Church of the Intercession
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The Church of the Intercession is a congregation of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America in New York, New York. It was formerly a part of Trinity Church parish and was known as The Chapel of the Intersession.
The Church is located at the intersection of Broadway and 155th Street in Manhattan. It is the third church building to occupy the site. The present edifice was designed by architect Bertram Goodhue in the Neo-gothic style. Goodhue is renowned for the design of many famous buildings, but he considered the Intercession his masterpiece and is interred within the wall vault of the north (left-hand) vestry, underneath a stone frieze 'retrospective' of his buildings. The frieze is the work of his friend and colleague sculptor Lee Lawrie.
The Church stands on the border of Washington Heights and Harlem, at the northern limit of a formerly exclusive Harlem neighbourhood known as ‘Sugar Hill’. In the last two decades of the 20th Century the church became the unofficial headquarters for visiting African prelates, among them Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa.
David Hurd composed the Intercession Mass during his tenure as church organist. This mass setting is used in many Episcopal congregations.
The Church of the Intercession is also known for the annual Clement Clarke Moore Festival, which is the oldest continuing Christmas tradition in New York. It takes place on the last Sunday in Advent. At the center of the service is the reading of the story A Visit from Saint Nicholas. Dr. Moore's authorship of the poem has been contested in recent years. Dr. Moore and John James Audubon, among others of the New York social elite of the time, are buried in the adjoining Trinity Church Cemetery.