Jamaica First German Presbyterian Church (historical) | |
---|---|
40°42′30″N73°46′55″W / 40.70833°N 73.78194°W Coordinates: 40°42′30″N73°46′55″W / 40.70833°N 73.78194°W | |
Location | 179-09 Jamaica Ave., Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) |
History | |
Status | Church |
Founded | 1902 |
Architecture | |
Architectural type | Late Gothic Revival, Shingle style architecture |
Completed | 1900 |
Administration | |
Presbytery | New York City |
Clergy | |
Pastor(s) | Rev. Ferdinand O. Zesch |
Jamaica First German Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens in New York City.
The church, built in 1900, is a Late Gothic Revival style, in a de-shingled Shingle Style with a steep slate gable roof. It features twelve large pointed arched windows and an 80-foot-tall (24 m), square bell tower. The church is the first building for its German-speaking congregation, founded in 1902.
Also on the property is a manse built in 1907. It is a 2+1⁄2-story frame residence that has not been used since 1971.
Built in 1900 in a de-shingled "Shingle Style", this was originally the First German Presbyterian Church of Jamaica, and the house at left (partially boarded-up) was the manse. The first pastor, Reverend Christopher Bauer presented the morning sermon in German for the elders of the community, and the evening service was in English, to accommodate the younger brethren who were born in America. Originally 40 members joined in to build the church and the manse, by 1906 it had grown to 86 parishioners and had 106 minors attending Sunday school. With the passing of some key founders the church fell on hard times, resorting to donations to help pay the mortgage. [1]
This portion of Jamaica in the early 20th century was primarily German and Dutch immigrants and farm laborers supplying produce to Fulton Street (Jamaica Avenue) farmers markets. In 1910 - During Sunday evening service the reverend was proceeding thru a particularly laudatory period of his service when he suddenly paused and gripped the lectern. Frightened, the women in the pews began to cry and men rushed forward to aid the pastor. Indicating his heart, he was placed on cushions and the doctor summoned. It was too late, by the time the doctor arrived the pastor had passed due to chronic heart disease and a coronary brought on by excitement. Rev. Ferdinand O. Zesch, 58, passed while giving the sermon at the 1st German Presbyterian and this was reported in the New York Times and New York Observer. [2] [ unreliable source? ]
In 1914 the congregation changed its name to the Hillside Presbyterian Church of Queens and in 1962 merged with the Jamaica Hillside Presbyterian Church, Queens, N.Y. The active congregation since 1969 has been known as the First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica, Queens, NY, having merged with the original English speaking church and is officially part of the Presbyterian Church (USA). [3] First Presbyterian is the oldest continually active congregation in Queens having begun at the Old stone church at the head of Meeting House Lane (Union Hall St.) and Fulton St. (Jamaica Ave).
First German PC is now home to the Bethesda Missionary Baptist Church congregation.
In 1984 Bethesda took over the building and proceeded to restore the stained glass windows and pews. The sanctuary and lectern were restored and the organ replaced with electronic instruments. The church operates a food bank and conducts English services and Sunday school.
The Scots' Church is a Presbyterian church in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was the first Presbyterian church to be built in the Port Phillip District and is located on Collins Street. It is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and has been described as "an icon for well over a hundred years".
Elihu Spencer was an American clergyman who served as a chaplain during the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution, he was invited to North Carolina by that colony's provincial congress to convince loyalist congregations to join the patriot cause.
First African Baptist Church, located in Savannah, Georgia, claims to be derived from the first black Baptist congregation in North America. While it was not officially organized until 1788, it grew from members who founded a congregation in 1773. Its claim of "first" is contested by the Silver Bluff Baptist Church, Aiken County, South Carolina (1773), and the First Baptist Church of Petersburg, Virginia, whose congregation officially organized in 1774.
St. Andrew's Scots Kirk, is located at 73 Galle Road, Colombo. The church was founded in the late 19th century, and prospered during the colonial and post-colonial periods. It was the centre for the Scottish community in Colombo.
Woodside Presbyterian Church was built for Henry Burden, owner of the Burden Iron Works, on land owned by Erastus Corning, of Corning's Albany Iron Works, as part of an apparent reconciliation between these two often-feuding 19th century industrial giants.
The Bethesda Meeting House (BMH) is a historic Presbyterian church complex located at Bethesda, Montgomery County, Maryland, USA. Its name became the namesake of the entire surrounding community in the 1870s. It is situated on Maryland Route 355 just inside the Capital Beltway.
The First Presbyterian Church in Buffalo, New York was the first organized religious body formed in what was then the western frontier of New York State. The town of Buffalo was sparsely populated when the church was organized on February 2, 1812. However, having survived the War of 1812, the town of Buffalo was rebuilt and rapidly grew with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. The first two buildings were located on the same downtown lot. However, the congregation relocated between 1889 and 1891 to its present location approximately one and-a-half miles to the north in a more residential area.
The Greek Revival First Presbyterian Church of Marcellus is located at the intersection of North Street and East Main Street in the village of Marcellus, New York, and is the oldest of four churches in the village. Marcellus village was founded in 1794. Local residents with differing religious denominations met in a tavern, until October 1801 when Reverend Caleb Alexander, a missionary active in the central New York area, helped organize the 18-member Church of Christ. A wooden meeting house was constructed two years later.
The First Presbyterian Church in Batavia, New York, United States, is located at East Main and Liberty streets. It is a joined complex of several buildings. The main one, the church's sanctuary, is a limestone Gothic Revival structure built in the mid-19th century. Its congregation was the first church to be organized in Batavia, albeit as a Congregationalist group at that time.
Chapel Hill Bible Church, formerly Amity Baptist Church, is a Baptist house of worship located off Bingham Road near Marlboro, New York, United States. It is a small wooden building in the Picturesque mode of the Gothic Revival architectural style dating to the mid-19th century. In 2005 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the southernmost property on the Register in Ulster County.
The First Presbyterian Church of Margaretville, now Margaretville New Kingston Presbyterian Church, is located on Orchard Street in Margaretville, New York, United States. It is an ornate wooden church built late in the 19th century.
Central Presbyterian Church is an historic church located at 46 Park Street in Montclair, New Jersey, United States.
The First Presbyterian Church 1793, alternatively known as the First Presbyterian Church, is a Presbyterian church in Washington, Pennsylvania. It has been the de facto college church for Washington & Jefferson College since the early 19th century. It is under the Washington Presbytery.
First Presbyterian Church is a Presbyterian church in Wilmington, North Carolina. It was the first Presbyterian congregation in the city of Wilmington.
The First Presbyterian Church in Jamaica is located in Jamaica, Queens, a neighborhood of New York City. Organized in 1662, it is the oldest continuously serving Presbyterian church in the United States.
First Presbyterian Church is located in Marion, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Eckert Presbyterian Church previously known as First Presbyterian Church of Eckert is an historic church in Eckert, Colorado.
Warwick Uniting Church is a heritage-listed church at 37 Guy Street, Warwick, Southern Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1869 to 1922. It is also known as St Andrews Presbyterian Church. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 March 2000.
Central Presbyterian Church is a historic congregation on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, founded by pastor and abolitionist William Patton in 1821. It is a member of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, and it worships in a Gothic Revival structure completed in 1922 that was originally commissioned and largely funded by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. as Park Avenue Baptist Church.
The First Presbyterian Church of Newtown is a historic Presbyterian church in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The church complex is composed of the main church, a parish hall, and a manse. The current complex at 54th Avenue, between Seabury Street and Queens Boulevard, is the fifth church complex built for the congregation.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jamaica First German Presbyterian Church . |