Founded on the eve of the Civil War by abolitionist families in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood, the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church (LAPC) has been a force for social change for more than 160 years. Its Romanesque Revival-style building, which features a pair of towers, a spacious open sanctuary with curved pews and exquisite Tiffany stained-glass windows, opened its doors in 1862, and has since served not only as a place of worship, but also as a hub for community activism.

Under the leadership of its first pastor, prominent abolitionist Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler, in the 19th century LAPC championed the causes of abolition—it was referred to as a “temple of abolition” and hosted figures such as Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington—and women’s rights. More recently, LAPC’s vibrant multicultural, multiracial and multifaith congregation of approximately 300 members has advocated for prison reform and economic justice while also welcoming the LGBTQ+ community and immigrants, including supporting asylum seekers.

With the goal of continuing to serve as a space for activism well into the future, in the late 1990s, LAPC set out to restore the church's building envelope—that is, the outer “shell” that keeps the elements out. As part of this effort, which has spanned more than two decades, in 2020 LAPC received a $250,000 capital grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places, a program of Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation that supports religious institutions to preserve historically and architecturally significant buildings that play an essential role in addressing the needs of the broader community.

Throughout the process, LAPC has entrusted the care of their cherished building to local contractors. Longtime LAPC congregation members Deborah Kellogg and Deb Howard, co-chairs of the Opening Doors Capital Campaign—the church’s most recent fundraising effort—explain that this decision was intentional, aimed at supporting the local economy. “They’re talented people living in our neighborhood,” Kellogg says.

Restoring a Sacred Space

The Capital Grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places, combined with $500,000 in matching funds raised by the congregation, enabled LAPC to move forward with critical renovations, completed in early 2024. These efforts stabilized and waterproofed the church’s front foundation wall, redirected rain water off the facade and into new roof drains, and while the scaffolding was up restored and painted the cornice and window moldings. The project also included restoring and repositioning the front brownstone steps and installing a new bluestone plaza that now enhances the building's entrance.

“The National Fund for Sacred Places was proud to partner with LAPC on these support these critical repair projects,” said Jennifer Sandy, senior director of preservation projects at the National Trust. “Making the front entry safer and more welcoming helps ensure that the congregation and the nonprofits it hosts can continue serving their community, and keeping water out of the building envelope was essential to building’s longevity.”

LAPC has previously completed several important restoration projects, including repairs to the church’s slate roof and bell tower, and the preservation of the Tiffany windows in the sanctuary. Still on the agenda is installing an ADA ramp, repairing an 1893 Tiffany-stained glass triptych in the front of the church and restoring the study tower. LAPC suffered an unfortunate setback in August 2023, however, when an 8-square-foot portion of the ceiling in the sanctuary collapsed. No one was injured, but the sanctuary has remained closed since, prompting the congregation to move services into a smaller room.

“We didn’t miss a Sunday of worship,” says Kellogg, who is also LAPC’s Stewardship chair and a member of its Session (board of directors). “LAPC is very resilient as a congregation, and we’re adaptable.”

It will be several years before the LAPC congregation can return to the sanctuary, but the restoration process is already underway, thanks in part to a $25,000 Intervention Grant from the National Fund for Sacred Places that enabled the church to hire the Manhattan-based architectural firm WSA/Modern Ruins to investigate the cause of the ceiling collapse.

The findings of that report allowed LAPC to secure a $12,000 grant from the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Fund for Historic Interiors from National Trust. With the match, the church raised $58,000 and is using the funds to have WSA/Modern Ruins develop a scope of work and detailed construction drawings suitable for filing with NYC’s Department of Buildings, and to also prepare a bid package to solicit contractor proposals for the restoration of the ceiling.

In the meantime, the lack of access to the sanctuary has forced LAPC to scale back its beloved musical performances and large events. Despite these challenges, LAPC has found ways to leverage its available space for good, hosting coat drives and voter registration events. The church’s Sunday School has remained active, and local organizations—such as the Irondale Theater Center, The Business Outreach Center, The Audre Lorde Project and the Fort Greene Park Conservancy— continue to be active in the Sunday School space, and the church’s parish house. “We can only continue to put resources into [the building] faithfully if we’re also using it as a community resource,” says LAPC pastor Emily Brewer.

Supporting Local Businesses

In the late 1970s, LAPC commissioned artist Hank Prussing, a Pratt Institute graduate, to create a mural above the sanctuary’s upper balcony. Titled “Cloud of Witnesses,” this 300-foot wrap-around mural portrays local residents in everyday moments, captured through candid photographs Prussing took while strolling the streets of Brooklyn. The murals highlight the deep connection between LAPC and its community, a value also reflected in the church's decision to hire contractors based in New York City, many of them in Brooklyn.

For the restoration of the church’s foundation, for instance, LAPC enlisted Nicholson & Galloway, a New York City general contractor founded in 1849 that has done work on one of the city’s most iconic churches, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine on the Upper West Side. Bob & Sons Refinishing, a Black-owned family business that operates out of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, refinished the church’s six front wooden doors.