| Madison Avenue Baptist Church | |
|---|---|
 The church's entrance in 2011 | |
 Madison Avenue Baptist Church | |
| 40°44′37.8″N73°58′54.7″W / 40.743833°N 73.981861°W /40.743833; -73.981861 | |
| Address | 129Madison Avenue Manhattan,New York City |
| Country | United States |
| Denomination | Baptist |
| Associations | Alliance of Baptists,American Baptist Churches USA,Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists,Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America |
| Website | mabcnyc |
| Clergy | |
| Pastor | Rev. Susan Sparks |
TheMadison Avenue Baptist Church is aprogressiveBaptist church located inManhattan,New York City. It is affiliated with theAlliance of Baptists, theAmerican Baptist Churches USA, theAssociation of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists, and theBaptist Peace Fellowship of North America.
It was first chartered in 1848 asRose Hill Baptist Sunday School and Church, onEast 30th Street betweenThird andLexington Avenues inManhattan,New York City. Rose Hill was ahouse church with twelve members. In 1849, Rose Hill Baptist became theLexington Avenue Baptist Church with twenty-eight members at 154 Lexington Avenue and 30th Street in a newLombardian Romanesque-style edifice, which is now the First Moravian Church.[1] Prominent BaptistJeremiah Milbank – developer of condensed milk with inventorGail 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 nearbyThird Avenue elevated railroad. Five lots atEast 31st Street andMadison Avenue became the site of a grand new structure, built in 1850.[1]
In 1885, following the death ofJeremiah 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.[2][3]
In 1903 the Ordination ofHarry Emerson Fosdick[4] – 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 593Park Avenue, and then ofRiverside Church.
In 1930 the parish leased its property to be developed into the Roger Williams Hotel at 131 Madison Avenue, designed byJardine, Hill & Murdock and named for the Baptist founder ofRhode Island, with the church sanctuary to be included in the 15-story building.[1] 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.[1] It was sold to a commercial developer in June 2014, demolished in 2015, and replaced by a residential building.[5]
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 atBellevue Hospital sponsored by the Bellevue Chaplains' Office.
It is affiliated with theAlliance of Baptists, theAmerican Baptist Churches USA, and theBaptist Peace Fellowship of North America.
In 1993, MABC became a Charter member of theAssociation 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.[6]
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