The Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York is a congregation within the

Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...

located on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper We ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of counties in New York, origin ...

. It is the last surviving of seven Universalist congregations in the city, founded on the belief of

universal salvation In Christian theology, universal reconciliation (also called universal salvation, Christian universalism, or in context simply universalism) is the doctrine that all sinful and alienated human souls—because of divine love and mercy—will ulti ...

that emphasized the love of God for all people. Today, the congregation is pluralistic and non-creedal, welcoming a diverse range of religious beliefs and practices and finding unity in a commitment to social justice.

History

The congregation began in 1838 as New York City's fourth society devoted to the Universalist faith (the previous three were founded in 1796, 1830 and 1832, respectively). The congregation's original name was Friends of the Final Restitution and in 1848, it changed its name to the Church of the Divine Paternity. It officially took the name of Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York in 1967. Over the years it has attracted notable personalities such as

P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He wa ...

Horace Greeley Horace Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an American newspaper editor and publisher who was the founder and editor of the ''New-York Tribune''. Long active in politics, he served briefly as a congressman from New York, ...

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and (usually uncredited) director in the musical theater for almost 40 years. He won eight To ...

, Louise Whitfield Carnegie,

Lou Gehrig Henry Louis Gehrig (born Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig ; June 19, 1903June 2, 1941) was an American professional baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees (1923–1939). Gehrig was renowned f ...

, Barbara Gittings, and

Winifred Latimer Norman Winifred Latimer Norman (October 7, 1914 – February 4, 2014) was an American social worker, active in efforts to preserve her grandfather Lewis Howard Latimer's legacy in Flushing, Queens. Early life Winifred Latimer Norman was born in Flus ...

to its pews. In 1898, the congregation built its current home, dubbed "the Cathedral of Universalism," at West 76th Street and

Central Park West Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, ...

on New York City's

. The architect,

William Appleton Potter William Appleton Potter (December 10, 1842 – February 19, 1909) was an American architect who designed numerous buildings for Princeton University, as well as municipal offices and churches. He served as a Supervising Architect of the Treasury ...

, based the design closely upon Magdalen Tower, Oxford, and buildings at

Magdalen College Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the st ...

. In 1993

Robert A. M. Stern Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern (born May 23, 1939), is a New York City–based architect, educator, and author. He is the founding partner of the architecture firm, Robert A.M. Stern Architects, also known ...

and his co-authors described the church as "one of the few buildings to break from Central Park West's prevailing

Classicism Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...

." A rare design in English Perpendicular Gothic, it received praise from notable architects including

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

, whose daughter was married at the church. The church houses several significant artistic works, including an altar by

Louis Comfort Tiffany Louis Comfort Tiffany (February 18, 1848 – January 17, 1933) was an American artist and designer who worked in the decorative arts and is best known for his work in stained glass. He is the American artist most associated with the Art NouveauL ...

, a bronze relief sculpture by

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculptor of the Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. From a French-Irish family, Saint-Gaudens was raised in New York City, he trave ...

, a mosaic by J&R Lamb Studios, and stained glass windows by

Clayton and Bell Clayton and Bell was one of the most prolific and proficient British workshops of stained-glass windows during the latter half of the 19th century and early 20th century. The partners were John Richard Clayton (1827–1913) and Alfred Bell (1832� ...

of London. The organ was donated by

Andrew Carnegie Andrew Carnegie (, ; November 25, 1835August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist. Carnegie led the expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century and became one of the richest Americans in ...

and his wife, Louise Carnegie, the latter who was a member of the church. Originally designed and constructed by the Hutchings-Votey Organ Company of Boston, the organ was rebuilt and revised by the Ernest M. Skinner Company.

Community Partnerships

In the 1980s, the congregation received inquiries from developers eager to obtain the church's choice property location. Instead, the congregation joined with community activists, preservationists, and neighbors to form Save Our Universalist Landmark (SOUL) and successfully raised funds for maintenance and capital improvements. In return for these funds, the church promised not to exercise its development rights for a certain number of years, one of the first such agreements of its kind. In 2018, the congregation embarked on a second SOUL campaign, aimed at replacing a rapidly aging roof. With the help of neighbors, state grants, and congregational members, the campaign successfully raised over 1.5 million dollars. The church tower, dedicated by the congregation to peace and named "The Peace Tower of New York City," is used by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...

each November as its "high-tech command center" for live coverage of the

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...

Activism and Justice

The congregation is known for its commitment to social justice, notably through its support of immigration justice, voter advocacy,

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks ...

, the

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

community, and the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brutali ...

movement. On May 1, 2016 the congregation called the Rev. Schuyler Vogel to become its next Senior Minister. In February 2017, the membership voted unanimously to become a sanctuary congregation to protect undocumented immigrants from deportation. Several weeks later, the building was vandalized by swastikas and hate speech, an incident that garnered national media attention. In March 2018, the congregation accepted Aura Hernandez into sanctuary, an undocumented mother who had fled an abusive relationship and gang violence in Guatemala. Her case received coverage by the New York Times, Democracy Now!, and The Nation Magazine. In 2019, Fourth Universalist became the home o
Sanctuary Neighborhoods
a grassroots organizing network serving immigrant families in New York City.

List of Clergy

Source:
/ref> *1838–1840: William Whittaker *1840–1843: Isaac D. Williamson *1843–1845: Moses Ballou *1846–1847:

Thomas Lake Harris Thomas Lake Harris (May 15, 1823 – March 23, 1906) was an Anglo- American preacher, spiritualistic prophet, poet, and vintner. Harris is best remembered as the leader of a series of communal religious experiments, culminating with a group calle ...

*1848–1880: Edwin Hubbell Chapin *1881–1902: Charles Henry Eaton *1902–1919: Frank Oliver Hall *1919–1925: Joseph Fort Newton *1927–1929:

Charles Francis Potter Charles Francis Potter (October 28, 1885 – October 4, 1962) was an American Unitarian minister, theologian, and author. In 1923 and 1924, he became nationally known through a series of debates with John Roach Straton, a fundamentalist Chri ...

*1929–1938: Frank Oliver Hall *1938–1941: S.E. Gerard Priestley *1941–1943: Eleanor G. Collie *1943–1954: Benjamin B. Hersie *1955–1956: Albert F. Ciarcia *1957–1958: Raymond J. Baughan *1959–1967: Leonard Helie *1968–1973: Richard A. Kellaway *1973–1974: Arlin Roy *1974–1984: Joel Schoelfield *1984–1985: Charles A. Howe *1985–1987: Joyce H. Smith *1987–1989: Robert A. Kaufmann *1989–1999: Darrell Berger *1999–2001: Richard Nugent *2001–2014: Rosemary Bray McNatt *2014–2016: Susan Milnor *2016–present: Schuyler Vogel

References

External links

The Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York’s web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourth Universalist Society Of New York 1838 establishments in New York (state) Central Park West Historic District Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan Churches in Manhattan Religious organizations established in 1838 Unitarian Universalist churches in New York City Universalist Church of America churches Upper West Side William Appleton Potter church buildings