The First Baptist Church In the City of New York

Story

The First Baptist Church in the City of New York is a Christian congregation based in a sanctuary built in 1890-93 at the intersection of Broadway and West 79th Street in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. The church is a conservative, independent, evangelistic, mission-oriented church in fellowship with the Southern Baptist Convention.Revolutionary yearsThe first attempt to establish a Baptist presence in New York City dates to 1711, when William Wightman began his ministry. A church was built on Gold Street but disbanded eight years later because of financial recession. Earlier attempts at forming a Baptist church in Flushing, Queens took place by William Wickenden and others in the 1650s.In 1745, Jeremiah Dodge settled in New York City, and began holding prayer meetings in his home. He was a member of the Fishkill Baptist Church. When he learned of Benjamin Miller at nearby Scotch Plains Baptist Church in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, he asked him to come and hold preaching services at the prayer meetings, which he did. Other ministers preached to this group from time to time, and in 1753, all thirteen of them joined the Scotch Plains Baptist Church after Miller had baptized some of them. They were organized as an independent Baptist church on June 19, 1762 by Benjamin Miller and John Gano - the latter being called as Pastor - and took the name "First Baptist Church in the City of New York". Gano served as pastor until 1776 when he became Chaplain in General Washington's American Army. The congregation's first sanctuary was at 35 Gold Street in Lower Manhattan, built in 1759-60.