Visitors to Downtown DC may notice an altogether new face on the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church these days. The facade of the historic brick church located at 1313 New York Avenue NW is currently engulfed in eight stories of scaffolding, netting and workers as part of a $1 million exterior restoration effort begun in July.
The project aims to enhance the 19 stained glass windows on the church’s exterior, which are currently concealed behind aging Plexiglas, and install new energy-efficient windows, deep clean and restore the building’s masonry and limestone, gild the crosses, clock faces and other decorations on the clock tower and steeple, update exterior lighting, refinish architectural elements, carry out lead paint abatement and more, all facilitated by Grunley Construction. These will be the first exterior improvements made since the most recent church on the site was built in 1951.
Much of the work is “deferred maintenance,” senior pastor Roger Gench said in a recent interview. “Now, we’re taking the opportunity to make the church look more lively.”
Gench, who has served as New York Avenue Presbyterian’s senior pastor since 2002, was impacted by a trip in the late 90s to Harvard Divinity School during which he helped evaluate low-income housing projects. Some of the oldest projects that were the best maintained stood out as beacons in their communities. “My argument ever since then is just because we’re a justice-seeking ministry, doesn’t mean we have to look shabby,” Gench said.
The church renovation “is a reflection about ourselves and what we feel about our ministry… our care for the city.”
The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church’s hold in the Downtown and city community extends far beyond its ministry, which has existed for over 200 years and was the chosen place of worship for Abraham Lincoln. The church is today home to an active Community Club program, which includes a successful one-on-one high school tutoring program that after 50 years of operation boasts a record number of graduates. The church operates a significant number of homeless outreach programs, a longstanding “7-2-9 Club” to support mentally ill adults at St. Elizabeths, as well as the McClendon Center for mentally ill adults and the church remains a center for a multitude of support networks and programs that impact the community at-large.
The church also houses Lincoln memorabilia, including the pew originally rented by Lincoln and his family, and an original draft in Lincoln’s handwriting of a document that later evolved into the Emancipation Proclamation. The Lincoln Chimes that today ring on the quarter of the hour and can be heard throughout Downtown were donated in the name of the Lincoln family by Mary Harlan Lincoln, widow of Robert Todd Lincoln, the oldest son of President Lincoln.
The church’s current renovation is expected to be completed by early October, after which time the church plans to hold a neighborhood open house and exterior lighting ceremony to which all the community will be invited.
The renovation is being currently funded by a line of credit secured by church trustees from BB&T Bank. To assist the church’s renovation or other efforts, please contact church administrator Judith McGovern at 202-393-3700 or email the church at nyapc@nyacp.org.
For more information on the renovation or the church, please contact Hal Hiemstra, president of the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church Board of Trustees at 202-494-3104 or hhiemstra@balljanik.com.