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Church of the Advent

Architect
John Hubbard Sturgis
Style
Gothic Revival
City
Boston, MA
Church of the Advent
Photo: L-BBE, CC BY 3.0
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The Church of the Advent was begun in 1844 by a group determined to bring the ideals of England's decade-old Oxford Movement to Boston. Their founding act was a small rebellion: they refused the widespread practice of renting pews, where the best seats went to those who could pay while servants and the poor were pushed to the back or the galleries. Architect John Hubbard Sturgis gave the parish its home on the flat of Beacon Hill, at the corner of Mount Vernon and Brimmer Streets, next door to the Charles Street Meeting House.

the building

Spire and change-ringing bells. The brick Victorian Gothic building carries a 172-foot spire and eight large change ringing bells, a full set built for English-style change ringing rather than a single tolling bell.

A center of Anglo-Catholic worship. The parish became well known as a prominent center of Anglo-Catholic worship within the Episcopal Church. Membership has shifted over time, from 803 members reported in 2015 to 517 in 2023, with average Sunday attendance of 176 and plate-and-pledge income of $402,250 in 2024.

the style

Sturgis designed the church in the Victorian Gothic mode favored by High Church Episcopal parishes of the era, faced entirely in brick rather than stone, with the 172-foot spire announcing the building across Beacon Hill.

More on Gothic Revival

the architect

John Hubbard Sturgis was a notable Boston architect; the Church of the Advent, sited on the flat of Beacon Hill beside the historic Charles Street Meeting House, stands among his known works.

nearby

All 282 buildings in Boston