St. George's Church (Flushing, New York)

St. George's Church is an intercultural, multilingual Episcopal

Episcopal Church (United States)

The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...

congregation in Flushing, New York with members from over twenty different nations of origin. A landmark church, it has served an ever changing congregation for over 300 years.

History

St. George's was organized in 1702 as a mission of the Church of England

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. The group consisted of the Rev. George Keith, the Rev. John Talbot, and the Rev. Patrick Gordon, who was sent to be the missionary to Jamaica, Long Island. Keith, a former Quaker, went into Flusing's Quaker Meeting House in September 1702, announced his presence as a missionary, and engaged in both preaching and debate. This happened several times, and the subsequent early history of St. George's is intertwined with the history of Grace Church, Jamaica

Grace Episcopal Church Complex (Queens, New York)

Grace Episcopal Church Complex is a historic Episcopal church complex at 155-15 Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens, New York, New York. The complex includes the church, parish house, and cemetery. The church was built between 1861 and 1862. It is constructed of rough-cut sandstone and features a...

, which was where the first Rector, the Rev. Patrick Gordon, resided. Gordon was succeeded in 1704 by the Rev. William Urquhart. Urquhart held services in Jamaica one week, and would then rotate the following weeks to Flushing and then Newtown (Elmhurst). The community in Jamaica grew into Grace Church

Grace Episcopal Church Complex (Queens, New York)

; the one in Flushing became St. George's; and the one in Newtown became St. James

St. James Church, Elmhurst

St. James Church, also known as Church of England in America; Mission Church at Newton; St. James Protestant Episcopal Church; Parish Hall; Community Hall, is a historic Episcopal church at 86-02 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, New York.It was built in 1735 and is the oldest surviving Anglican...

. Services were conducted in the old Guard House until 1746 when the first church building was constructed. A certain "John Aspinwall, Gentleman" donated ￡600 for a steeple and bell in 1760. Francis Lewis

Francis Lewis

Francis Lewis was a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York....

, a signer of the Declaration of Independence

Declaration of independence

A declaration of independence is an assertion of the independence of an aspiring state or states. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another nation or failed nation, or are breakaway territories from within the larger state...

, was a Warden at St. George's Church, 1765–1790, and his son, Francis Lewis, Jr., was a Warden from 1791-1794. The official union of the three parishes lasted for a century, and ended with the resignation of the Rev. Rattoone, when the vestry of St. George's decided to unite with Newtorn in hiring the Rev. Clarke in 1803. In 1809, the Rev. Clarke withdrew to Newtown, leaving Flushing without a rector and marking St. George's independence.

A second church was built in 1821 and the present church structure, the third on the site, was built in 1854. It was designed by Henry C. Dudley (1813–1894) and Frank Wills

Frank Wills (architect)

Frank Wills was a British-born architect who is associated with the design of early Gothic Revival churches in North America.-Biography:Frank Wills was born in Exeter, Devon England in 1822, where he started working under John Hayward, he was a member of the Exeter Architectural Society, and his...

(1822–1857), architects who were associated with The New York Ecclesiological Society, in the Neo-Gothic style. The great tower bell was recast at Troy, New York

Troy, New York

Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...

, using the metal from the original bell, and still bore the inscription "The gift of John Aspinwall, Gentleman, 1760." The parish received a Royal Charter from King George III of Great Britain, dated June 17, 1761. After the American Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

, the "Prayer for the King" in the church's prayer book

Book of Common Prayer

The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...

was covered over with the "Prayer for the President."

As church attendance and membership began to decline and the population of Flushing changed with the influx of immigrants from Latin America and Asia, St. George's began to reach out to the new immigrants. In 1988, the Rev. Dr. Franco Kwan was hired to provide outreach to the Asian community and to be the Vicar for the Chinese-speaking members of the congregation. Similarly, a part-time priest from another parish in the diocese was brought in to be the Vicar for the Spanish-speaking members of the congregation. Over the years, some critics have pointed out that the three bodies that make up St. George's (i.e., English-, Chinese-, and Spanish-speaking congregations) share a building but do not interact enough. Because of his success in revitalizing the parish, the vestry of St. George's attempted to hire the Rev. Dr. Franco Kwan as its permanent Rector in October 1996, and the New York Times even published an article about the new Rector. Fr. Kwan's appointment, however, was rejected by the Rt. Rev. Orris G. Walker, Jr., Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island

Episcopal Diocese of Long Island

The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island is the diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America with jurisdiction over the counties of Kings, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk, which comprise Long Island, New York...

. Subsequently, three clergy from the diocese and twenty members of St. George's congregation signed a canon law complaint against Bishop Walker, alleging that the Bishop violated the Constitution and Canons of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Bishop Walker denied the charges, and a Review Panel of Bishops appointed by the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop ruled in favor of Bishop Walker. A motion to reconsider the decision was denied. The parish continues to hold trilingual services to mark special occasions, with readings done in English, Chinese, and Spanish, and copies of sermons distributed in those languages.

The church, the Old Parish House and the Graveyard along the side of the church were officially designated as the Landmarks by the Landmarks Preservation Committee of the City of New York in 2000. St. George's celebrated its tercentenary in 2002.

On September 16, 2010, a severe wind and thunderstorm destroyed the church's forty-five foot wooden steeple which crashed down on top of two New York City Transit buses parked on Main Street in Flushing. It was unknown whether the destruction was caused by the 100+ mile per hour winds or a reported lightning strike.

List of Rectors

Rev. George Keith, 1702
Rev. Patrick Gordon, 1702
Rev. William Urquhart, 1704–1709
Rev. Thomas Poyer, 1710–1731
Rev. Thomas Colgan, 1733–1755
Rev. Samuel Seabury, 1757–1765
Rev. William Hammell, 1790–1795
Rev. Elijah D. Rattoone, 1797–1802
Rev. Abram L. Clarke, 1803–1809
Rev. Barzillai Buckley, 1809–1820
Rev. John V. E. Thorne, 1820–1826
Rev. Dr. William A. Muhlenberg, 1826–1829
Rev. Dr. William H. Lewis, 1829–1833
Rev. Dr. J. Murray Forbes, 1833–1834
Rev. Samuel R. Johnson, 1834–1835
Rev. Dr. Robert B. Van Kleeck, 1835–1837
Rev. Dr. Frederic J. Goodwin, 1837–1844
Rev. George Burcker, 1844–1847
Rev. Dr. J. Carpenter Smith, 1847–1898
Rev. Henry D. Waller, 1898–1921
Rev. William C. Cravner, 1921–1924
Rev. Dr. George F. Taylor, 1925–1930
Rev. Dr. Hubert S. Wood, 1931–1943
Rev. Canon Dr. Dougald L. Maclean, 1943–1984
Rev. James Anderson, 1984-1987 [Interim]
Rev. Peter A. Jacobsen, 1987–1993
Ven. L. Roper Shamhart, 1994-1995 [Interim]
Rev. Nathan Wright, Jr., 1996 [Interim]
Ven. L. Roper Shamhart, 1996-1998 [Interim]
Rev. Canon Edmund B. Der, 1999-2002 [Interim]
Rev. Edward C. Kienzle, 2002–2004
Rt. Rev. Richard L. Shimpfky, 2005-2009 [Interim]
Rev. Shawn Duncan, 2010–Present [Interim]

History

List of Rectors

External links

See also