F
ounded in 1826, St. Paul’s is
one of the earliest congrega-
tions in Syracuse and it is the
oldest Episcopal parish. After decades
of expansion and growth, the church
erected its current building in 1885 – a
stunning example of Victorian Gothic
Revival architecture, designed by
Henry Dudley (1813-1894). St. Paul’s
200-foot spire crowns the Syracuse sky-
line.
Throughout its nearly 200-year
history, St. Paul’s has served Syracuse
faithfully, particularly as an inclusive
congregation that welcomes all people
and champions the arts.
The parish was instrumental in
founding and incubating the Samaritan Center, an interfaith program that feeds the hun-
gry, in 1981. St. Paul’s housed the program until 2015, when it outgrew the space and moved
to a larger site. The church has served the homeless, refugees, and immigrants, including a
group of fellow Anglicans from South Sudan who hold a worship service in their Dinka lan-
guage. St. Paul’s also provides space to a number of arts-related organizations, including the
musician-led orchestra, Symphoria.
However, like many downtown mainline
churches, St. Paul’s has experienced signifi-
cant decline during the last half of the 20 th
century. Its magnificent building, a local and
national treasure, became increasingly diffi-
cult to maintain. Recently, as parish leader-
ship planned to call a new priest, their interim
priest asked a prophetic question: Wouldn’t it
be important for prospective applicants to
know that there was a plan for the building?
This immediately sparked the energy and
imagination of Rebecca Livengood, a long-
time leader at St. Paul’s. “I knew we were at the
point where we needed to act,” she says. “And
I knew the person to initiate this action was
me. My background in planning and devel-
opment, both with the City and nonprofits,
gave me the contacts and skills we needed.”
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