About this listing
Church notable for its efforts in the anti-slavery movement, supporting women in the ministry, and on behalf of working people and immigrants
Place Details
Borough : Brooklyn
Neighborhood : Fort Greene
Place Matters Profile
Founded in 1857, the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church has a long tradition of social activism and community service. Still housed in its original 1861-62 Romanesque Revival building, the church offers space to a myriad of local organizations and plays a leadership role in many important local and national social justice issues.
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church was originally called the Park Presbyterian Church and was located in a building at De Kalb and Carlton Avenues. Just three years after the church's founding, the well-known abolitionist Theodore L. Cuyler became its pastor and the church began a long period of growth and expansion. During Cuyler's 30-year tenure the congregation grew to over 2000 and the church became known for its leadership in the temperance and abolition movements.
Early during Reverend Cuyler's ministry the church built its current home--a distinctive Romanesque Revival structure with an austere rectilinear profile. Faced in stone, rather than the more typical brick, the church has two square towers, the taller
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Founded in 1857, the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church has a long tradition of social activism and community service. Still housed in its original 1861-62 Romanesque Revival building, the church offers space to a myriad of local organizations and plays a leadership role in many important local and national social justice issues.
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church was originally called the Park Presbyterian Church and was located in a building at De Kalb and Carlton Avenues. Just three years after the church's founding, the well-known abolitionist Theodore L. Cuyler became its pastor and the church began a long period of growth and expansion. During Cuyler's 30-year tenure the congregation grew to over 2000 and the church became known for its leadership in the temperance and abolition movements.
Early during Reverend Cuyler's ministry the church built its current home--a distinctive Romanesque Revival structure with an austere rectilinear profile. Faced in stone, rather than the more typical brick, the church has two square towers, the taller of which was originally topped by a distinctive 150-foot spire that was removed in 1932. Inside, the church has a simple oval design with few visual obstructions. The original windows were simple colored glass, but in later years nine windows by Tiffany Studios were added including one that uses Rev. Cuyler as the model for St. Paul. Other notable interior features include a 1920s pastoral scene reflecting the church's liberal stance on evolution, and a series of 1970s murals in the church auditorium that show people from the community engaged in everyday activities. The building also includes a lecture room, a library, and a large Sunday school wing that is often used for community gatherings. The church is a contributor to the Fort Greene Historic District.
The congregation of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian has evolved over the years. Prior to the 1950s it was predominately white although during the late nineteenth century there was a sizable Japanese American and Chinese American membership. Koreans also consider it the "mother church" of Korean Presbyterianism -- there are documented ties between Lafayette Presbyterian and Korea going back to the 1880s.
Today set in the heart of a predominately African American neighborhood, the church is particularly proud of the multi-racial make up of its congregation. The current pastor, Reverend David Dyson, is a former union organizer and continues to encourage the church's role as a social leader focusing on such causes as sweatshop and child labor, workers rights, and the ordination of gays and lesbians.
The central role of the church in the community also continues to this day. It plays a primary role in the annual Fort Greene Juneteenth celebration, and it hosts an annual gospel concert founded by Eubie Blake, as well as a jazz extravaganza and an arts festival. The church also has a long tradition of providing space for civic, political, religious, and cultural organizations such as the Workers Rights Consortium, the Audre Lorde Project (a literary gay and lesbian activist organization), Habitat for Humanity, the Pratt Area Community Council, the Uptown String Quartet, and the People of Faith Network. Perhaps the church's best-known tenant at the moment is the pioneering dance group, the Twyla Tharp Dance Company, which is headquartered in the Sunday school hall. Although outside the Brooklyn Academy of Music culture district, the hall is being converted as part of this district to include state-of-the-art dance studios as well as offices and dressing rooms.
As of 2004 the church was in the midst of a capital campaign to raise funds for on-going repairs including a complete roof restoration and repairs to the Tiffany windows. As Reverend Dyson points out, the physical rehabilitation of the church goes hand-in-hand with its community role, as he puts it, "if the roof falls in, there's going to be no home for any of these programs."
Sources
Gray, Christopher. "A Shelter for Runaway Slaves, a Bastion of Activism." New York Times, December 24, 2000, Real Estate Section.
Sengupta, Somini. "Devout and Daring." New York Times, April 7, 1996.
United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory--Nomination Form." Fort Greene Historic District.
