Church of the Transfiguration, Episcopal (Manhattan)

In 1863, during the Civil War Draft Riots, Houghton gave sanctuary to African Americans who were under attack, filling up the church's sanctuary, schoolroom, library and vestry. When rioters showed up at the church, Houghton is reported to have turned them away and dispersed them by saying, "You white devils, you! Do you know nothing of the spirit of Christ?" Over the three days of rioting, Houghton fed and prayed with those taking refuge in the church, assisted by George Franklin Seymour, Bishop of Springfield. The church became a popular destination for fashionable society in New York's Gilded Age. Caroline Schermerhorn Astor and William Backhouse Astor Jr. were communicants, walking to services from their mansion at Fifth Avenue and 33rd Street, and the wedding of Marion Graves Anthon Fish and Stuyvesant Fish was held in the church in 1876. Names in the registers of the church included leading names of the day, including Rhinelander, Gould, Delafield, Vanderbilt, Zabriskie, Schuyler, and Roosevelt; William and Caroline Astor's daughters Helen and Emily were in the confirmation class of 1869. == Ties to theater and arts ==

Actors were among the social outcasts whom Houghton befriended. In 1870, William T. Sabine, the rector of the nearby Church of the Atonement, which is no longer extant, refused to conduct funeral services for an actor named George Holland, suggesting, "I believe there is a little church around the corner where they do that sort of thing." Joseph Jefferson, a fellow actor who was trying to arrange Holland's burial, exclaimed, "If that be so, God bless the little church around the corner!" and the church began a longstanding association with the theater. In 1923, the Episcopal Actors' Guild held its first meeting at Transfiguration. Such theatrical greats as Basil Rathbone, Tallulah Bankhead, Peggy Wood, Joan Fontaine, Rex Harrison, Barnard Hughes, and Charlton Heston have served as officers or council members of the guild. The Little Church's association with the theatre continued in the 1970s, when it hosted the Joseph Jefferson Theatre Company, which gave starts to actors such as Armand Assante, Tom Hulce, and Rhea Perlman. As well as being a guild officer, Sir Rex Harrison was memorialized at the church upon his death in 1990. Maggie Smith, Brendan Gill, and Harrison's sons, Carey and Noel, spoke at the service. == Rectors ==

The church is known for the long service of its rectors: in the 150 years from its founding to 1998, there were five, == Membership ==

The church reported 300 members in 2016 and 198 members in 2023; no membership statistics were reported in 2024 parochial reports. Plate and pledge income reported for the congregation in 2024 was $366,027, with average Sunday attendance (ASA) of 115 persons. == Music program ==

The church has long been associated with a program of free music performances. The Anglican tradition of a men's and boys' choir has been maintained with special music for concerts and summer services provided by a choir of mixed voices. In 1988, the Arnold Schwartz Memorial organ, a new tracker pipe organ, was built and installed at the church by C. B. Fisk, Inc. ==In popular culture==

• A key scene, a wedding between characters played by Neil Hamilton and Mary Brian, in the 1925 Herbert Brenon–directed silent film The Street of Forgotten Men was shot at the church. Parts of the church's facade and lich-gate are seen in the film, and the lich-gate is shown on one of the film's lobby cards. • The church is alluded to at least twice in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, as "tin choorch round the coroner" (67.13) and "ye litel church rond ye corner" (533.23–4). • In 1986, the church was featured in an episode of The Equalizer titled "Shades of Darkness". • In Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters, Allen attends a concert in the main sanctuary while attempting to convert to Catholicism. ==Gallery==