Rutgers Presbyterian Church is a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

house of worship in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The church's origins date to 1798 in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

. The first church building was erected on a plot of ground donated by Colonel

Henry Rutgers Henry Rutgers (October 7, 1745 – February 17, 1830) was a United States Revolutionary War hero and philanthropist from New York City. Rutgers University was named after him, and he donated a bond which placed the college on sound financial f ...

at the corner of what would become

Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...

and Rutgers Streets. The church building was paid for by contributions from the members. The original charter contained 107 names, and the first church building was dedicated on May 13, 1798. Rutgers Presbyterian Church

According to the Rutgers Church's official Website, "By 1830… Rutgers had become the largest Presbyterian church in the denomination, with 1,157 members. The old frame church was replaced in 1843 with a large stone structure (still standing and in use as the Roman Catholic Church of St. Teresa)." Church records indicate that this building is a hitherto unrecognized work by the important New York architect Minard Lafever, designed at a time when Lafever was transitioning from an architect who specialized in the Greek Revival to one who employed the Gothic Revival for his churches. The congregation subsequently moved into the Lenox Chapel (29th and Madison) in 1863. They razed it in 1873 and built a new church at that location. Fifteen years later, the congregation sold this property and used the proceeds to build a chapel (1888) and church (1890) at the corner of 73rd Street and Broadway—near the

Ansonia Hotel The Ansonia is a building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, located at 2109 Broadway, between 73rd and 74th Streets. It was originally built as a residential hotel by William Earle Dodge Stokes, the Phelps-Dodge copper heir ...

. The church has grown in its understanding and focus. Its congregants are not strictly required to have a traditional based belief in God, the church has hung a

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 bruta ...

banner, and gender fluid buttons are available for its members.The Presbyterian Church Where Believing in God Isn’t Strictly Necessary
Retrieved September 7, 2019 Today's Rutgers Church was opened in 1926 and is located at 236 West 73rd Street in New York's

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 West ...

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Rutgers Presbyterian Church
Churches in Manhattan Upper West Side Presbyterian churches in New York City Presbyterian Church (USA) churches {{Manhattan-church-stub