Marble Collegiate Church, founded in 1628, is the oldest continuous Protestant congregation in North America. It is located at Fifth Avenue and Twenty-Ninth Street in New York City, and is part of the Reformed Church in America. The congregation has been a spiritual home to numerous well-known New Yorkers, and welcomes guests from all over the world every Sunday. Its worship services are seen live internationally on the World Wide Web.
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History
It was founded in 1628 as the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church and was affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church, a Calvinist church in the Netherlands. During its first 150 years, Marble shared its ministers with the other Collegiate congregations as they developed in the city. This pooling of pastoral ministry was abandoned in 1871. The name "Collegiate" remains as part of the heritage of the four such churches in New York City today, and they participate in an administrative unit that oversees physical properties and investments held in common. The other congregations are Middle Collegiate, West End Collegiate, and Fort Washington Collegiate.
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, the famous author of The Power of Positive Thinking served as senior minister from 1932-1984. Under his ministry Marble's influence reached national levels and became known as "America's Hometown Church." On November 19, 1961, Lucille Ball married her second husband Gary Morton in the church.[1] Following Peale's fifty-two year ministry, Dr. Arthur Caliandro served 25 years as the fifty-second senior minister of Marble Church. In all, he served 42 years on the pastoral staff. During Caliandro's tenure, MarbleVision, the media ministry of Marble Church was founded, its first woman minister was ordained, and the first women elders received. In 2009 Dr. Michael B. Brown, former pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, succeeded Dr. Caliandro as senior minister.
Building
The current Marble Collegiate worship facility was built in 1854. It is located near a number of New York City landmarks, including Penn Station, Madison Square Garden, and the Empire State Building.
References
- ^ Frew, Tim (2001) [1996] (Trade paperback). Lucy: A Life in Pictures (First paperback ed.). New York: Barnes & Noble Books. pp. 28–29. ISBN 0-7607-2866-6.
External links
Media related to Marble Collegiate Church at Wikimedia Commons
Coordinates: 40°44′44.25″N 73°59′13.5″W / 40.745625°N 73.987083°W
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