Presbyterian Churches of Brooklyn collection
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Abstract
The Presbyterian Churches of Brooklyn collection contains materials from 22 Presbyterian churches and associations located in Brooklyn, N.Y. The collection spans the years 1831 to 1984 and includes church histories, reports, minutes, manuals, yearbooks, programs, financial records, registers, newsletters, and miscellaneous publications. The yearbooks are of particular interest as they often contain membership lists.
Historical note
The First Presbyterian Church, Newtown (founded in 1652) and the First Presbyterian Church, Jamaica (founded in 1662) were the first organized Presbyterian churches in what is today New York City. Located in the present-day borough of Queens, the original churches faced religious suppression when they were forced to take on Anglican pastors by the ruling Anglican colonial governors. After years of religious persecution, including the imprisonment of the Presbyterian preacher and father of American Presbyterian Francis Makemie, the church eventually was able to expand when the First Presbyterian Church, Manhattan was founded in lower Manhattan in 1716. Soon after, in 1717, another church was organized in Staten Island and in 1822, the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn was formed in what is today the neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights.
During the American Revolutionary War, many church members became known for their revolutionary activities against the British. It was also during this period that the church expanded its membership by opening schools and Sunday schools in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Beginning in the 1830s, the issue over slavery eventually led to a split in the Presbyterian Church when the Southern Presbyterian Church was created in 1861. Anti-slavery churches, such as the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn faced mob violence during the time leading up to the rupture of the church. Following the Civil War, the church turned its attention to missionary work and social reform. In Brooklyn, the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church sent the first Presbyterian missionary to Korea.
The Presbyterian Church in America faced more challenges during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the heresy trial of New York City born theologian and scholar Charles Augustus Briggs. Briggs was one of the early proponents of Higher Criticism, a movement within the church that stressed that the Bible contained errors that should be interpreted as stories and not as facts. This split in doctrine led to what would become the Modernist-Fundamentalist controversy within the American Presbyterian Church, as well as in other Christian denominations in America.
In 1983, the split in the Presbyterian Church that occurred during the Civil War was mended when the church was reunited to form the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America.
Sources:
- Jackson, Kenneth T. "Presbyterians." The Encyclopedia of New York City. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; New York: New-York Historical Society, 1995.
Scope and Contents note
The Presbyterian Churches of Brooklyn collection contains materials from Presbyterian churches and associations located in Brooklyn, N.Y. The collection spans the years 1831 to 1984 and includes church histories, reports, minutes, registers, financial records, manuals, yearbooks, programs, newsletters, a pew deed, and miscellaneous publications. The yearbooks are of particular interest as they often contain membership lists.
Churches represented in the collection are: The Union Church of Bay Ridge (formerly Bay Ridge Presbyterian Church and Bay Ridge Reformed Dutch Church); Bay Ridge-Fort Hamilton Presbytery; Brooklyn-Nassau Presbytery; Bushwick Presbyterian Church; Central Avenue Presbyterian Church; Classon Avenue Presbyterian Church; City Park Chapel; Fort Hamilton Presbyterian Church; Homecrest Presbyterian Church; Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church; Memorial Presbyterian Church; Park Presbyterian Church; Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church; South Third Street Presbyterian Church; Throop Avenue Presbyterian Church; and Westminster-Bethany United Presbyterian Church; South Presbyterian Church, Westminster Presbyterian Church, Pacific Street Chapel, Second Presbyterian Church, Clinton Street Presbyterian Church, and First Presbyterian Church.
The Francis F. Spies deed of pew lists "First Presbyterian Church" on the deed, but the address is at the southern corner of Remsen Street and Clinton Street where the Second Presbyterian Church and Spencer Memorial Presbyterian Church have been.
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Conditions Governing Access
Open to researchers without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Presbyterian Churches of Brooklyn collection, 1986.028, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Portions of this collection were donated by John Herzon in 1977. The deed of pew (accession 1974.172) was a gift of Francis F. Spies, 1932. The donors of other materials are unknown.
About this Guide
Processing Information note
Minimally processed to the collection level.
