The Cathedral of the Incarnation is the cathedral church of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. The cathedral also serves as the centerpiece of America's first cathedral town, Garden City, New York. It was built to honor 19th-century merchant Alexander Turney Stewart, who championed the development of this Long Island community. Stewart envisioned transforming an area of the Hempstead Plains into a town featuring moderately priced housing for his employees set within a park-like atmosphere.

The Cathedral of the Incarnation is the only single-benefactory cathedral in the United States, and the only one that is built in memory of a single individual. The building is significant example of 19th-century Gothic Revival architecture.

The cathedral reported 1,277 members in 2023; no membership statistics were reported in 2024 parochial reports. Plate and pledge income for the congregation in 2024 was $507,364 with average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 237.

History

Background and founding The cathedral was conceived as a memorial to Alexander Turney Stewart (1803-1876), a prominent Irish-American merchant who became one of the wealthiest individuals in American history. Stewart was born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, and immigrated to New York in 1818. He built a retail empire that included the famous "Iron Store" in Manhattan, which was considered America's first department store.

In 1869, Stewart purchased approximately 7,000 acres of the Hempstead Plain for $55 per acre, creating what would become Garden City. This planned community represented one of the earliest suburban developments in the United States, complete with imported trees, landscaping, and railroad connections to New York City. Garden City was a forerunner of the garden city movement of urban planning as articulated by Ebenezer Howard a generation after Stewart's village was founded.

Following Stewart's death in 1876, his widow Cornelia Clinch Stewart decided to build a church in his memory. In consultation with Abram N. Littlejohn, the first bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, she agreed to make the memorial church the diocesan cathedral, moving the center of Episcopal life from Brooklyn to Garden City.

The cathedral was designed by architect Henry Harrison of New York City, with Stafford Drowne planning the windows and James L'Hommedieu of Great Neck serving as builder. Groundbreaking occurred in 1876, with the cornerstone laid in 1877.

On Tuesday, June 2, 1885 the Cathedral was consecrated by Bishop Littlejohn with eight other bishops and clergy from around the country present as Cornelia Stewart, accompanied by the Stewart executor Judge Henry Hilton, presented the deed of conveyance and a bond of $300,000 as an endowment for the care and maintenance of the building. The project included not only the cathedral but also the Cathedral School of St. Paul for boys, the Cathedral School of St. Mary for girls, and a 32-room Bishop's House. St. Paul's School, dedicated in 1879, eventually accommodated 300 boys on its 40 acre site, while the Cathedral School of St. Mary was built in 1892.

Governance The cathedral operates under a traditional Episcopal governance model combining clerical leadership with lay participation. The dean of the cathedral serves as the primary administrator under the bishop's authority, responsible for day-to-day operations, liturgical planning, and pastoral care. Cathedral staff includes various canonical positions, including canons responsible for specialized ministries such as music, pastoral care, and family ministries.

Deans of the cathedral The Cathedral of the Incarnation has been led by thirteen deans since its establishment:

1890–1903: Samuel Cox 1903–1916: John Robert Moses 1916–1926: Oscar Frederick Rudolph Treder 1927–1933: George Paul Torrence Sarent 1933–1940: Arthur B. Kingsolving II 1940–1943: George Arthur Robertshaw 1944–1953: Hubert Stanley Wood 1953–1955: James Green 1957–1978: Harold Frank Lemoine 1979–1999: Robert Vidal Wilshire 1999–2004: James Joseph Cardone Jr. 2005–2014: Theodore William Bean Jr. 2015–present: Michael T. Sniffen

Current leadership Canon Michael T. Sniffen has served as the 13th Dean of the Cathedral of the Incarnation since 2015. His tenure has been marked by significant expansion of liturgical offerings, establishment of new outreach ministries, and completion of major restoration and building projects. In his capacity as Dean of Long Island, Sniffen concurrently serves multiple roles:

Dean of the Cathedral Dean of the Mercer School of Theology Dean of Central Nassau County Chairman of the Board of the Center for Spiritual Imagination

In collaboration with Morgan Ladd, Sniffen introduced Cathedral for Kids!, a Book of Common Prayer-based Eucharist inspired by Fred Rogers, designed to focus on the spiritual formation of young children. This service has become the cathedral's most attended Sunday morning liturgy. Other innovative programs include the Neighborhood Mass, a weekly outdoor Eucharist held from Memorial Day to Labor Day that welcomes companion animals, and Cathedral for Pets, which offers pet ministry and regular prayer services along with pastoral care for animals and their caregivers.

Under Sniffen's leadership, the cathedral undertook Incarnation 2020, the largest building project since the cathedral's dedication in 1885. This comprehensive renovation included:

Installation of an elevator for improved accessibility, the only addition to the original cathedral footprint since its inception Renovation of the undercroft Restoration of the cathedral's worship space to its original 19th-century flexible configuration Rebuilding of the cathedral's principal pipe organ Restoration of the high altar

Property redevelopment Significant property developments during Sniffen's tenure include:

Demolition of Cathedral House and conversion of See House into administrative offices and gathering space Purchase and renovation of Walker House (on nearby 3rd Street) into a ten-bedroom retreat center Reacquisition of 32 Cathedral Avenue—an original Garden City Apostle House—now serving as the deanery, dedicated as residential space for seminarians, faculty, and visiting scholars

Educational initiatives The cathedral has developed Cathedral College, a new clergy formation program created in partnership with Codrington College in the Church in the Province of the West Indies. Sniffen serves as a member of the faculty for this program.

COVID-19 response During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sniffen initiated Operation Feed the Front, which provided thousands of meals to front-line workers in collaboration with local kitchens.

Ongoing ministries Additional ministries established under current leadership include:

Prison outreach program Chaplaincy at Adelphi University INNcarnation ministry in partnership with the Interfaith Nutrition Network in Hempstead, NY The Center for Spiritual Imagination, founded in 2020, which operates within a spiritual ecology characterized by ancient rhythms, community nurturing, and a focus on justice work

Military service Since 2020, Sniffen has also served as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy Chaplain Corps and is currently chaplain of the United States Marine Corps Empire Battalion.

Architecture

Design and style The Cathedral of the Incarnation exemplifies 13th-century English Gothic Revival architecture, specifically the Decorated Gothic style. Representing a shift from early 19th-century "Gothick" experimentation toward academic precision, the design follows the principles of structural honesty championed by architects like Richard Upjohn and James Renwick Jr. By avoiding the faux-vaulting and heavy "Castellated" battlements common in earlier American churches, the cathedral achieves a mature expression of the Gothic Revival.

The building measures 175 feet in length and 96 feet in width, with an 80-foot bell tower topped by a 130-foot spire, creating a total height of 210 feet. The structure is crowned with a nine-foot illuminated brass cross that was visible from Brooklyn and the East River.

The cathedral is constructed of brownstone quarried in Belleville, New Jersey, and incorporates advanced 19th-century building techniques including iron beams and cast iron columns. This construction method allows for slender interior columns, a soaring 53-foot ceiling, and abundant natural light while reducing the need for exterior flying buttresses.

The decorative scheme throughout the cathedral features flora native to Long Island, including flowers, fruits, nuts, and foliage motifs. The building sits on 23 park-like acres and includes extensive use of rare marbles collected by Stewart from England, France, and Belgium.

Interior features The cathedral's interior follows traditional Gothic church layout with several notable features:

Narthex: The entrance contains 60 windows created by Clayton & Bell of London, depicting Old Testament patriarchs and prophets. The floor features a brass inlay of the Stewart coat of arms with the motto "Prudentia et Constantia" (Prudence and Perseverance).

Nave: Originally designed without pews in the medieval tradition, the nave contains 22 clerestory windows filled with depictions of heavenly choirs. The main level windows, also by Clayton & Bell, illustrate the birth and early life of Jesus Christ in a unified color scheme of red, blue, gold, and green. A recent "reseating" of the cathedral in 2020 removed the early 20th-century Mexican mahogany fixed pews and installed movable benches and chairs by British furniture designer Luke Hughes.

Transepts: The south transept features the Jesse Window, depicting the genealogy of Christ, while the north transept contains the Te Deum window illustrating the ancient hymn "Te Deum Laudamus."

Sanctuary: The high altar, carved from Italian statuary marble by Cox & Co. of London, features panels showing important events in the life of Jesus. Above the sanctuary is a Byzantine-style icon of Christ as "Pantocrator" installed in 2001.

Stained glass The cathedral's extensive stained glass program was executed primarily by the London firm Clayton & Bell, with additional windows by Heaton, Butler & Bayne. The 70 windows in the narthex, nave, and chancel maintain a unified color scheme and tell the story of Christ's life and the Christian faith through visual narrative, following the medieval tradition of serving as a "Bible in glass" for the faithful.

High altar

The cathedral's high altar, designed by Henry Harrison and carved in Belgium, serves as both the visual focal point for Eucharistic fellowship and a teaching tool depicting the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The 19th-century masterpiece features complete carving on all four sides, with the south and north panels depicting the Annunciation and the Appearance of Jesus at Emmaus respectively. The east side presents three scenes from Christ's life: the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Crucifixion, and the Harrowing of Hell, while the west side illustrates three Hebrew Bible scenes: the Temptation of Adam and Eve, the Sacrifice of Isaac, and Moses with the Bronze Serpent.

In the late 1950s, changing liturgical preferences led to alterations that compromised the altar's original design and visual impact. The poorly executed masonry work inhibited the use of the canon's stalls in the apse and rendered the presider's stall unusable.