Grace Church, 153 Hicks Street (between Grace Court and Joralemon Street) is one of three Brooklyn churches to receive a Robert W. Wilson Sacred Sites Challenge Grant from the New York Landmarks Conservancy. The award is in the amount of $30,000. From the Conservancy’s press release:
The brownstone Grace Church was designed by renowned Gothic Revival architect Richard Upjohn and constructed in 1847-1849. The church interior is highly intact, featuring an openwork wooden ceiling, with remnants of its early, circa 1867 decorative stencilled finishes, and exposed timber trusses with handsome Gothic tracery decoration. The sanctuary contains figural stained glass memorial windows by many prominent studios, most installed in the 1880s-1890s, including three windows by the Tiffany studios and two by J & R Lamb; a window by Scottish and New York based Aesthetic movement studio Cottier & Co., and several windows by the distinguished London firm Clayton & Bell.
Grace Church hosts weekly meetings by seven community organizations, ranging from recovery programs to neighborhood choral societies. In November, the Parish House gymnasium is transformed nightly into a shelter for ten to twelve homeless men, providing lodging, shower facilities and hot dinners. The local community boards and other Brooklyn Heights non-profits hold meetings and fundraising events at the church. The church hosts annual Thanksgiving dinners. The parish hall is leased to Grace Church preschool, established in 1928 and serving 160 children.
Grace is presently undergoing extensive renovation, including replacement of the roof over the nave and substantial interior work which will include restoration of some of the decorative features of the nave that were painted over some years ago. While the nave is closed for this work, services are being held in the upstairs Guild Hall.
