In December of 1870, an actor named George Holland died. When his friend, Joseph Jefferson, also an actor, asked a local Episcopal church to conduct the funeral, he was turned down. Actors, as a profession, were not held in high esteem. Jefferson asked the refusing rector where he could go to arrange a funeral for his colleague. The rector said, "I believe there's a little church around the corner that does that sort of thing." Jefferson replied, "If this be so, then God bless the little church around the corner." Thus the Church of the Transfiguration on 29th Street in New York City received the nickname that it is known and loved by all over the world.

The rector of the Church of the Transfiguration was at that time George Hendric Houghton, a man of deep holiness who was a pioneer of the Oxford movement in America. He instituted the Church of the Transfiguration on the first Sunday of October, 1848. With a small band of faithful, he celebrated the Eucharist in the home of a retired priest. He longed to establish a church near the poverty-stricken enclave surrounding Bellevue Hospital, but his vestry chose land at the then-suburban corner of 29th Street and Fifth Avenue. The first service in the new church was held in March of 1850.

This year the Church of the Transfiguration celebrates its 150th anniversary. Its rich and unusual history is well summarized in the motto Fr. Houghton selected for the church: Fides Opera, "Faith and Works." From the beginning, sacramental life and liturgical enrichment were hallmarks of the parish, although it did take Fr. Houghton several years to convince his parishioners of the importance of a weekly celebration of the Eucharist.

Fr. Houghton's willingness to conduct the funeral of an actor was but one small display of his commitment to minister to all God's people, including the marginalized. He was an abolitionist; the basement of the church's rectory was a stop on the Underground Railway. He founded the first black Sunday school in New York City and gave sanctuary to African-Americans during the Draft Riots of July, 1863.

His whole approach to ministry may be seen in an exchange he had with the actor Edwin Booth. Booth was eager for Fr. Houghton to attend one of his plays and personally invited him to come. Fr. Houghton replied with a question: If you were a soul in need, would you rather find me at my rectory or at the theater? Fr. Houghton spent his evenings in his rectory, with a candle burning in the window and a night bell at the doors so that anyone who sought his aid would find him available. Thus during the 1880s and 1890s people from all social classes and races found a church home at Transfiguration, where serious worship was not separated from a commitment to social justice.

In 1897, after 49 years as rector, George Hendric Houghton died. His successor was his nephew, George Clarke Houghton. The second Dr. Houghton shared his uncle's devotion to liturgical life and social ministry. He found a growing number of people desiring to be married in the now-famous church, and he established a plan of preparation for marriage solidly grounded in the Christian life and faith. During his tenure the church was host to the second Anglo-Catholic Congress, and the ties between the church and the theater community continued to grow. Additionally, he added a Lady Chapel to the chuch in memory of his wife, Mary, who died in 1902.

Under the auspices of the third rector, the Very Rev. J.H. Randolph Ray, the Episcopal Actors' Guild of America was founded in 1923. It celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. With a healthy endowment, it continues to provide assistance to actors in need, no matter their church affiliation, if any. The rector is the vice president of the board of directors, so the tie between the church and the guild has never been severed.

By this time the Church of the Transfiguration had become more of a shrine church than a neighborhood church. The family townhouses that had lined the neighboring streets gave way to large office buildings. Fr. Ray expanded the theatrical and marriage ministries of the church so much so that during World War II couples lined up in the church garden - on weekdays as well as Saturdays - to await their turn to be married, usually because the husbands were due to be shipped out. In 1943, the church peaked with a record of 2,900 weddings.

In the previous years of the depression the church did not forget its social ministry. Food distribution to the needy was undertaken, and an employment bureau was set up in a nearby brownstone. Following on the vision of the founder, the church saw the Incarnation as a compelling call to social care.

Fr. Ray retired in 1958, and was succeeded by the Rev. Orin A. Griesmeyer. Fr. Griesmeyer responded to the increasing urban isolation of the church by encouraging community activities and establishing clubs for single people and young couples. But perhaps one of his most important works was his opposition to a crosstown aerial highway that would have placed the church unhappily between the east-bound and westbound lanes. Fr. Griesmeyer took on the guru of city planning, Robert Moses, arguing that more roads would increase, not decrease, traffic in the city. Eventually the opposition of the church and its parishioners won, and those who live or travel in New York can witness for themselves the truth of his opinion.

Fr. Griesmeyer retired in 1971, and was succeeded by the present rector, the Rev. Norman Catir, who arrived just as the Episcopal Church was undertaking its prayer book revision. Soon after his arrival, Fr. Catir was made chairman of the Liturgical Commission of the Diocese of New York. He worked with the parish through the various trial use rites to bring about a liturgical renewal that included Solemn Mass on Sunday, public baptisms, and the full celebration of the Easter Vigil. He also celebrates the Eucharist daily at noon, as an outreach to the thousands of workers in the very commercial neighborhood in which the church is situated

The social mission of the church is not forgotten. Since 1971, the church has provided services to the indigent and retired people who live in single-room occupancy hotels in the neighborhood. Breakfast and lunch are always available even to those who are housebound, and social and medical services are available to those who attend the program. In another social mission move, the church welcomed a Korean-American Episcopal congregation to share its space. The Episcopal Actors Guild continues to operate from an office in the parish house.

There are so many stories that could be told about Transfiguration that one scarcely knows where to begin and where to stop. But the longstanding witness of Anglo-Catholic worship and social concern make it a unique parish in the Episcopal Church. o

The Rev. Bonnie Shullenberger is a priest of the Church of Uganda who lives in Ossining, N.Y., and is a frequent contributor to TLC.