St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church became a congregation in the 1890s, and they moved into a new church and manse in 1900.

History

The congregation of St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church owes its existence to the efforts of two women. The first was Mrs. Julia Jackson, an immigrant from the Bahamas in the late 1890s. Like other black men and women who preferred the Episcopal service, she did not feel welcome in Trinity Episcopal. Mrs. Jackson wrote to the bishop and invited other African Americans, some of whom had been freed from slavery, to join her and practice their faith in various available spaces. 

They named their church St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church, after the Bishop of Carthage in Africa, and continued to meet in a series of rented facilities. Eventually, the bishop sent a deacon to preach to this growing congregation. According to the church's history, in 1899, Mrs. Emma White, a visitor from New York, heard the congregation singing from a storefront and began a campaign to provide them a home. The wife of a stockbroker and the sister of an Episcopal priest, Mrs. White donated land on the corner of Lovett Street and Central Avenue (which later became Martin Luther King Avenue), and solicited funds from her friends. Mrs. White also submitted plans for the house and church, designed to be similar to the home and the church she attended in Connecticut. The local congregation also helped to make their dream a reality, and a local African American builder oversaw the church's construction.

The Building

Constructed in 1900, the church has a steeply pitched roof more often found in northern climates. The interior walls, high-peaked ceiling, and supports are heart pine, creating an interior reminiscent of an old sailing ship. There are four dormer windows on each side of the roof, and double tall pointed-arched windows down each side wall — four on the south side of the building and three on the north, where a gabled roof tops the entry porch. A set of large arched windows faces Martin Luther King Avenue, and a tall, narrower stained glass window overlooks the altar on the other end of the building.

By the 1990s, the building had fallen into disrepair and had few congregants. Members of Trinity Parish sought grants and donations to save St. Cyprian's, and they restored the building, which currently has an active congregation.

On the Grounds

The original rectory is now St. Cyprian's Mission House and is available for public events, classes, and wedding receptions. In 2013, the congregation renovated the courtyard between the Mission House and the Church, creating an open-air chapel, prayer wall, gardens, and intricate cobblestone courtyard, christened the "Commons." The area, a stone labyrinth, is open to all and you can frequently see people quietly walking the spiral path to the center. The church hosts weddings, baptisms, concerts, and church gatherings at the Commons. 

St. Cyprian's Episcopal Church is on the National Register of Historic Places.