Churches are Born Again as Luxury Homes .
By 1859, Washington Square’s transition from a potter’s field to military parade ground to a public park was complete. An upscale residential enclave bordering the park had been developing since the late 1820s. The merchants and bankers were about to get a new neighbor.
From only one member in 1842, the Sullivan Street Methodist Episcopal Church had grown to more than 200 by 1859. Larger accommodations were needed for this expanding congregation. Its pastor, Dr. Shelling, bought the land at Nos. 133 and 135 West Fourth Street, off Washington Square in 1859. He put in motion plans to build a new house of worship.
Shelter Island native Gamaliel King (1795–1875) was chosen as the architect. Mr. King had designed the Brooklyn City Hall in 1845, and would go on to design several churches in the city of Brooklyn. He successfully melded Gothic and Romanesque Revival styles for Dr. Shelling’s project. White marble was selected to clad the building’s exterior. With his interior arrangements, Mr. King caused great alarm among the congregants. They feared that the galleries, the first in New York installed without visible means of support, would fall to the ground. They did not.
The church was completed in two years at a cost of $80,000, equal to $1.4 million today. Now at a new location, the church would be known as the Washington Square Methodist Episcopal Church. Its congregation was scattered amongst New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Elizabeth, and Hoboken.
Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, located at Washington Square East and West Fourth Street, was also housed in a building of the popular 19th-century Gothic Revival style. The congregations of two churches merged on October 9, 1893; the Asbury Church’s stone building was sold, and within two years it was demolished. Money from the sale was used to support charities that both churches favored.
Since its founding, the Washington Square Methodist Episcopal Church was known as a quiet place of worship; the congregation and its pastors were in harmony, as was the church with the community. With the dawn of the 20th century, the church’s reputation would change, by jumping headfirst into politics. The problem of “demon rum” was the first the church would try to solve.
The South New-York Christian Temperance Union began using the church for its meetings in 1900. The church’s leader, the Rev. Andrew B. Wood, served as assistant superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League. Rev. Wood believed that prohibition would improve labor conditions and reduce unemployment.
America’s entry into World War II won the support of the church. It stated that peace was always preferable, but standing by in the face of evil could not be an option. Later, the church’s opposition to American involvement in Vietnam earned it the long-lasting nickname, “The Peace Church.”
By the mid-20th century, Greenwich Village in general and Washington Square in particular had drastically changed in the 100 years since the Washington Square United Methodist Church opened its doors The population of the Village was heavily Italian Catholic, and it had become the center of New York’s gay community. By 1962 membership had dwindled to only 50, and there was little hope for its future because it numbered no young adults in its small group.
The congregation kept true to its cornerstone beliefs of equal rights and political justice. There was no better example of this than its reaction to its new leader, the Rev. Paul M. Abels. He assumed his position in 1973; four years later Rev. Abels declared that he was gay. The general reaction within the larger Methodist Church was shock; but he had 100 percent support from his congregation. Rev. Abels began conducting covenant ceremonies for gay couples, who were legally barred from marriage.
Abels’s service to the community and the church was outstanding. His critics ignored this fact, and turned instead to the Bible’s admonishment against homosexuality. They insisted that he be dismissed. At the regional New York Annual Conference, the vote favored the minister. The local bishop appealed to United Methodism’s highest court, the National Judicial Council—in 1979 it ruled that Abels should remain as pastor.
Abel flung himself into action, benefitting the church and the community. He launched a $1.5 million building restoration fundraising campaign, and he saw to it that the Harvey Milk School for gay teens could conduct classes in the church. Rev. Abel retired in 1984.
Twenty years later, the struggling congregation could not continue; the church was sold. Because it sits within the Greenwich Village Historical District, its new owner was prohibited from demolishing the building; two years later the pre-Civil War interiors had been gutted and the building had been converted into eight luxury condominiums.
As an example of how much Greenwich Village has changed, let’s consider the three-bedroom and two-and-a-half bath penthouse duplex in the former church. The 3,500-square foot apartment boasts a twenty-foot vaulted ceiling with original wood timber beams. The floors are made of Brazilian walnut, and a floating chrome staircase leads upstairs. The kitchen is outfitted with Boffi-brand appliances. The socially conscientious congregation, with its emphasis on helping those without, would be dismayed at best to learn what has been done for the one percent.
