RochesterSubway.com : 13 Houses of Worship

13 Houses of Worship

June 24th, 2013

In 2013 I gave myself a photo assignment. Pick 13 subjects, and take 13 snapshots of each. Simple. Right? I thought so. I started in February with 13 mailboxes and followed up with 13 storefronts. And that’s where I left off. Sometimes I just can’t keep up with my own crazy ideas. Luckily, my good friend Chris Clemens from The Burned Over District blog has stepped in to help me out with 13 houses of worship. The following images (in no particular order) are from all over the Rochester region. They add yet another dimension to this portrait of us…

First Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science). East Avenue . George Eastman built the Eastman Theatre on Gibbs St AFTER this church. He went inside and saw the ceiling and liked it so much, he copied it in the theatre.
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First Unitarian Church (UUA). Winton Road . Designed by famous architect Louis Kahn, people from all over the world come to Rochester just to see this building. The congregation has a long history that predates this building back to when Susan B. Anthony was a member.
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Gurdwara of Rochester (Sikhism). Dublin Road . The only Sikh Temple in Rochester.
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The Hindu Temple of Rochester (Hinduism). Pinnacle Road .
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Megiddo Church (Christian Restorationists). Thurston Road . The only Megiddo Church in existence, settled in Rochester in 1906 and essentially founded the 19th Ward.
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Mormon Temple (Mormonism). Palmyra . Non-Mormons are not allowed inside temples, so we don’t know what the inside looks like or have photos. Hill Cummorah is nearby – the site where Prophet Joseph Smith discovered the ancient gold plates upon which the Mormon religion was founded.
Read more here and here

Plymouth Spiritualist Church (Spiritualism). Vic Park A . Spiritualism was one of the religions born in the Burned Over District when the Fox Sisters revealed that they could communicate with the dead. The church originally existed in the Corn Hill area where the Fox Sisters lived for a while.
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Protection of Our Mother Of God Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox). Stanford Drive .
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St. Lukes and St. Simon Cyrene Episcopal Church, commonly called “Two Saints Church” (Episcopal). Fitzhugh Street . This building is the second oldest building in all of Rochester.
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St. Mary’s Church (Roman Catholic). St. Mary’s Place . Features an 18′ Louis Comfort Tiffany rose window. Easily one of the more valuable, and stunning rose windows Tiffany created.
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Temple B’rith Kodesh (Reformed Judasim). Elmwood Avenue . One of the older Reformed Jewish congregations in existence.
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Wat Pa Lao Buddhadham (Buddhism). Martin Road .
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Islamic Center of Rochester (Islam). Westfall Road .
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So did we miss any good ones? Let us know in the comments below. Or if you’d like to submit a series of 13, email [email protected].

Tags: 13 houses of worship, 13x13x13, church, First Church of Christ Scientist, First Unitarian Church (UUA), Gurdwara of Rochester (Sikhism), Islamic Center of Rochester (Islam), Megiddo Church (Christian Restorationists), Mormon Temple (Mormonism), mosque, Plymouth Spiritualist Church (Spiritualism), Protection of Our Mother Of God Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox), Rochester, Rochester NY, St. Lukes and St. Simon Cyrene Episcopal Church (Episcopal), St. Mary's Church (Roman Catholic), synagogue, temple, Temple B'rith Kodesh (Reformed Judasim), The Hindu Temple of Rochester (Hinduism), Two Saints Church, Wat Pa Lao Buddhadham (Buddhism)

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10 Responses to “13 Houses of Worship”

RaChaCha says:

June 24, 2013 at 12:52 pm

Like!
Rachel says:

June 24, 2013 at 7:57 pm

The Mormon temple in Palmyra was open to the public for a period of time after it was built (before it was in use).

I remember hearing stories about how guests had to take their shoes off and then wear booties. That even wheelchairs had to have covers because non-believers couldn’t touch the floor. Someone said they ended up pulling out all the carpet anyways after the viewing time period but that was just a rumor.
jimmy says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:49 pm

Blessed Sacrament is pretty amazing inside. I want to visit St. Michael’s on Clinton Ave. It is one of the tallest structures in Rochester.
RochesterSubway.com says:

June 24, 2013 at 8:58 pm

@Jimmy, there are a few photos from inside St. Michael’s here… http://www.rochestersubway.com/topics/2012/08/the-burned-over-district-religion-and-sacred-sites-of-western-ny/

It’s gorgeous.
RaChaCha says:

June 24, 2013 at 10:11 pm

@Jimmy, last I knew St. Michael’s was offering public tours like once a month (I believe). You can check with them to find out for sure and the schedule.

Several years ago I was in the church on a visit with Louise Slaughter. She got a good laugh from the group when she told us, “in heaven, St. Michael is Majority Whip.”

St. Michael’s was designed by Adolphus Druiding, a prominent German-Catholic architect. He also designed a striking church in Buffalo for a German-Catholic congregation, St. Mary of Sorrows, which was saved from demolition and is today the King Urban Life Center. It’s also worth checking out!
KevinD says:

July 1, 2013 at 10:53 pm

I occasionally attend services at the First Church of Christ, Scientist, pictured at the beginning of this article. Wow – what a place! From what I’ve heard, it has the capacity to hold over 1500 people.

… interestingly, there used to be four Christian Science churches here in Rochester. One of them (Second Church) is now the Emmanuel Temple of Rochester, located at the eastern end of Seneca Parkway.

The old building for the Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist, is located at 35 South Washington Street, downtown. I only know its address because of a picture I found in the county archives labeled with the church name; I identified the building after recalling some downtown scenery. It’s a cool building, originally erected in 1838 for Jonathan Child. It’s now used by some local educational program, I believe.

… as for Third Church? I’m still trying to find it. If anybody has information about it, do pipe up. Searching local newspaper archives hasn’t led me anywhere, unfortunately.
Katie says:

July 2, 2013 at 11:03 am

Great choices! I’d also suggest First Universalist Church, on Washington Square in downtown Rochester, designed by Claude Bragdon; and Temple Sinai, on Penfield Road in Brighton, by James Johnson – two outstanding accomplishments by two particularly innovative local architects.
Scott Myers says:

July 4, 2013 at 6:43 pm

The Rochester Zen Center, on Arnold Park, is an interesting place. It stands in stark contrast to most of the other large and vaulted churches in the area. It’s one of the oldest zen centers in the world, and it’s so humble.
JB says:

July 9, 2013 at 2:16 pm

How about the two greek orthodox churches: Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation on East Ave, which has a beautiful dome; and Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit on South Ave, occupying the space of a former baptist church, but has beautiful iconography on the inside, which is currently being expanded.
Jonathan Ytreberg says:

July 10, 2013 at 1:17 pm

I would highly recommend venturing inside the Interfaith Chapel at the University of Rochester. If you are able to, go inside on a bright sunny afternoon in late spring. The sunlight coming through the stained glass at the top of the building is astounding!

http://www.rochester.edu/chapel/index.html

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