Historic church's prayers for funds are answered

By Maria Clark

In Marble Hill, the church on the corner is finally getting its long-awaited exterior makeover.

For more than a year, members of St. Stephen’s congregation have spearheaded an effort to raise $50,000 towards renovations to the exterior of the 111- year-old church.

They were able to meet that goal and even exceed it, collecting $52,382.30. The church will also receive an additional $250,000 from the Park Avenue United Methodist Chruch Trust Fund and the United Methodist City Society with the expectation that St. Stephen’s will raise a total of $100,000 toward the renovation.

“Right now people walk past the church and don’t look at it twice,” said St. Stephen’s Rev. Nathaniel Dixon. “Soon everyone will get to see how beautiful this place is.”

With stained glass windows, a bell tower and an inner sanctuary adorned with an elegant sloping wood ceiling, St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church, located on the corner of West 228th Street and Marble Hill Avenue is arguably one of the most beautiful buildings in the community.

Urban Ellis, 78, a member of the congregation and the chairman of the restoration committee, said that the sanctuary, designed by architect Alexander McMillan Welch, is intended to look like the interior of an inverted ship.

But it’s the exterior of the church that is in dire need of restoration.

Weathered shingles have rotted off of the outer walls of the building. Though you can still catch a glimpse of their original beauty, the rose stained-glass windows that adorn the beloved sanctuary, where prayers are whispered and jazz music is played, also need a little care

Rev. Dixon says that eventually, the congregation also plans to fix the lighting, repair the worn-down flooring in the sanctuary and add wheelchair accessible ramps.

The church selected a Long Island City-based contracting firm, Fifty Three Restorations Inc., to head the renovations. Vincent Lepre, the director of the firm, told members of the restoration committee that repairs could start as soon as March and should take no longer than four months.

Scaffolding should go up around the church by the end of February, according to Mr. Lepre.

Although the church has managed to raise enough to begin restorations, they are still short of the $337,000 price tag necessary to complete the restoration on the north and west outer-walls. They are currently seeking support from local organizations and individuals.

Dr. William Shillady, the executive director of the United Methodist City Society, called the church “a beautiful jewel” at a meeting attended by project architect Jim Taylor, Rev. Dixon, Mr.Lepre, and members of the restoration committee.

“You have a unique place here. It’s worth protecting,” said Dr. Shillady.

Now boasting a congregation of up to 75 members, St. Stephen’s offers a music school on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and lively jazz concerts every Wednesday led by veteran jazz musician Rev. Dixon himself. The church is also planning a college preparatory course with the collaboration of Manhattan College.

Mr. Taylor has worked diligently to find a contractor who could return the building to its 1897 good looks.

“There is a strong relationship between this building and the community. By restoring it you are going to be adding something to the community and improving the fabric of the city,” he said.