Madison Avenue Baptist Church

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, New York City. Rose Hill was a house church 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 – developer of condensed milk with inventor Gail Borden – 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 1850.

File:First Moravian Episcopal Church 154 Lexington Avenue.jpg

In 1885, following the death of Jeremiah Milbank, 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.Townsend, John P. "History Of The Madison Avenue Baptist Church, 1848-1892" Manual of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church, New York 1892 pp.7-25"Endowment Fund of $300,000 Assured" Boston Daily Globe (November 10, 1913) p.16

In 1903 the Ordination of Harry Emerson FosdickMiller, Robert Moats. Harry Emerson Fosdick: Preacher, Pastor, Prophet (1985) – 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, and then of Riverside Church.

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, with the church sanctuary to be included in the 15-story building.{{cite fromatoz}}, 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.{{cite journal |url=https://newyorkyimby.com/2015/11/40-story-morris-adjmi-designed-tower-revealed-at-30-east-31st-street-in-midtown.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028112729/https://newyorkyimby.com/2015/11/40-story-morris-adjmi-designed-tower-revealed-at-30-east-31st-street-in-midtown.html |date=November 10, 2015| archive-date=October 28, 2020 |last=Fedek |first=Nikolai |journal=New York Yimby |title=40-Story Morris Adjmi-Designed Tower Revealed At 30 East 31st Street In Midtown |url-status=live |access-date=October 26, 2021}}

File:Madison Av Baptist Church 30 E31 jeh.jpg

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 sponsored by the Bellevue Chaplains' Office.

It is affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists, the American Baptist Churches USA, 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.{{cite web |url=https://mabcnyc.org/about/history/ |title=Learn About Our Rich History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122120341/https://mabcnyc.org/about/history/ |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |website=Madison Avenue Baptist Church |url-status=live |access-date=October 26, 2021}}

• On April 4, 1971, the "first" U.S. concert version of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Jesus Christ Superstar was presented by the Bel Canto Opera in the church.

File:(King1893NYC) pg388 MADISON-AVENUE BAPTIST CHURCH, MADISON AVENUE AND EAST 21ST STREET.jpg

{{reflist}}

{{Commons}}

• [http://mabcnyc.org/ Official website]
• [http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2010/12/1851-first-moravian-church-154.html Daytonian In Manhattan]
• [http://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/MadisonAveBaptist.html American Guild of Organists]
• [http://empirestatetribune.com/?p=1320 Empire State Tribune]
• [http://travelwithterrynyc.blogspot.com/2010_01_01_archive.html Travel With Terry]
• [https://archive.org/stream/reminiscenceso00hans/reminiscenceso00hans_djvu.txt Reminiscences of Baptist churches and Baptist leaders in New York city and vicinity, from 1835-1898...]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20110812065450/http://www.abhms.org/docs/Roots%20booklet.pdf American Baptist Home Mission Roots 1824-2010 (pdf)]
• [http://abhsarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Guidelines-for-congregations.pdf American Baptist Historical Society (pdf)]
• [http://www.abc-usa.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/history.pdf American Baptists, A Brief History (pdf)]
• [http://baptisthistoryhomepage.com/new.york.history.index.html New York Baptist History]
• [http://www.nysonglines.com/31st.htm New York Songline]

{{Gramercy, Kips Bay, Stuyvesant Square}}

Category:Affirming Baptist churches in the United States

Category:Baptist churches in New York City

Category:Churches in Manhattan

Category:Rose Hill, Manhattan