Celebrating 25 Years of Preserving Sacred Sites
Rugged Cross Baptist Church
Installing Restored Stained Glass
Sacred Sites Grants Awarded
Church of The Intercession
Conservancy awards prestigious Jewish Cultural Heritage grant to Astoria Center of Israel
Detail of Art Deco murals illustrating a well-known aphorism from the Talmud tractate Pirkei Avot (Chapters of the Fathers): “Be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and strong as a lion, to carry out the will of your Father in Heaven.”
Conservancy Announces Three $50,000 E-Z Grants in Upper Manhattan
St. Nicholas Russian Patriarchal Cathedral, on East 97th Street, was awarded a $50,000 E-Z grant toward $1 million restoration of copper domes and associated masonry, roof, and steel armatures; they were also a $25,000 Wilson Challenge grant recipient for this project.
First Presbyterian Church of Holland Patent
Mt. Zion Church of God (7th Day), Brooklyn
Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church, Lower Manhattan
Holy Innocents R.C. Church, Brooklyn
Christ Church, Walton
Restored Tracery Window Reinstalled
Presbyterian Church of Rensselaerville, Rensselaerville
Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Brooklyn
St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Albany
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Wilmot, New Rochelle
Trinity Lutheran Church, Long Island City
First Baptist Church of DeWitt Park, Ithaca
Sweet Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, Inc., Albany
First Presbyterian Church of Wyoming
Trinity Church, Geneva
Trinity Church, Constantia
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Stafford
Union Baptist Church (Bedford Stuyvesant), Brooklyn
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Buffalo
Temple Society of Concord (Temple Concord), Syracuse
New Covenant Christian Fellowship, Albany
Old Broadway Synagogue, Upper Manhattan
Christ Church, Riverdale
First Presbyterian Church of Holland Patent
Recent Wilson & Sacred Sites Grants awarded
Most Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church, Astoria
St. Mary’s Church-in-the-Highlands, Cold Spring
First Presbyterian Church of Wyoming, Wyoming
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Katonah
Saint Paul’s Church, Salem
First Presbyterian Church, Schenectady
Saint Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Middleburgh
Temple Sinai, Saratoga Springs
Church of The Resurrection, Kew Gardens
Zion Episcopal Church, Morris
Chapin Memorial, Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, Oneonta
First United Methodist Church, Newburgh
St. James Episcopal Church, Skaneateles
Sacred Heart Basilica, Syracuse
Grace Episcopal Church, Syracuse
University Parish of St. Joseph’s, New York
Church For All Nations, New York
Community Church of East Williston, East Williston
Our Lady of Victory / St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Rochester
Christ Temple Church, Rochester
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester
Forest Presbyterian Church, Lyons Falls
First Presbyterian Church, Cazenovia
Church of the Ascension, Brooklyn
Trinity Episcopal Church, Middleville
United Methodist Church of Durham-Oak Hill, Oak Hill
Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo
The Reformed Dutch Church of Poughkeepsie, Poughkeepsie
Hamilton Monthly Meeting, Hamilton
Episcopal Church of Saints Peter and John, Auburn
Grace Episcopal Church, Bronx
First Baptist Church, Cuba
Trinity Church, Rensselaerville
Cathedral of All Saints, Albany
St. Brigids Demolition Halted
St. Brigids Church
Historic Catholic Churches in Crisis
Constructed in 1907, St. Thomas the Apostle Church was designed by the renowned ecclesiastical architect Thomas H. Poole and is one of many historic Roman Catholic churches facing demolition. Its detailed spire has already been removed.
St. Saviour’s Saved
St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, Maspeth, Queens
West-Park Presbyterian Church - Manhattan
Neighbors presented this preliminary design that incorporates the historic structure while expanding program space.
Greater New Hope Church of God in Christ - Buffalo
The Greater New Hope Church of God in Christ is housed in a Moorish Revival building, which is capped by a large dome and was designed as a synagogue in 1903.
Congregation Tifereth Israel - Corona, Queens
Congregation Tifereth Israel serves the the growing Bukharian Jewish population of the Corona section of Queens.Grants Applications Download
Sacred Sites and Consulting Application
Wilson Application
Jewish Heritage Fund Grant Application
The Conservancy’s award-winning Sacred Sites Program is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year; it is the oldest and largest statewide grant program to help landmark religious properties. It has helped more than 660 religious institutions of all denominations across New York State with $7.3 million in assistance. The grants have leveraged overall projects totaling $530 million. Some 200 New York City congregations have received $3 million of that grant total. Common Bond, our free journal of technical advice for religious properties, reaches 6,000 subscribers nationally. Regular workshops help congregations with everything from energy conservation to fundraising.
Click here to take a look back at the last 25 years of the program.
And to watch our video.
Grants for Sacred Sites
The Sacred Sites Program assists religious organizations with two statewide matching grant programs: Sacred Sites Grants and Robert W. Wilson Sacred Sites Challenge grants. Only congregations located in New York City are additionally eligible for our third grant program: Consulting Grants. Finally, our fourth newly-launched grant program is available for historic synagogues: Jewish Heritage Fund Grants.
David Berg Foundation Renews, Doubles Gift
The Conservancy received welcome news this week. The David Berg Foundation, which helped launch the Conservancy’s Jewish Heritage Fund in 2009 with a $100,000 grant, has renewed and doubled its gift. The Jewish Heritage Fund will now receive $200,000 to underwrite challenge grants of up to $75,000 for major synagogue restoration projects. In the last two years, the Jewish Heritage Fund has awarded four grants totaling $170,000 for the renovation of historic New York City synagogues, and has provided direct project funding for the $1.7 million restoration of Congregation Tifereth Israel, the oldest synagogue in Queens. Congregation Tifereth Israel is under construction, as is Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope, recipient of a $50,000 grant toward the $700,000 restoration of its roof and limestone facades. Additionally, Roy J. Zuckerberg, who provided the initial $25,000 to launch the Jewish Heritage Fund, has renewed his gift this year.
Conservancy Receives Major Gift to Help Launch New Jewish Heritage Fund Initiative
The David Berg Foundation awarded a two-year, $100,000 grant to help establish a new Jewish Heritage Fund. The Jewish Heritage Fund will, for the first time, allow the Conservancy to make Challenge Grants of between $25,000 and $50,000 to assist major repair and restoration projects in New York City. Click here to learn more.
So far, three Jewish Heritage Fund grants totaling $120,000 have been issued to the Free Synagogue of Flushing, the Astoria Center of Israel and Congregation Beth Elohim in Park Slope Brooklyn.
Robert W. Wilson Challenge Grant Program Extended
Thanks to the generosity of Robert W. Wilson, the Conservancy is pleased to announce that the Challenge Grant program will continue. For major restoration projects in New York State, we will have $300,000 in annual Challenge Grant funding until at least 2015.
Our largest Wilson Challenge Grant to date is a $70,000 pledge to Rugged Cross Baptist Church in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, which helped support the replacement of a severely deteriorated roof over the belltower and sanctuary.
The two Challenge Grant programs and Sacred Sites Grants programs offer two rounds per year. (Click on the links below for more information.) In 2011, we awarded $300,000 in Robert W. Wilson Challenge grants, $125,000 in Sacred Sites grants and $54,800 in Consulting Grants. We pledged two Jewish Heritage Fund Grants totaling $100,000.
Our typical Sacred Sites Grant award is between $3,000 and $6,000. In the past five years, the Sacred Sites Committee has pledged over 50 Wilson Challenge Grants, with an average pledge of $33,000.
Program Staff
- , Director
- , Grants Manager
Grants and Grant Criteria
Sacred Sites Grant Requirements
Robert W. Wilson Challenge Grant Requirements
Jewish Heritage Fund Grant Requirements
Consulting Grant Requirements (New York City only)
Application Process
Recent Projects
26 Applications Received in January Sacred Sites Grant Round
Sacred Sites Receives a Special Citation Award
David Berg Foundation Renews, Doubles Gift
Work is Underway at Christ Church in Walton NY
Conservancy hosts panel at National Trust Conference in Buffalo
Rugged Cross Baptist Church
Sacred Sites Grants Awarded
Sacred Sites Program Pledges 24 Grants to Congregations Across State
Church of the Most Precious Blood
Conservancy awards prestigious Jewish Cultural Heritage grant to Astoria Center of Israel
Video Highlights Conservancy Efforts in Buffalo
Conservancy Announces Three $50,000 E-Z Grants in Upper Manhattan
Conservancy Announces $206,500 in Sacred Sites Funding to 17 Religious Properties
First Presbyterian Church of Holland Patent
Mt. Zion Church of God (7th Day), Brooklyn
Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church, Lower Manhattan
Holy Innocents R.C. Church, Brooklyn
Christ Church, Walton
Presbyterian Church of Rensselaerville, Rensselaerville
Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn
St. Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Brooklyn
St. Peter’s Protestant Episcopal Church, Albany
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Wilmot, New Rochelle
Trinity Lutheran Church, Long Island City
First Baptist Church of DeWitt Park, Ithaca
Sweet Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church, Inc., Albany
First Presbyterian Church of Wyoming
Trinity Church, Geneva
Trinity Church, Constantia
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Stafford
Union Baptist Church (Bedford Stuyvesant), Brooklyn
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Buffalo
Temple Society of Concord (Temple Concord), Syracuse
New Covenant Christian Fellowship, Albany
Old Broadway Synagogue, Upper Manhattan
Christ Church, Riverdale
First Presbyterian Church of Holland Patent
Recent Wilson & Sacred Sites Grants awarded
Flushing Monthly Meeting, Flushing
St. Mary’s Church-in-the-Highlands, Cold Spring
St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, Brooklyn
Church of St. Ann and the Holy Trinity, Brooklyn
Union Theological Seminary, New York
St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, New York
First Presbyterian Church of Wyoming, Wyoming
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Katonah
Saint Paul’s Church, Salem
First Presbyterian Church, Schenectady
Saint Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Middleburgh
Temple Sinai, Saratoga Springs
Trinity Lutheran Church, Long Island City
Church of The Resurrection, Kew Gardens
Zion Episcopal Church, Morris
Chapin Memorial, Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, Oneonta
First United Methodist Church, Newburgh
St. James Episcopal Church, Skaneateles
Sacred Heart Basilica, Syracuse
Grace Episcopal Church, Syracuse
University Parish of St. Joseph’s, New York
German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Paul, New York
Church For All Nations, New York
Community Church of East Williston, East Williston
Our Lady of Victory / St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Rochester
Christ Temple Church, Rochester
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester
Forest Presbyterian Church, Lyons Falls
First Presbyterian Church, Cazenovia
Rugged Cross Baptist Church, Brooklyn
Church of the Ascension, Brooklyn
Trinity Episcopal Church, Middleville
United Methodist Church of Durham-Oak Hill, Oak Hill
Trinity Episcopal Church, Buffalo
The Reformed Dutch Church of Poughkeepsie, Poughkeepsie
Hamilton Monthly Meeting, Hamilton
Episcopal Church of Saints Peter and John, Auburn
Tremont Baptist Church, Bronx
Grace Episcopal Church, Bronx
First Baptist Church, Cuba
Trinity Church, Rensselaerville
Cathedral of All Saints, Albany
St. Brigids Demolition Halted
Historic Catholic Churches in Crisis
St. Saviour’s Saved
West-Park Presbyterian Church - Manhattan
Greater New Hope Church of God in Christ - Buffalo
Chapel of the Good Shepherd - Roosevelt Island
Congregation Tifereth Israel - Corona, Queens
Advocating for Historic Roman Catholic Churches
