sex marriage is legalized in New York.

The Church of the Epiphany seeks a new location to accommodate congregational growth and needs. With the New York Diocese Bishop’s approval, Epiphany sells its building on York Avenue to Weill Cornell Medical Center and purchases Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, one block north at 351 East 74th St. The sale enables Epiphany to renovate its new place of worship and establish an endowment that will secure the parish’s financial future.

Rev. Reddall is elected the sixth bishop of the Diocese of Arizona, the first woman to serve in that position.

The Rev. Roy A. Cole is called as Interim Rector. Under his stewardship and working with the Vestry, renovation of Jan Hus Church begins.

Congregants participate in book clubs and workshops in response to the Diocese’s call for a Year of Apology to recognize and apologize for the Church’s culpability in supporting slavery.

Epiphany partners with the Carter Burden Network to host a lunch program for seniors 5 days a week.

The Rev. Elise Hanley is called as Associate Rector.

March: COVID spreads rapidly in NYC. Epiphany responds to COVID restrictions and begins online ZOOM church services as well as Bible Study and other
programs.

May: Ongoing civil unrest is triggered after the police murder of George Floyd – another unarmed black man. Epiphany displays its own Black Lives Matter banner on York Avenue.

New York City is one of the hardest hit U.S. cities at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, with nearly 2.5 million cases reported and 40,962 deaths. A long period of quarantine and isolation begins here and across the world.

Extensive renovation continues at 351 East 74th Street. COVID causes construction delays.

In-person services resume, with masking and social distancing guidelines followed; a live-stream option is available.

A vaccine is released by three different pharmaceutical companies, allowing life to return to some semblance of normal. A COVID-19 variant called Omicron appears in the Fall. While not as virulent as the first outbreak, hospital cases rise again in NYC.

Most renovation is complete and the scaffolding comes down at 351 East 74th Street.

May 12: The Holy Eucharist and Secularization of the Church at York Avenue is celebrated by Bishop Andrew M. Dietsche of the New York Diocese.

May 15: The last Eucharist is celebrated at York Avenue. Parishioners anticipate moving into their new church by the end of May.

June: Slow-moving city agencies cause further delay. The Day School has clearance to move in. The parish anticipates moving in by July.

Adding to the world’s strife, Russia invades Ukraine.

While COVID continues to spread; individuals choose their own precautions as mandates are lifted and vaccines are widely available.

A woman’s right to abortion is overturned by the Supreme Court