St. Paul's Episcopal Church was the first permanent house of worship erected in Buffalo; the cornerstone was laid june 24, 1819. Being one of the largest public buildings in the village, St. Paul's was the scene of numerous religious and civic activities. The first recorded Roman Catholic Mass in Buffalo was offered in St. Paul's. The completion of the Erie Canal, in 1825, ended the role of St. Paul's Church as a simple mission on the western frontier of New York State. Buffalo grew rapidly St. Paul's became the mother church to newer parishes.
On September 15, 1825, St. Paul's was the center for an extraordinary ecumenical event- It was designed to launch an unprecedented humanitarian relief effort. Mordecai Noah, of New York City,proposed that Grand Island, down river from Buffalo, become a City of Refuge, to be named Ararat. This was to be a proto-Zionist solution to millennia of jewish exile and homelessness. The Rev.Addison Searle permitted the dedicatory ceremony to be held, with much pomp, in St. Paul's. The project was not successful.
The present church, designed by Richard Upjhn, was completed in 1851. It was designated as the Episcopal Cathedral in 1866. On May 10, 1888, the Cathedral was almost entirely destroyed by fire. Only the outer walls and two spires remained. Dr. Israel Aaron, Rabbi of Temple Beth Zion, offered St. Paul's congregation free use of the Temple on Sundays until their church could be rebuilt. The restored Cathedral was dedicated on January 3, 1890.
Today, the Cathedral Parish of St. Paul continues its long history of ecumenism, social service and spiritual ministry to the metropolitan community.Wardens and Vestry of St. Paul's Cathedral and the Very Rev. N. DeLiza Spangler, Dean of the Cathedral and The Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation
Comments 0 comments