The Friends of the Cathedral has been an active and supportive group for over a century, and contributes to a variety of programs and initiative around St. John the Divine that include:
| • | Providing funds for many projects and initiatives around the Cathedral |
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| • | Supporting the music program |
| • | Financing the Cathedral's many social services, including the Soup Kitchen |
| • | Hosting visiting groups |
Since 1908 (when it was known as The Laymen’s Club), the members of the Friends of the Cathedral have been dedicated to bringing the Cathedra of St. John the Divine's mission and work to the awareness of the many communities it serves. In addition to sponsoring capital improvement projects for the Cathedral, the Club sponsors lectures on subjects relating to the construction, mission, and the role of cathedrals throughout history, and provides social opportunities for fellowship for its members.
The Friends’ more noteworthy contributions are many, including the following in recent decades:
| • | Support of the Organ Scholar program beginning in 2022 |
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| • | Financial aid to the professional singers in the choir who were sidelined during the COVID epidemic |
| • | Support of the Cathedral School Choristers on their 2023 Summer trip to Westminster Abbey |
| • | Donations to the refitting of the bronze doors, 2020 |
| • | Major contributions to the rebuilding of the Grand Staircase, 2016 (and its initial completion in 1941) |
| • | Commissioning the “Centennial Anthem” by composer Lee Hoiby for the re-dedication of the Cathedral, 2008 |
| • | Donation to the repair of the roof of St. James Chapel, 2006 |
| • | Donation to the renovation of the Ithiel Towne Building, 2005 |
| • | Funding of the Compass Rose Medallion in the Great Choir - the symbol of the worldwide Anglican Communion – as a memorial to its designer, Canon Edward N. West, the beloved sub-Dean of the Cathedral, 1992 |
| • | Seed money for creation of the Cathedral Homeless Shelter and Soup Kitchen 1983 |
| • | Sponsorship of exhibition of architectural drawings of the Cathedral at the Union League Club in New York, 1976 |
| • | Completion of the "Pilgrims' Frieze" over the Great Bronze Doors depicting pilgrims of all races and nations, 1965 |
| • | Donation for the jeweled Cross of New York in memory of Bishop Manning, 1950 |
| • | Completion and dedication of the Pilgrims’ Pavement in the nave, 1934, as part of the first great fundraising campaign under Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1920s. |
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