Our History
The Church of the Advent was established in 1844, eleven years after the beginning of the Oxford Movement in England.
Its first home was an “upper room” of a building on Merrimack Street in the North End, near present-day Haymarket, from which the parish moved six months later to a hall at the corner of Lowell and Causeway Streets, near what is now North Station. The parish occupied this space for two years before moving in 1847 to a church on nearby Green Street.
All of these early buildings have disappeared, as have Lowell and Green Streets themselves, although their former locations can be seen on this 1842 map. (Lowell Street, unlabeled, runs perpendicular to Causeway Street just east of another now-vanished road named Leverett Street.)
In 1863 the congregation moved to a building on Bowdoin Street, now the Church of St John the Evangelist, but was soon well on the way to outgrowing the space.
In 1874 the parish bought land at the corner of Mt. Vernon and Brimmer Streets – which, as the 1842 map shows, had not even existed when the parish was founded 30 years before. This land was created from lowering the height of some Boston hills by several feet beginning in the 1850s. (Excavations in our undercroft in late 2003 unearthed several old bottles and other artifacts from the taverns that dotted Boston neighborhoods at the time.) The present building was designed in the Early English Gothic Style by Boston architect and Advent parishioner John Hubbard Sturgis in 1875 and was substantially complete by 1888.
Entering the West Doors from Brimmer Street one is struck by the grand lofty perspective culminating in the High Altar with its Caen stone reredos of 1891 – designed by Harold Peto of Peto and George in London, a gift of Isabella Stewart Gardner. The nave is, in fact, taller than its length and the space narrows at the crossing, increasing the sense of height and length.
The Great Rood suspended high above the choir steps was designed by Ralph Adams Cram in 1925 and replaced the original wrought iron choir screen.* Cram’s very first ecclesiastical commission was the credence niche in the polygonal apse wall to the right of the High Altar. Mirroring it on the left of the Altar stands the golden Aumbry or Sacrament House, dating from 1933. Near the Aumbry is a 15th century French bishop’s throne given to the parish as a memorial gift in 1871.
The Church of the Advent’s rich history is matched by an equally extensive archive of photos, documents, and artifacts, offering a vivid glimpse into the parish’s storied past. These treasures are frequently shared on our social media channels, allowing us to bring the vibrant history of our church to life and connect past generations with the present. Follow along to explore more of the Advent’s remarkable journey through time.
