The church building, designed by Richard Upjohn, who was also the architect of Trinity Church, New York, was consecrated on October 5, 1848. It is an example of Gothic Revival architecture in the United States, and was designated a National Historic Landmark for its architecture in 1987. The church was built on the site of the old Essex County Courthouse and Jail, which burnt down on August 15, 1835.[5] The massive, single bell in the tower was an early replacement for one purchased and installed before the consecration in 1848; the original bell produced a horrible sound, drawing complaints from parishioners and local citizens, and was replaced with a "more agreeable toned bell" purchased by Jermiah C. Garthwaite, one of the 1837 founding members of the church.[6] The bell, paid for by an Episcopalian textile manufacture in Newark, is rung for solemn occasions, and was rung to support the Federal soldiers defending Fort Sumter in 1861.[4]
Grace uses an Anglo-Catholic, sacramental liturgy, or order of service, at the center of which, in the tradition of the Church as said to be handed down from the Apostles, is the Eucharist, also known as Holy Communion or the Mass. Grace teaches the Catholic faith, holding that Christians gain access to the mystical body of Christ through the sacramental worship of the community and are aided by the sequential liturgy, incense, and Eucharistic sacrifice to an experience of heaven.[8]Incense, lights, and ceremonial vestments are used. The contemporary-language rite from the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (Rite II) is used.
Grace holds High Mass on occasion, with liturgy sung in Latin by the ordained clergy. In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January 2020, a mass was celebrated with music performed by choirs from Grace Church and other nearby areas.[9]
The congregation includes people from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, Caucasian Americans, and African Americans of all ages and sexual orientation. The parish follows Catholic faith and practice in The Episcopal Church, but accepts the ordination of women and affirmation of same-sex marriage.
The J. Brent Bates became the parish's seventeenth rector in March 2011.
Music
Grace has an adult choir and a chorister program, performing mass and weekly singing the Gregorian chantmass propers from the early, medieval and renaissance traditions. Grace holds choir concerts and organ recitals on the 48-stop tracker instrument built by Casavant Frères in 1990. The Grace Church Music Society, organized in 2008, each year sponsors a series of recitals and concerts. The current Director of Music & Organist is Wolff von Roos. Past directors of music have included Daniel C. Romero, Tyrone Whiting, James M. Hopkins,[10] Joseph Arndt, and James McGregor, a composer, conductor, and organist who held the position for forty-eight years and was widely known throughout the Episcopal Church.[11]
Masses and services
The church offers masses, other forms of worship, and family and youth activities. Weekday mass is every Tuesday-Friday at 12:10pm. Weekday morning prayer is offered at 9am same days, and evening prayer is offered at 5pm. Sunday Mass is offered both at 8am and 10:30am. The 8am is spoken and the 10:30am is the Solemn High Mass with music. [12]
