Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, USA (International)

The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world - larger than Chartres and Notre Dame together - longer than two football fields - the Statue of Liberty could fit beneath its central crossing. Set on a 13-acre close on Morningside Heights, it is a venerable institution, a world monument, and among the dozen most important houses of worship on the planet.

Grounded in the authority of the Anglican church, the Cathedral is the mother church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the seat of its bishop. Under the terms of its founding charter, the Cathedral welcomes within its great bronze doors diverse races, cultures and traditions. As an international house of prayer for all peoples, it seeks to lead them towards actual blessing, reconciliation, celebration of the divine, and compassionate action.

During its first 100 years, the Cathedral presided over the American Century. From the beginning, it has reconciled opposites, serving as a conscience for the rich and a beacon for the poor. An advocate for working people, crusader against racism, and proponent of decent, affordable housing, the Cathedral has become New York's leading spiritual voice for urban regeneration. It has also become the most important religious institution in America to promote a new and spiritual ecological awareness, linking issues of ozone depletion, global warming and the like to the fundamental questions of human responsibility.

As the Cathedral embarks on its next hundred years, the world is becoming an increasingly medieval place. Empires and nations crumble, local oligarchies emerge, old ideas lose power, exile is the common condition of humankind. But the glimmers of renewed hope hover in the air. In the youthful megalopolis of the nascent 21st century, each city is a rich amalgam of diverse races, cultures and traditions. The lively tensions arising from this diversity will either doom the global village or fuel its ascent to new triumphs.

In this new era, marking the transition between the Modern age and the coming century, The Cathedral of Saint John the Divine is a focal point for the hopes, dreams and opportunities of a renewed city that is only now being born. Working from the intimate scale of the Congregation's monthly AIDS brunch to the city-wide reach of Manhattan Valley Youth Program, to the country- wide scope of the National Religious Partnership for the Environment, the Cathedral brings compassion, celebration and new understanding to the unprecedented challenges of our time.