“Enjoy your forgiveness.” This is the tagline of the Parish of Calvary–St. George’s, a historic Episcopal parish consisting of two churches and located in the heart of Manhattan. For the Rev. Jacob Smith, the rector, the phrase resonates deeply, not only because it declares the message of the gospel but also because it ties into the beliefs and convictions of Alcoholics Anonymous.
“The carpenter of Nazareth was the friend of sinners, not of good people,” Smith told TLC in a phone interview. “As it goes, the phrase has become a big part of our congregation too. It resonates with those who were friends of Bill and Sam—who’ve experienced the door of new life opening up for them through AA, receiving and offering forgiveness, just as they seek to make amends.”
“Bill and Sam” are Bill Wilson and Sam Shoemaker, two founders of the 12-step program that helps alcoholics recover from their addiction. After Shoemaker became rector of Calvary Church in 1924, within a couple of years, he sold some of the church property, razed the old rectory, and built Calvary House, a multipurpose building that housed church facilities and occasionally operated as a hostel. Through Calvary House and Calvary Mission, a place for the down and out, Shoemaker met several men who later became integral to Alcoholics Anonymous, including Bill Wilson, Ebby Thacher, and Rowland Hazard.
To them, Shoemaker became a spiritual mentor, so much so that when Alcoholics Anonymous began in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, “he was able to influence AA in a really powerful and positive way,” Smith said. The first three steps of the program are entirely attributed to Shoemaker, and he influenced the remaining nine steps as well.
As Smith recounts, Sam Shoemaker was exposed to a lot of difficulty and trouble as a child. When one of his childhood friends suffered and died from edema, a swelling caused by a buildup of fluid in body tissues, Shoemaker was greatly affected; the experience began to shape him as a Christian and as a priest, so much so that it became a powerful part of the 12 steps.
“All of us have something in our lives that’s an addiction and out of control,” Smith said. “With all of us there is something completely unmanageable, and it was this unmanageability that brought Sam to the Christian faith.” Ultimately, it was also this unmanageability that came to deeply influence the underlying vision of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The historic two-church Episcopal parish hopes to maintain the vision of one of its most famous rectors as it ministers to New York City and to those who come to pay homage to the place that served as the spiritual birthplace of The Big Book.
To Smith, the joint buildings serve as a testimony of God’s work in New York City.
“Just as the Israelites set up little altars to God at the foot of the mountain, we see Calvary–St. George’s as a place where God has moved and where God did something big,” Smith said. Visitors from around the world often stop by unannounced to see the portrait of Sam Shoemaker and sit before the stained-glass window of Rowland Hazard, an American businessman whose work was integral to the formation of Alcoholics Anonymous. To them, catching a glimpse of the spiritual energy that helped conceive the organization is often a critical piece in their sobriety.
Smith also hopes to further connect the dots between Alcoholics Anonymous and the Christian faith: The history of the 90-year-old organization “didn’t just fall out of the sky,” but is deeply rooted in the Episcopal tradition.
Like many Episcopal churches across the country, Calvary–St. George’s hosts a 12-Step Recovery Eucharist in January and June every year. According to the program bulletin, “The Feast of Samuel Shoemaker” offers a service of grace and hope by showing participants “both the need that is all around us and the resources we have to offer through both worship and service, whether we are in recovery or not.”
The service is designed for each step to be said by the congregation. For example, during The Collect, when the Celebrant prompts, “Step Two,” the People respond, “We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” The same is true for steps six and seven during the Prayers of the People and for steps eight and nine during the Comfortable Words:
Celebrant: Step Eight:
People: We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
Celebrant: Step Nine:
People: We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
The parish offers grape juice instead of wine, preserving the anonymity of those in recovery. Just as the 12 steps offer a form of spirituality for everybody, Smith trusts the service does the same. By offering a “simple form for complex people,” Calvary–St. George’s continues to emphasize the Great Carpenter who “still loves sinners, exactly as they are.” As Smith says, “Jesus is always coming for you, right where you’re at.”
As the Parish of Calvary–St. George’s is on the brink of its 50th anniversary, the staff and vestry are working to restore Calvary to a place of beauty and significance.
The Muhlenberg Fund, named after the Rev. William Muhlenberg, will support the restoration of Calvary–St. George’s two Gothic and Romanesque architectural marvels that remain a spiritual boon to parishioners and visiting sojourners alike.
“There’s no other place like Calvary–St. George’s,” Smith said. “The spiritual values from Sam Shoemaker and others like him mean that ours is a rich tradition rooted in history and recovery. No other congregation in the world has that.”
The parish welcomes donations at bit.ly/muhlenbergfund.
Cara Meredith, a freelance writer and postulant for holy orders in the Diocese of California, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.
