‘Vulnerable’ church commits to redevelopment deal

The lay leaders of the Church of the Mediator voted to approve a promissory note last week, setting out a 24-month timeline to close on a deal to redevelop the property and begin paying back $661,501 in debt and deferred expenses to the Episcopal Diocese of New York.

The vestry vote took place Oct. 16, junior warden Mathew Ford confirmed in a phone call with The Riverdale Press, and it met again Oct. 18 to gather notes and comments to tweak some of the language in the promissory note.

The changes they will suggest are in reference to some of the milestones laid out in a timeline, such as when the church will complete an appraisal, environmental and feasibility studies, and a draft request for proposal to send to prospective developers. In signing the promissory note, the church’s 80 or so current members will agree to close on a property transaction within two years.

Priest-in-Charge Luis Enrique Gomez did not participate in the vote, Ford said, a part of the procedure that previously caused some dispute.

Ford also said the vestry submitted some comments about a monthly contribution they will make to help pay diocesan director of property services Egbert Stolk’s salary during the two-year planning process.

“I haven’t been through this process before,” Ford said. “We’re relying on Egbert to guide us through the technicalities. I think it’s reasonable that we make some contribution.”

Before religious corporations in New York can lease or sell their property, they need to file a court petition demonstrating approval of the plan from multiple levels of church leadership. Court records show a number of historic churches in Harlem, the Bronx, and Brooklyn have gone through process in recent years, such as St. Luke’s in Harlem and St. Martin’s in Brooklyn, which were also designated “vulnerable” before development plans got underway.

Senior warden Rufus Sadler, who has been attending services at the Church of the Mediator for 30 years, said the change will be difficult.

“People like stuff, but we’re supposed to like the word,” Sadler said. “This building is about a hundred years old, but the word is a time capsule that’s more than 2,000 years old.”

Sadler was baptized and confirmed in St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Brooklyn, he said, and came to the Mediator when he moved to the Bronx. He was soon joined by his sister, vestry member Lydia Sadler, some decades ago.

The church’s Tiffany stained-glass windows depicting Booker T. Washington and Jane Addams are among its many architectural treasures. The figures gaze down into the sanctuary from a mosaic of twinkling glass panes, a few of which have cracked and burst over the decades.

The reredoses behind the church’s high altar were carved by English craftsman George Tinworth. The 1,176-pipe Boston Skinner organ, built in 1923, is still used in Sunday services today.

The weekly food bank that serves about 300 people on Friday afternoons has been paused while the Food Justice Ministry searches for a new director while the previous one is out on medical leave, according to junior warden Ford.

“Just to be clear, this wasn’t about funding,” Ford said. “We immediately started seeking someone to take over that position, but it’s hard to find someone that has that much time for volunteer work. This is a temporary pause.”

A schedule of deferred payments included in an unsigned copy of the promissory note shared with The Press shows the church’s mounting debts to the diocese, beginning in 2016 with $11,001 in unpaid disbursements. 

Abigail Nehring is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.