Madison Avenue Baptist Church
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The Madison Avenue Baptist Church is a
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...
church located in
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 original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. It is affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, the
American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainl ...
, the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, and the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America.


History

It was first chartered in 1848 as ''Rose Hill Baptist Sunday School and Church'', on East 30th Street between Third and Lexington Avenues in
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 original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Rose Hill was a
house church A house church or home church is a label used to describe a group of Christians who regularly gather for worship in private homes. The group may be part of a larger Christian body, such as a parish, but some have been independent groups that see ...
with twelve members. In 1849, Rose Hill Baptist became the ''Lexington Avenue Baptist Church'' with twenty-eight members at 154 Lexington Avenue and 30th Street in a new Lombardian Romanesque-style edifice, which is now the First Moravian Church. Prominent Baptist
Jeremiah Milbank Jeremiah Milbank (April 18, 1818 – June 1, 1884) American businessman, was a successful dry goods commission merchant, speculator in Texas territorial bonds, manufacturer, and railroad investor. His most successful business efforts were the New Y ...
– developer of condensed milk with inventor
Gail Borden Gail Borden Jr. (November 9, 1801 – January 11, 1874) was a native New Yorker who settled in Texas in 1829 (then still Mexico), where he worked as a land surveyor, newspaper publisher, and inventor. He created a process in 1853 to make sweet ...
– and other congregational leaders, including the Colgate family, decided to move the church east in order to avoid the falling cinders emitted by the nearby Third Avenue elevated railroad. Five lots at East 31st Street and Madison Avenue became the site of a grand new structure, built in 1858. In 1885, following the death of
Jeremiah Milbank Jeremiah Milbank (April 18, 1818 – June 1, 1884) American businessman, was a successful dry goods commission merchant, speculator in Texas territorial bonds, manufacturer, and railroad investor. His most successful business efforts were the New Y ...
, his wife, Elizabeth Lake Milbank, donated a memorial of stained glass windows by F. X. Zettler of Germany – sculptor of Infalbert's "Angel of the Gospel" statue – depicting the life, healing ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus. These were installed behind the pulpit. In 1903 the Ordination of
Harry Emerson Fosdick Harry Emerson Fosdick (May 24, 1878 – October 5, 1969) was an American pastor. Fosdick became a central figure in the Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy within American Protestantism in the 1920s and 1930s and was one of the most prominen ...
– the most prominent liberal Baptist minister of the early 20th Century and author of the hymn "God of Grace and God of Glory" – was held at MABC. Fosdick was later the minister of the Park Avenue Baptist Church, today's Central Presbyterian Church at 593
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
, and then of
Riverside Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...
. In 1930 the parish leased its property to be developed into the Roger Williams Hotel at 131 Madison Avenue, designed by Jardine, Hill & Murdock and named for the Baptist founder of
Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
, with the church sanctuary to be included in the 15-story building., pp.134-135 New stained glass was added depicting the writers of the Gospel and their symbols: Matthew/Cherub, Mark/Lion, Luke/Ox, and John/Eagle. The church's parish house, built in 1906, was located around the corner at 30 East 31st Street between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue South. It was sold to a commercial developer in June 2014, demolished in 2015, and replaced by a residential building. In the early 1980s, MABC began the Sunday Afternoon Meal for Seniors (free meals for the midtown elderly) and also a Shelter for the Homeless, and in 1992 the church began ministries to persons with AIDS at
Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States ...
sponsored by the Bellevue Chaplains' Office.


Theology

It is affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, the
American Baptist Churches USA The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainl ...
, and the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America. In 1993, MABC became a Charter member of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists made up of American Baptist Churches and Organizations desiring to be inclusive of gays and lesbians. The church continues today with an active ministry.


In popular culture

*On April 4, 1971, the "first" U.S. concert version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and
Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...
's '' Jesus Christ Superstar'' was presented by the Bel Canto Opera in the church.


References


External links


Official website





Empire State Tribune



Reminiscences of Baptist churches and Baptist leaders in New York city and vicinity, from 1835-1898...

American Baptist Home Mission Roots 1824-2010 (pdf)

American Baptist Historical Society (pdf)

American Baptists, A Brief History (pdf)




{{Gramercy, Kips Bay, Stuyvesant Square Affirming Baptist churches in the United States Baptist churches in New York City Churches in Manhattan Rose Hill, Manhattan