What we’re about
Are you hungry for intellectual discussion, transcendent music, lively theatre, and social activism? Is your soul calling for a place to experience spiritual tranquility, with or without Sunday morning worship? Welcome to the Church of the Transfiguration, an historic church with progressive roots. Once a stop on the Underground Railroad, believed to be the first NYC church to allow funerals for actors and, more recently, site of the first same-sex wedding in the Episcopal Diocese of New York, Transfiguration has always been about welcome, inclusion, and sanctuary for all.
Transfiguration (nicknamed "The Little Church Around the Corner") is located at 1 East 29th Street in mid-town Manhattan, just a few blocks north of Madison Square Park. An Episcopal Church in the Diocese of New York, and part of the Worldwide Anglican Communion, we are led by the rector, the Rev. John David van Dooren (only the eighth rector in our 170 year history!). We also have several part-time clergy who support our varied worship and outreach ministries, and lead our study groups, and an elected vestry of parishioners from across the metropolitan area
We host concerts and theatrical performances and readings almost every week, as well as discussion groups, guided meditation, and other programs... many in partnership with the Episcopal Actors Guild that is headquartered here. We practice a form of worship called Anglo-Catholicism, which is a more traditional liturgy ("smells and bells"), while also practicing radical welcome to all who enjoy our gardens or enter our doors.
Our amazing Fisk organ is the centerpiece of our music program, which is led by Dr. Claudia Dumschat. We have the oldest men and boys choir in America, as well as four other choirs for adults and children, and are regularly honored by the talents of many of New York's finest classically-trained singers and musicians.
You are welcome to join us for worship, for a concert, for an Episcopal Actors Guild performance, for a special event, or just to sit in our lovely English country garden!
Worship is as follows:
Weekdays
Morning Prayer at 8:30 a.m. (via Zoom)
Mass on Wednesday and Friday at 12:10 p.m. (Wednesday includes the rite of healing)
Evening prayer at 5:10 p.m. (via Zoom)
Sunday worship is as follows:
Said Mass at 8:30 a.m.
Rosary at 9:30 a.m.
Children's Sunday School at 10:00 a.m. (via Zoom)
Solemn Mass (with music) at 11:00 a.m.
Please join us for worship, a concert, or any other event listed here. If you require the services of a member of our clergy (counseling, healing rites, hospital or hospice visit, confession, last rites) or want to inquire about baptism, confirmation, or marriage, please call the church office at 212-684-6770 during business hours.
