St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church

The History of SCAPC

St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church is a distant offspring of First Presbyterian Church, which was located at the corner of Canal and Bourbon Streets. It is at this location where Reverend Sylvester Larned became the First Presbyterian Church’s first pastor. Though the denomination of the church at this time was Episcopalian, Reverend Larned preached there on Sunday afternoons until a new church was built for the Presbyterians at Lafayette Square.

In 1856, Dr. B.M. Palmer was installed as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Lafayette Square—a position which he occupied for almost 46 years. Years later, through the leadership of Miss Rowena McMillan, a Sunday School known as the “Afternoon Sunday School of the First Presbyterian Church” was organized. Its first meeting was held at 4 P.M. on Sunday, January 8, 1905 in the residence of a Mrs. VanHorn, at 1653 Octavia Street, with thirty-four “teachers and scholars” in attendance.

The following year, the First Church purchased the old Governor McEnery residence, which was a lot bounded by St. Charles Avenue, State, and Benjamin Streets. There was a strong faction of First Church members who believed that the effort and funds should go into the restoration of their church on Lafayette Square which had been severely damaged in a hurricane. However, on May 17, 1911, the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church voted to erect a new building on the lot occupied by the old McEnery dwelling on St. Charles Avenue.

In 1912, the first building was completed on this site. When placed in use it became known by many as “The Little Church.” Beginning on October 4, 1914 regular morning and evening services were conducted in the building, which was then designated as the St. Charles Avenue Branch of the First Presbyterian Church.

By 1920, the work of the Branch Church had progressed so significantly that its organization into a separate church seemed advisable. Thus, through the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. William B. Bloomfield St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church was born. The finished building was ready for dedication on February 2, 1930.

“How is a church born? By the grace and guidance of God, churches come into being and grow to usefulness by the vision, faith, and generosity of those who really love Christ and invest their talents, time and treasure His ongoing Kingdom.” -Dr. John S. Land, Sunday, May 29, 1956.

Our Sanctuary

In January of 1928, Alice Affleck Bloomfield donated $160,000 to St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church for the construction of a new Sanctuary. The donation was made in memory of her husband, William B. Bloomfield, who had died earlier that year, in accordance with both of their wishes at the time of his death. The new sanctuary was dedicated on February 2, 1930. W.W. Van Meter was the architect and general contractor. It is French Gothic in style, constructed of Indiana limestone, with dark English oak finishes throughout.

The stained glass windows were made by Oidtmann Studios in Linnich, Germany The studio signature can be seen in the stained glass panel over the center door on St. Charles Avenue. The first drawings for the Sanctuary by Mr. Van Meter show stained glass windows illustrating Biblical stories. Dr. Land requested that the windows be more abstract in design instead, as they are now, incorporating the leaves, quatrefoils, diamonds, crosses and other symbols that recur throughout the sanctuary.

It is also supposed that it was Dr. Land’s decision that the pulpit be on one side of the communion table and the lectern on the other, rather than having one pulpit/lectern in the center.

The interior decorations of the Sanctuary including the original ceiling stencils were designed by John Geiser, Sr. and installed by his company, John Geiser Inc., Fresco Artists and Interior Decorators.

candle lighters Mr. Van Meter said that he wanted a wall surface that would not crack if he hit it with a baseball bat. To that end, a stone mason troweled the walls using a paste of paint and varnish. The travertine texture was made with a sponge and the joints were scored with the point of a metal file in an ashlar random pattern drawn out by Mr. Van Meter. The scoring was all done by one man so that it would be uniform. The original air conditioning system consisted of blocks of ice with fans behind them blowing through vents on either side of the Chancel area—a novel mechanism in 1930!

During hurricane Katrina, the roof to our Sanctuary was heavily damaged, and rain water came through onto the ceiling, walls, pews, carpet, and ended up in the basement where much of our heating and air conditioning equipment resided. In July 2006, work crews began extensive repair and renovation work to this space. We held worship services in our Fellowship Hall during this period. After installing a new slate roof on the Sanctuary, the work crews removed the old burlap and asbestos insulation ceiling and replaced it with a hardened surface that dramatically improved the acoustics of the room. We also were able to incorporate the “quatrefoil leaf” stencil designs from the original ceiling, but we decided on one major addition—the depiction of the shields of the twelve apostles in each of the twelve sections of the ceiling. All of the walls were cleaned, repainted and reglazed to create the same travertine effect as before, and all of the pews were refinished. After we replaced the carpet with antiqued porcelain tiles and the old pew cushions with “acoustically sensitive” cushions, our new Sanctuary was ready to go in the Spring of 2007. The acoustics in our new Sanctuary are such an improvement that musical performers from New Orleans to New York have told us that we have the best sound in the city! We hope you will come and enjoy worship with us in this sacred and beautiful space.

For a look at the renovated sanctuary, click here. For a view from another angle, click here. Both of these images were taken by photographer Glade Bilby II. Inset photos by Matthew Hostetler.

About SCAPC

The History of SCAPC

Our Sanctuary