Flushing
New York
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St. George's Church
Organized As A Mission Of The Church Of England by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, its first meetings were held in Flushing in 1702. Services were conducted in the old Guard House until 1746 when the first church was builtCoriginally with no steeple or bell. A certain "John Aspinwall, Gentleman" donated 600 for those items in 1760.
Mr. Aspinwall later helped establish a Latin School, which became the Academy in 1803, a precursor to the Flushing school system. A charter was granted to St. George's by King George III in 1761, the first year of his reign.
Francis Lewis, a signer of the Declaration of Independence was a warden of the church from 1765 to 1790. The Right Reverend Samuel Seabury who was rector of St. George's from 1757 to 1765, became the first bishop of the Episcopal Church in America.
The second church was built in 1821 (with the original bell), and the third (the present one) in 1854. It was designed by the architects Henry Dudley and Frank Wills, associated with The New York Ecclesiological Society, with interest in the development of Gothic Architecture as a new style (Neo-Gothic) for American churches. Local craftsmen were engaged and regional materials were used. The great tower bell was recast at Troy, NY, using the metal from the original bell, and still bore the inscription "The gift of John Aspinwall, Gentleman, 1760."
The Rev. Doctor William August Muhlenberg, famous as an educator, was rector from 1826 to 1829. The longest rectorship was that of the Rev. Doctor John Carpenter Smith, who served from 1847 to 1897, and was greatly loved in the parish and community. The Rev. Canon Dougald L. Maclean served the second longest. He was in the rectorship for forty-one years.
For Almost Three Centuries, This Church Served immigrants from England, Germany, and Holland and their descendants. The Flushing community, however, has changed greatly in recent years. The number of African-Americans, West Indians, Asians, Africans and Hispanics has steadily increased, and the white, English-speaking population decreased proportionately. St. George's has changed to accommodate the new conditions. We had started a Chinese service in 1988 and a Hispanic service in 1993, a truly multicultural church. Our beautiful church building and Old Parish House have been officially designated as the Landmarks by the Landmarks Preservation Committee of the City of New York.
The dignity and beauty of the church's interior, which attains the loftiness and grandeur of the great cathedrals; the beautiful stained glass windows; and the many other memorials in the church are constant reminders of the life and work of the men and women whose faith and zeal have laid the spiritual as well as the material foundation of this House of God.
Mr. Aspinwall later helped establish a Latin School, which became the Academy in 1803, a precursor to the Flushing school system. A charter was granted to St. George's by King George III in 1761, the first year of his reign.
Francis Lewis, a signer of the Declaration of Independence was a warden of the church from 1765 to 1790. The Right Reverend Samuel Seabury who was rector of St. George's from 1757 to 1765, became the first bishop of the Episcopal Church in America.
The second church was built in 1821 (with the original bell), and the third (the present one) in 1854. It was designed by the architects Henry Dudley and Frank Wills, associated with The New York Ecclesiological Society, with interest in the development of Gothic Architecture as a new style (Neo-Gothic) for American churches. Local craftsmen were engaged and regional materials were used. The great tower bell was recast at Troy, NY, using the metal from the original bell, and still bore the inscription "The gift of John Aspinwall, Gentleman, 1760."
The Rev. Doctor William August Muhlenberg, famous as an educator, was rector from 1826 to 1829. The longest rectorship was that of the Rev. Doctor John Carpenter Smith, who served from 1847 to 1897, and was greatly loved in the parish and community. The Rev. Canon Dougald L. Maclean served the second longest. He was in the rectorship for forty-one years.
For Almost Three Centuries, This Church Served immigrants from England, Germany, and Holland and their descendants. The Flushing community, however, has changed greatly in recent years. The number of African-Americans, West Indians, Asians, Africans and Hispanics has steadily increased, and the white, English-speaking population decreased proportionately. St. George's has changed to accommodate the new conditions. We had started a Chinese service in 1988 and a Hispanic service in 1993, a truly multicultural church. Our beautiful church building and Old Parish House have been officially designated as the Landmarks by the Landmarks Preservation Committee of the City of New York.
The dignity and beauty of the church's interior, which attains the loftiness and grandeur of the great cathedrals; the beautiful stained glass windows; and the many other memorials in the church are constant reminders of the life and work of the men and women whose faith and zeal have laid the spiritual as well as the material foundation of this House of God.