History of the Church St. Francis and St. Martha’s White Plains

Summary

In 1967, St. Francis of Assisi, White Plains and St. Martha’s, North White Plains merged to create St. Francis and St. Martha’s, White Plains.

The congregation of St. Francis of Assisi started in June 1945 as a church for Episcopalians of African descent at a time when  nearby churches with white congregations did not welcome them. Initially, they gathered to worship at the Carver Center in White Plains. St. Francis was a mission church, and the clergy from another mission church, St. Augustine’s (currently Holy Cross), Yonkers provided spiritual leadership. In 1947 Rev. Dr. Alger Leroy Adams was appointed the Vicar of both churches.

St. Martha’s started in 1932 in the Parkway Homes section of Greenburgh as a white mission church.  Early on, St. James the Less, Scarsdale provided the congregation with spiritual leadership.

In 1967 the  diocese combined these two mission congregations, establishing St. Francis and St. Martha’s Episcopal Church. The diocese took this step because of the expense of having two mission congregations in close proximity and because St. Martha’s parishioners now reflected the neighborhood which had changed to people of African descent.  In 1977, St. Francis and St. Martha’s Church status changed from a mission to independent parish.

Besides St. Francis of Assisi and St. Augustine’s  sharing clergy, they were part of the Diocesan’s Cornerstone Campaign which began in the late 1940’s. St. Martha’s was also part of the campaign, a diocesan effort to help fund seven mission churches that needed either a building to worship in or improvements to their existing buildings.  (Refer to the Clippings from Bulletin from the Diocese of New York on Cornerstone Campaign Feb 1949 and Oct 1951 attachment for a description of this campaign and its outcomes.)

The attached History of St. Francis and St. Martha’s Episcopal Church, White Plains, from the diocesan archives, outlines the beginnings of the two churches.

(November 2024)