More more than 200 years, the congregation now known as Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church has been a center of worship, education and service to New York City and people around the world.
1808: Our beginnings
"The Presbytery of New York at their session, the twenty-eight day of June, 1808, in the City of New York, received under their care a new congregation in said city who contemplated worshipping in Cedar Street and permitted them to prosecute a call on the Rev. John B. Romeyn of the Presbytery of Albany."
So reads the very first entry of The Records of the Session of the Presbyterian Church in Cedar Street, New York. The entry, like the spirit in which it was penned, followed the congregation uptown to Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Today, the Cedar Street site in downtown Manhattan is the plaza area for the Chase Bank complex, barely recognizable as "good soil," but nonetheless the earth from which the tree of life on Fifth Avenue was transplanted.
Our first pastor, the Rev. Dr. John B. Romeyn
Dr. Romeyn accepted the invitation to be the Pastor of the Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street and assumed the post on November 9, 1808. The first congregational meeting was held December 13. Though 28 people had signed the June 28 petition to the Presbytery, only 26 attended the December meeting and became members.
This small but notable congregation included such members as Oliver Wolcott, Jr., former Secretary of the Treasury and son of a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Archibald Gracie, whose Gracie Mansion is now the residence of the Mayor of New York, and Betsy Jackson, an African-American slave. Among the first officers of the church was Richard Varick, an aide to George Washington and former Mayor of New York City.
Dr. Romeyn was just 28 years old when he was called to the pastorate of the Cedar Street church, yet he was considered one of the finest preachers of the day. The son of a Dutch Reformed minister, Dr. Romeyn was raised in a predominately Dutch-speaking household. In fact, all the family’s Bible readings were in Dutch. He attended Union College in Schenectady and received a degree from Columbia College at the age of 18.
Dr. Romeyn had served a Dutch Reformed church in Rhinebeck, NY, then the First Presbyterian Church of Albany. His preaching skills were renowned, and he received an invitation to preach at the General Assembly of the Presbytery. Two years after coming to Cedar Street, he was named Moderator of the General Assembly.
Our early outreach
The Church was instrumental in founding such organizations as the New York Bible Society, The American Bible Society, the Princeton Theological Society and various interdenominational mission boards. In 1815, members of the congregation established the first free schools, which later were expanded into the New York Public School System. A year later, Cedar Street Presbyterian participated in the founding of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions and, subsequently, the Board of Foreign Missions. Members of the congregation also helped found The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Natural History, and the Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital.
The first manse was located on White Street in a shady, quiet, residential area. Dr. Romeyn would drive his horse-drawn buggy from there down Broadway on Sunday mornings to conduct the service. In those days the city allowed the street to be chained off so the congregation would not be disturbed during worship by street noises.
1830s: A new location for the church
Downtown Manhattan was changing from a residential to a commercial area, and the city decided to widen Cedar Street around 1830, putting the church’s future in jeopardy. The congregation sold the land and property for $75,000 and began looking for a new site for their church. Four lots were purchased from Trinity Church on the southeast corner of Chambers and Chapel Streets. However, Chapel Street was part of the City’s street-widening plan and the congregation was able to void the sale and buy a lot at Duane and Church Streets. (While there is no historical evidence that street names played any role in the congregation’s decision-making process, it does seem to have been divinely inspired.)
A "temple" of marble with a colonnaded portico was built at Duane and Church, and Rev. Cyrus Mason was its pastor. He resigned "due to a condition of health" (he stuttered) before the Duane Street Church was dedicated on January 3, 1836. The new church’s design included 12 pews for a choir. Before the 1830s, it was not proper to have the congregation or a choir sing during a worship service, let alone an organ be played. Today, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church resounds on Sunday mornings to the melodies of joy that reverberate from the Church.
1840s: Another move is necessary
The paint barely had time to peel off of the new Duane Street Church when the newly installed Rev. Dr. James W. Alexander began to lobby in 1844 for another move farther uptown. Stiff opposition caused him to resign in 1849, but he must have been popular, because the move was made to 19th Street and Fifth Avenue, where a new church was dedicated in 1852 and the good Dr. Alexander was recalled.
1860s: A new home and new changes
It was 1867 when women were allowed to vote on church matters. That was also the year the Rev. Dr. John Hall was recruited as pastor all the way from Armagh, Northern Ireland. One complimentary newspaper described Dr. Hall as follows: "He usually wears a gown, and is always reverential, generally solemn, never in the pulpit humorous."
The design of the new church was similar to our present edifice, though it didn’t have a suspended ceiling. Already the roof was being raised by a congregation that loved to sing. Lowell Mason was the music director. Stores were closed on Sundays in those days, including the Arnold Constable department store behind the Church. This was the hub of the Merchants’ Mile (on Broadway from 14th to 23rd Streets), and there was no question that this Presbyterian church was a New York City church. It had 200 pews!
1870s: The move to 55th Street and Fifth Avenue
Soon even this building was insufficient, and big plans were hatched for a new church at 55th Street and Fifth Avenue. The land was purchased at the intersection of what were still two dirt roads amidst mansions like those that still stand along the east side of Central Park. The cost of the land was $350,000. The new church was dedicated May 9, 1875, and construction costs were fully paid by 1877.
According to news clips in the archives of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, The New York Times gave the opening of the sanctuary rave reviews. The newspaper reflected that many of the attendees at the first Sunday service, May 9, were not members, and the expectation was that the attendance would decline. It is interesting to note that the attendance more than doubled in ten years’ time.
1900s: The congregation grows
Under the early 1900s ministry of Rev. Dr. John Henry Jowett, originally from Halifax, England, it was not uncommon for Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church to have to turn away as many as 1,000 would-be worshippers on any given Sunday. Church membership was at an all-time high of 2,606 in 1916.
Rev. Dr. John Bonnell served as pastor from 1935 to 1962 and introduced pastoral psychology/counseling, a field in which he became recognized as a leader. His Pastoral Psychiatry, published in 1938, was the first book on the subject. Dr. Bonnell (1893-1992) was a nationally renowned author and religious broadcaster on the ABC radio network as host of the series, "National Vespers, " from 1936 until 1961. In 1956, he introduced "Dial-a-Prayer," which continued as a valued ministry of the church for half a century.
Dr. Bonnell played a leadership role in the movement to increase ties between Protestants and Roman Catholics, and in 1966 he was presented with a silver medal for ecumenical services by Pope Paul VI during a private audience. He also served as co-chair of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. Dr. Bonnell's interfaith interests, as well as his service as a guest lecturer at Princeton Theological Seminary, helped develop an international awareness of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. In fact, he "made the name of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church synonymous with human sympathy, evangelical warmth, and spiritual refreshment," according to the Rev. Dr. John A. Mackey, president of Princeton Theological Seminary, who praised Dr. Bonnell's services in 1943.
1960s: "You can't go it alone in New York."
The Rev. Dr. Bryant Kirkland served as senior pastor from 1962 until 1987. He was named Clergyman of the Year in 1975 by the Religious Heritage of America. The David B. Skinner Shelter, a shelter for homeless men that the church has operated since 1986, was begun by Dr. Kirkland. He was the author of several books, including A Pattern for Faith and Living in a Zigzag Age.
Dr. Kirkland was succeeded in 1987 by Rev. Dr. R. Maurice Boyd, who came to Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church from the Metropolitan United Church in London, Ontario. Dr. Boyd's charismatic preaching attracted many worshippers during his tenure, and it was during his time with the church that his book, Permit Me Voyage, was published.
1990s: Into the new millennium
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church renewed its long relationship with Princeton Theological Seminary in 1994, when a protégé of Dr. Kirkland, Rev. Dr. Thomas K. Tewell, was invited to the church as senior pastor. Dr. Tewell had held that position at the 5,000-member Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston. Under his leadership, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church established the Center for Christian Studies, which grew rapidly into a highly regarded center of religious education.
In 2003, for the first time since our sanctuary was built in 1875 and our church house in 1925, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church underwent a major renovation and expansion project. More than five years of prayerful study brought forth a comprehensive plan for construction, renovation, and mission, including a new Christian Education Center carved from the unused space below the sanctuary; complete renovation of the 10-story church house; as well as air-conditioning and fire proofing systems.
In August of 2005, Dr. Tewell resigned from FAPC, at a time when membership had grown to more than 3,550. The church went through a three-year interim period, in which it reaffirmed its mission statement and focused on servant, or lay, leadership.
The next 200 years
In addition to a full schedule of worship services and classes, the church has become a leading voice in addressing New York’s homeless problem, and plays host to more than 40 outreach and fellowship programs each week.
As FAPC celebrated its bicentennial year in 2008, it called the Rev. Dr. Scott Black Johnston as its 17th senior pastor. Dr. Black Johnston, formerly of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Atlanta, GA, began work on Homecoming Sunday and was installed the following December.
Under Dr. Black Johnston’s leadership, worship services have been revitalized and reorganized, with a greater emphasis on families worshiping together. The positive momentum created from this renewed focus on worship is rooted in the assurance that Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is a spiritual home where people do not have to check their hearts or their minds at the door. All of this points to our next 200 years being spiritually meaningful and inviting in an ever-changing and diverse world.