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Wikipedia

Riverside Church

January 26, 2023

Not to be confused with Riverside Baptist Church.

Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus and across from Grant's Tomb. It is associated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ. The church was conceived by philanthropist businessman and Baptist John D. Rockefeller Jr. in conjunction with Baptist minister Harry Emerson Fosdick as a large, interdenominational church in Morningside Heights, which is surrounded by academic institutions.

Riverside Church
Riverside Church in 2013
Riverside Church
Riverside Church
Riverside Church
Riverside Church
40°48′43″N 73°57′47″W / 40.81194°N 73.96306°W / 40.81194; -73.96306Coordinates: 40°48′43″N 73°57′47″W / 40.81194°N 73.96306°W / 40.81194; -73.96306
LocationNew York City
CountryUnited States
DenominationInterdenominational, American Baptist, United Church of Christ
Membership1,750[1]
History
Former name(s)Mulberry Street Baptist Church
Fifth Avenue Baptist Church
Park Avenue Baptist Church
Architecture
Heritage designationNational Register of Historic Places, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
Architect(s)Allen & Collens and Henry C. Pelton
Architectural typeNeo-Gothic
GroundbreakingNovember 21, 1927; 95 years ago (November 21, 1927)
CompletedOctober 5, 1930; 92 years ago (October 5, 1930)
Specifications
Capacity2,100
Nave width89 feet (27 m)
Number of floors22
Spire height392 feet (119 m)
Bells74 (carillon)
Riverside Church
Location478, 490 Riverside Dr. & 81 Claremont Ave., New York City
Built1930 (main building)
1957 (MLK Wing)
1962 (conversion of Stone Gym)
ArchitectAllen & Collens, H.C. Pelton (main building)
Collens, Willis & Beckonert (MLK Wing)
Louis E. Jallade (Stone Gym)
Architectural styleLate Gothic Revival
NRHP reference No.12001036
NYCL No.2037
Significant dates
Added to NRHPDecember 12, 2012[3]
Designated NYCLMay 16, 2000[2]

The original building opened in 1930; it was designed by Henry C. Pelton and Allen & Collens in the Neo-Gothic style. It contains a nave consisting of five architectural bays; a chancel at the front of the nave; a 22-story, 392-foot (119 m) tower above the nave; a narthex and chapel; and a cloistered passageway that connects to the eastern entrance on Claremont Avenue. Near the top of the tower is the church's main feature, a 74-bell carillon—the heaviest in the world—dedicated to Rockefeller Jr.'s mother Laura Spelman Rockefeller. A seven-story wing was built to the south of the original building in 1959 to a design by Collens, Willis & Beckonert, and was renamed for Martin Luther King Jr. in 1985. The Stone Gym to the southeast, built in 1915 as a dormitory, was designed by Louis E. Jallade and was converted to a gymnasium in 1962.

Riverside Church has been a focal point of global and national activism since its inception, and it has a long history of social justice in adherence to Fosdick's original vision of an "interdenominational, interracial, and international" church.[2] Its congregation includes members of more than forty ethnic groups. The church was designated as a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2000[2] and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.[3]

History

Context

Congregation

Several small Baptist congregations, including the Mulberry Street Baptist Church that was established in 1823 by a group of 16 congregants, were founded in Manhattan after the American Revolutionary War.[4][5] The Mulberry Street church occupied at least three locations in the Lower East Side and two locations on Broadway in Midtown Manhattan before moving to a more permanent site at Fifth Avenue and 46th Street in the 1860s.[4] The businessman William Rockefeller was the first of several Rockefeller family members to attend the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church; he became a major financial backer of the church in the 1870s.[4][6] William and his brother John D. Rockefeller later became trustees of the church and many of its services were held at the Rockefellers' home nearby.[4][7]

Cornelius Woelfkin, who became the church's minister in 1912, started leading the church in a more modernist direction.[8] By the early 20th century, Fifth Avenue was experiencing increased commercial development and the church building became dilapidated.[9] The congregation sold its old headquarters in 1919[10] and bought land at Park Avenue and 63rd Street the following year.[11] John Rockefeller's son John D. Rockefeller Jr. funded half of the projected $1 million cost.[4][12] The new church, which was dubbed the "Little Cathedral", was designed by Henry C. Pelton in partnership with Francis R. Allen and Charles Collens.[4] The final service in the Fifth Avenue location was held on April 3, 1922,[13] and the renamed Park Avenue Baptist Church held its first class in the new location the next week.[4][14]

Progressive ideology

In 1924, John D. Rockefeller Jr. donated $500,000 to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Morningside Heights, which was further uptown from the Park Avenue location, in an unsuccessful attempt to influence the cathedral's ideology in a progressive direction.[15] The following January, Harry E. Edmonds—leader of the International House in Morningside Heights for whose construction Rockefeller had provided funds—wrote to Rockefeller to propose creating a new church in the neighborhood. Edmonds suggested progressive pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick should head such a church. Rockefeller then told the Park Avenue Baptist Church's leaders about the plan and hired an agent to inspect the planned church site.[16]

Woelfkin quit in mid-May 1925 and Rockefeller Jr. immediately started looking for a new minister,[17] ultimately deciding on Fosdick,[16][18][19] who had declined Rockefeller's offers several times,[16] saying he did not "want to be known as the pastor of the richest man in the country".[19] Fosdick stated he would accept the minister position on the conditions that the church would move to Morningside Heights, follow a policy of religious liberalism, remove the requirement for members to be baptized, and become nondenominational.[19][20][21][22] At the end of May 1925, Fosdick agreed to become minister of the Park Avenue Baptist Church.[20][21][23][24] Only fifteen percent of congregants voted against Fosdick's appointment.[25]

Under Fosdick's leadership, the congregation doubled in size by 1930.[18][26] The new members were diverse; of the 158 people who joined in the year after Fosdick became minister, about half were not Baptists.[18][27] Though some existing congregants had doubts about whether the Park Avenue Baptist Church should move from its recently completed edifice, the church's board, which was in favor of the relocation, stated congregants would not have to pay any of the costs for the new church.[28]

Planning and construction

Site selection

 
Claremont Avenue view

Morningside Heights, where the new church was to be located, was being quickly developed as a residential neighborhood surrounded by numerous higher-education institutions, including Union Theological Seminary and International House of New York.[29][30] The development had been spurred by the presence of Riverside Park and Riverside Drive nearby, as well as the construction of the New York City Subway's Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line—the modern-day 1 train—under Broadway.[18][29] Rockefeller briefly considered a location on Morningside Drive on the eastern edge of Morningside Heights, between 117th and 118th Streets.[21] He ultimately chose a larger site at the southeastern corner of Riverside Drive and 122nd Street on the neighborhood's western border, which overlooked Riverside Park to the west and Claremont Park to the north.[30][31] Rockefeller felt the Riverside Drive site was more easily visible because it abutted the Hudson River and would be seen by recreational users of Riverside Drive.[31]

In May 1925, Rockefeller finalized his purchase of the new church's site at Riverside Drive.[32] That July, he exchanged his previous purchase of a plot on Morningside Drive for another plot on Riverside Drive.[33] Shortly afterward, he acquired yet more land, after which he had a frontage of 250 ft (76 meters) on Riverside Drive for the new church.[34] At the time of the acquisition, three apartment buildings and two mansions occupied the church's future site. Rockefeller wished to keep the apartments in place for several years to fund the church's eventual construction.[31]

Planning

Rockefeller was the chairman of the committee tasked with developing a new building for the church. Hoping to avoid publicity, rather than host an architectural competition, he privately asked several architectural firms to submit plans for the building.[30][35][a] Rockefeller tried to downplay his role in the planning and construction process, asking for his name to be omitted from media reports and discussion of the church, though with little success.[20] His role in the selection process raised concerns from church trustees, including Fosdick, who believed such close financial involvement could place the church in "a very vulnerable position".[37][30] John Roach Straton, pastor of Calvary Baptist Church on 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan, criticized Rockefeller's involvement and mockingly suggested it be called the Socony Church after the oil company the Rockefellers headed.[38] George S. Chappell, writing in The New Yorker under the pseudonym "T-Square", said the project "was known to most secular minds as the Rockefeller Cathedral".[20][39]

Neither Rockefeller nor Fosdick had strict requirements for the church's architectural style. Rockefeller asked for the new building to include space for the Park Avenue Baptist Church's carillon, which he had donated.[35] Most of the plans entailed a church facing 122nd Street and wrapping around the existing apartment buildings on the site. The exception was a plan by Allen & Collens and Henry C. Pelton—who had designed Park Avenue Baptist Church—that called for a Gothic Revival church with its main entrance on the side, facing Riverside Drive, with a bell tower and apartment towers for the neighboring Union Theological Seminary.[40] The building committee removed the apartment towers from the church plan and Allen, Collens, and Pelton were selected to design the new church in February 1926.[30][40][41] As part of the plans, there would be a 375-foot (114 m)—later 392-foot (119 m)—bell tower, a 2,400-seat auditorium, and athletic rooms. The building would occupy a 100 feet (30 m) by 225 feet (69 m) lot.[30][41] There was no room for a chapel in the original plans so Rockefeller proposed trading land with the Union Theological Seminary. In May 1926, Rockefeller gave Union an apartment building on 99 Claremont Avenue, to the northeast of the church. In exchange, Riverside Church received a small plot to its south, allowing for the construction of the chapel and a proposed cloister passage to Claremont Avenue.[42]

Rockefeller chose to delay the construction process until the leases of the site's existing tenants expired in October 1926.[41] The official plans were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings in November that year.[43] The following month, the congregation voted to approve the building plans at a cost of $4 million.[44] Pelton and Collens then went to France to look for churches upon which to model Riverside Church's design.[45][46] They eventually selected the 13th-century Chartres Cathedral as their model.[44][45][47]

Construction

 
Riverside Church, between Grant's Tomb (left) and The Interchurch Center

Marc Eidlitz & Son, Inc. was hired as the contractor for the construction of the new Riverside Drive church.[48] On November 21, 1927, the church's ceremonial cornerstone was laid, marking the start of construction.[48][49][50] The cornerstone included items such as Woelfkin's Bible and New York Times articles about the new church.[49][51] The Park Avenue church building and three adjacent rowhouses was sold for $1.5 million in April 1928.[48] The same month, Park Avenue Baptist Church's official monthly newsletter announced its existing 53-bell carillon would be expanded to 72 bells upon its relocation to Riverside Drive, making it the largest set of bells in the world.[52]

In late 1928, three fires occurred after wooden scaffolding around the new church was ignited.[53] On December 22, 1928, one of these fires caused $1 million in damage and almost completely destroyed the interior, though the exterior remained mostly intact. Much of the damage was covered by an insurance policy placed on the building.[54][55] Shortly after the December 1928 fire, Rockefeller announced he would continue with construction after insurance claims were settled.[56] The fire delayed the completion of the interior by six months.[51][57] In February 1929, the congregation began seeking donations to continue construction; Rockefeller donated $1.5 million, which when combined with the proceeds from the sale of the Park Avenue building, provided $3 million in funds.[58] Construction of a mortuary at the Riverside Drive church was approved in March 1929.[59] While construction was ongoing, the congregation temporarily relocated to Temple Beth-El on Fifth Avenue and 76th Street for nine months starting in July 1929.[48]

The first portion of the new church building to be completed, the assembly hall under the auditorium, opened in October 1929.[60][61] That December, Fosdick formally filed plans to rename the church from "Park Avenue Baptist Church" to "Riverside Church".[62] The bell was hoisted to the top of the tower's carillon in early September 1930,[63] the tower was completed later that month, and the first Sunday school class was held there on September 29.[64] The church was completed on October 5,[48][50][65] the same day the first service was held in the altar; it was attended by 3,200 people. All of the space in the nave and basement was filled and thousands more people wished to enter.[50][65] The next month, officials received two oil paintings from Rockefeller Jr.'s collection.[66] The first officers of Riverside Church were elected in December 1930[19] and the church was formally dedicated with an interdenominational service two months later.[19][67] The total cost of construction was estimated at $4 million.[68] In the early years of the new building, journalists often referred to the church in association with either Rockefeller—who sought to reduce emphasis on his role at the church—or Fosdick.[69] Riverside Church's completion sharply contrasted with the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, which remained incomplete after almost four decades.[70] Allen & Collens's plan was described by architect Robert A. M. Stern as the culmination of a "craving for a tall cathedral among people of everyday tall ideas", which had started when St. John's was proposed in 1889.[21]

Despite the completion of Riverside Church, Rockefeller felt the surroundings still needed to be improved.[70] In 1932, he announced he would pay for a $350,000 landscaping of the adjacent, decrepit Sakura Park.[70][71] Rockefeller hired the Olmsted Brothers to renovate the park[72] and the project was completed two years later.[73] When Union Theological Seminary announced it would build a new apartment building at 99 Claremont Avenue. Rockefeller offered to exchange his neighboring apartment building at 122nd Street and Claremont Avenue for the lots south of the church, which were owned by the seminary. The land was swapped in 1931 after Rockefeller offered to finance part of the dormitory's construction.[72] In 1935, the land under the church was deeded to Rockefeller[74] and he purchased a lot at Riverside Drive and 122nd Street from St. Luke's Hospital, after which he owned all of the land along the eastern side of Riverside Drive between 120th and 122nd Streets.[75] Rockefeller spent a total of $10.5 million on land acquisition and church construction.[69]

Use

1930s through mid-1960s

 
John D. Rockefeller Jr. funded much of the church's construction.

The completion of the new church building at Morningside Heights resulted in a steady increase in the congregation's membership. By May 1946, the congregation had 3,500 members, an increase of 800 in twenty years. According to a brochure issued by the church, "soon every room ... was in use seven days a week", and enrollment at the church's Sunday school had correspondingly increased.[69]

Riverside Church became a community icon and a religious center of Morningside Heights. By 1939, the church had more than 200 staff in both part-time and full-time positions, and over 10,000 people a week were attending its social and religious services, athletic events, and employment programs.[76] In addition to its well-attended Sunday morning service, Riverside Church hosted Communion services every first Sunday afternoon, as well as Ministry of Music services on other Sunday afternoons. The Riverside Guild, the young-adult fellowship, held worship services during Sunday evenings. Weddings and funerals were also hosted at the church.[77] In 1942, the United States Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School at Columbia started using Riverside Church for services, drawing 2,000 attendees on average,[69] and continued to hold its services at the church until October 1945.[69][78]

In June 1945, Fosdick announced he would step down as senior minister the following May.[79] This spurred a search for a new pastor and in March 1946, Robert James McCracken was chosen for the position[80] and officially became the senior pastor of Riverside Church that October.[81] Fosdick and McCracken held each other in mutual respect so the transition between ministers went smoothly.[82] Over the next two decades, McCracken continued Fosdick's policy of religious liberalism.[83] In 1956, halfway through McCracken's tenure, the church conducted an internal report and found the organizational structure was disorganized and that most staff did not feel any single person was in charge. As a result, six councils were created and placed under the purview of the deacons and trustees.[84] The councils partitioned power into "a series of mini-kingdoms", according to a later pastor, Ernest T. Campbell.[85]

Construction on the Martin Luther King Jr. Wing, to the south of the existing church, started in 1955. The seven-story wing was designed by Collens, Willis & Beckonert, successors to Allen & Collens; its $15 million cost was funded by Rockefeller.[69][75] The wing was dedicated in December 1959 and contained additional facilities for the church's programs.[69][86][87] A 15-foot (4.6 m) dummy antenna had been placed on top of Riverside Church's 392-foot (119 m)-tall carillon earlier that year to determine whether it could be used by Columbia University's radio station, WKCR (89.9 MHz FM), despite strong opposition from parishioners and the local community.[88] Nevertheless, the church decided to place an antenna atop the carillon for its own radio station, the top of the antenna being 440 feet (130 m) above ground level.[89] Riverside Church started operating the radio station WRVR (106.7 MHz FM) in 1961 and continued to operate it until 1976.[69] In 1960, Riverside Church's congregation voted to join the United Church of Christ, the successor denomination to the Congregational Christian Churches.[90] Rockefeller purchased the Stone Gym, an existing Union Theological Seminary building southeast of the original church, and reopened it as a community facility in April 1962 after a five-year renovation.[91][92] In April 1967, McCracken announced he would leave his position as senior minister, citing health issues.[93]

Late 1960s through 1990s

 
Archivolts in the front doorway

Ernest T. Campbell became pastor in November 1968.[94][95] Less than a year later, civil rights leader James Forman interrupted a sermon at Riverside Church, citing it as one of several churches from which Black Americans could ask for reparations for slavery.[96][97] This led to the church releasing its financial figures in 1970 for the first time; the figures valued the building at $86 million and the total financial endowment of $18 million,[96] as well as the creation of a $450,000 Fund for Social Justice to disburse reparations over three years.[97][98] Following a 1972 metropolitan mission study, several ministries aimed toward ameliorating social conditions in the New York City area were formed at Riverside Church.[99] Campbell's tenure was marked by several controversial sermons[97] and increasing conflicts among the church's boards, councils, and staff.[94] In June 1976, Campbell suddenly resigned, having felt his style of leadership was not sufficient to reconcile these disagreements.[94][100] The same month saw the installment of the church's first female pastor, Evelyn Newman.[101]

By a vote in August 1977, William Sloane Coffin was selected as the next senior minister of Riverside Church.[102] Coffin officiated his first service in November 1977.[103] At this point, the congregation's size had been declining for several years but after Coffin's selection as senior minister, membership increased to 2,627 by the end of 1979, and total annual attendance for morning services rose from 49,902 in 1976 to 71,536 in 1978.[104] Coffin's tenure was also marked by theologically liberal sermons, many of which were controversial,[104][105] though he was more traditional in his worship.[105] This era also saw Channing E. Phillips, the first African-American major-party U.S. presidential nominee, being hired as minister of planning and coordination.[106]

Coffin announced his intention to resign in July 1987 to become the president of disarmament organization SANE/Freeze,[107] and held his last sermon that December.[108] Riverside Church formed a committee that conducted a nationwide search for its next senior minister over the next year. In February 1989, the committee chose James A. Forbes, a professor at nearby Union Theological Seminary, for the position.[109][110] The congregation voted almost unanimously to approve Forbes's selection and he became the church's first black senior minister.[110][111] At the time, between one-fourth and one-third of the congregation was Black or Hispanic.[111] Tensions between Forbes and executive minister David Dyson soon developed over matters including the duration of Forbes's sermons and his musical choices. Tensions grew and a mediator was engaged after Forbes tried to fire Dyson.[112] The dispute was resolved when Dyson resigned in October 1992.[113]

In 1996, Riverside Church started conducting a study on the building's current use and services,[114] and the following October, Body Lawson, Ben Paul Associated Architects and Planners published the Riverside Church Master Plan.[115] The plan included a major addition on Riverside Church's eastern side, consisting of the relocation of the Claremont Avenue entrance, paving of the forecourt, reconfiguration of the cloister lobby, and construction of a seven-story building over the gymnasium. This plan was controversial among congregants, some of whom petitioned the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (NYCLPC) to designate the church to prevent the alteration of the original appearance of the Claremont Avenue entrance.[114] In December 1998, the congregation voted to officially nominate the church for landmark status.[116] Only the original church building was nominated; the nomination excluded the Martin Luther King Jr. Wing, despite preservationists' requests for the entire structure to be considered for landmark designation. The NYCLPC approved landmark status for the original church in May 2000.[117]

21st century

 
View from Sakura Park

Two controversies involving Riverside Church arose in the early 2000s; an allegation of sexual abuse by the director of a basketball program at the church and an allegation of financial mismanagement due to a $32 million decrease in the endowment between 2000 and 2002.[118] The accused basketball director resigned in 2002[119] while the accusation of financial mismanagement was prolonged through several years of court cases, although the New York Supreme Court had dismissed a lawsuit over the topic.[120] Forbes announced his retirement in September 2006[121] and held his last sermon in June 2007. By that time, the church had 2,700 congregants, a large proportion of whom were black and Hispanic.[122] The church had a $14 million annual operating budget and a paid staff of 130.[123]

Another nationwide, year-long search for a new senior minister commenced and in August 2008, it was announced Brad Braxton had been selected as the sixth senior minister of Riverside Church.[124] Braxton's tenure was marked by theological disputes; congregants disagreed whether the church should take a fundamentalist or progressive position, as well as a lawsuit over his salary, which a church spokesperson stated was $457,000. In June 2009, Braxton submitted a letter of resignation due to these disputes.[125][126][127] For the next five years, Riverside Church had no senior minister and in 2014, its congregation had decreased to 1,670, a loss of over a thousand since 2007.[128] In 2012, the church and its annexes were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[3]

In June 2014, Amy K. Butler was selected as the church's seventh senior minister, becoming the first woman to hold that job.[128] In September 2018, it was announced Riverside Church would buy the neighboring McGiffert Hall at Claremont Avenue and 122nd Street for $45 million. The dormitory was on land John Rockefeller Jr. had donated to the Union Theological Seminary, and under the donation agreement, the church had the right of first offer to buy the building should it ever be offered for sale.[129][130] In July 2019, the church's governing council announced Butler's contract would not be renewed, and the Church Council and Butler released a joint letter stating Butler's resignation was mutual. A former Church Council member later said Butler was dismissed after she and several other female staff members had experienced sexual harassment by another former council member, Dr. Edward Lowe.[1][131] Michael E. Livingston became the interim senior minister.[132]

Design

 
The tower of Riverside Church (center) rises above the tree-line of Riverside Park. Grant's Tomb (left) and the Interchurch Center (right) can also be seen.

Riverside Church occupies a 454-by-100-foot (138 m × 30 m) lot[133] between Riverside Drive to the west, 122nd Street to the north, Claremont Avenue to the east, and 120th Street to the south.[134] Riverside Church's main architects; Henry C. Pelton, Francis R. Allen, and Charles Collens; created the general plan for the church.[2] Pelton was most involved with tactical planning while Collens was most involved with the Gothic detail.[42] Sculptural elements were designed by Robert Garrison and constructed by local studios, including the Piccirilli Brothers.[45][135] The church's interior was designed by Burnham Hoyt.[48][136] The Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Wing to the south of the original building was designed by Collens, Willis & Beckonert and the Stone Gym to the southeast was designed by Louis E. Jallade.[91] As of 2017, Riverside Church is the tallest church in the United States and is among the world's tallest churches,[137][138] with a tower rising 392 feet (119 m).[42][44][52]

Pelton and Collens chose a Gothic architectural style for Riverside Church's exterior; by contrast, the internal structure incorporates modern curtain walls and a steel frame.[45][139] Fosdick later said the exterior Gothic style is suited to "make people pray" and that the church had "not outgrown Gothic" in that regard.[140] Riverside Church's design is partially derived from Chartres Cathedral in France but also incorporates designs of several Gothic churches in France and Spain.[44][141] Pelton and Collens said Chartres would provide the "fundamental principles" for the design of Riverside Church but that Riverside would have a completely different outline.[45][47] The features inspired by Chartres include the detailing of the three Riverside Drive entrances and the lack of decorative elements on the facade, except for the stained glass windows on the walls and the sculptural elements around each portal. The massive single bell tower was inspired by the two western towers at Chartres.[44][45] The rest of the facade consists of Indiana Limestone.[133]

Upon Riverside Church's completion, its design received both praise and criticism.[21][69] In mid-1931, The American Architect published pieces in mid-1931 that featured a critical viewpoint from Columbia architecture professor Walter A. Taylor and a rebuttal from architect Charles Crane, who had worked on the project with Pelton. While Taylor believed the design should have been more modernist,[139][142] Crane defended Pelton's Gothic design as being "fundamentally Christian".[139][143] The writers of the 1939 WPA Guide to New York City said the tower's features make the "building itself seem smaller than it is, so that its scale is scarcely impressive, even when seen at close range".[76] Other critics called the building's exterior overly opulent;[144] according to one critic, when considered along the progressive ideology, the Gothic design "can only be interpreted as an outward confession that religion is dead".[50] The New York Sun referred to the building as one of the "most outstanding additions" to New York City's church architecture "in recent years".[145] Eric Nash, in his book Manhattan Skyscrapers, called Riverside Church "Manhattan's last great eclectic skyscraper"[134] while the AIA Guide to New York City dubbed the church "easily the most prominent architectural work along the Hudson [River] from midtown to the George Washington Bridge".[144]

Main building

Riverside Church's main structure is centered around the nave, which is aligned on a north–south axis and is closer to Riverside Drive on the western portion of the block. The chapel and narthex are to the south, closer to 120th Street, while the chancel, which contains the altar, and the ambulatory are to the north, closer to 122nd Street.[133]

Facade

 
The northern facade of Riverside Church, seen from 122nd Street at the eastern side of the ambulatory

The western facade of the church's nave is adjacent to Riverside Drive.[133][146] At the time of Riverside Church's construction, the church did not own the lots along 120th Street to the south so the building's three entrances are on its western side facing Riverside Drive rather than on the southern side at the back of the nave, as is customary in most churches. The entrances are atop small flights of steps leading from the street.[45][46] The building's main entrance faces west and is below the tower's base and is accessed through a set of double wooden doors with recessed wooden panels.[133] The figures sculpted in the concentric archivolts of the doorway represent leading religious, scientific, and philosophical figures, and an elaborate tympanum is below the arches (see § Sculpted elements).[45][147] To the south is the entrance to the narthex, which is accessed through a single door.[148] Directly south of the narthex entrance, another double-door entrance leads to the chapel;[148][149] this entrance contains two archivolts and a simpler tympanum.[133][146][149] The northern portion of the western facade adjacent to the nave has five sets of windows (see § Nave).[48][150]

The view of the southern facade is mostly blocked by the MLK Wing to the south. The top portions of four narrow, arched stained-glass windows can be seen above the hip roof of the structure that connects the two sections. Above these stained-glass windows are three recessed, arched windows that are topped by a pediment containing a circular window.[133][146]

The eastern facade also has five groupings of windows facing the nave[48][150] but much of this facade is obscured by McGiffert Hall, which faces directly onto Claremont Avenue and 122nd Street.[151][152] On the eastern facade of the nave is a cloistered passageway leading to Claremont Avenue (see § Cloister passageway).[91][151] Above the cloister section is a rose window.[133][146]

The northern facade surrounds the chancel and ambulatory. An arched entrance called the Woman's Porch, which contains carvings of biblical women, is in the western portion of the north facade. Above the entrance arch is an ornate belt course and nearby are two lancet windows.[151][153] Another entrance is in the eastern (right) portion of the north facade.[153] Between the two entrances is the ambulatory, with two tiers of window groupings, each with a rose window above a pair of lancet windows. The lower section has three sets of windows while the upper clerestory section has five sets of windows. Vertical buttresses, which separate each window grouping, end in finials above the roofline.[151][153]

Nave

 
The nave (foreground) looking toward the chancel (background)

The Gothic-themed nave was inspired by Albi Cathedral, France,[154] and measures 100 feet (30 m) high, 89 feet (27 m) wide and 215 feet (66 m) long.[21][155] The width between the overhanging clerestory walls is 60 feet (18 m).[154][155][139] The low, wide form of the nave is inspired by those of southern French and Spanish churches.[156] The nave has a metal roof, whose base is surrounded by a shallow arcade.[133] The nave's interior contains a finish of Indiana limestone, the ceilings of its vaults are lined with Guastavino terracotta tiles, and its floor is made of marble.[155]

Three main vertical sections, which are split by buttresses, comprise the nave's eastern and western walls,[133] each of which has five architectural bays along the portion of the nave adjacent to the aisles; each bay contains a pointed-arch window.[48][150][157] Above the stained-glass windows of each bay is a triforium gallery with three colonettes, followed by two adjacent lancet windows in the clerestory, and topped with a rose window.[133][157][158] Pointed arches resting on piers that contain engaged columns support each of the clerestory bays and serve as the bases for the ribs under the vaulted ceiling.[155] The engaged columns are surmounted by Corinthian capitals that are decorated with scenes from the Book of Jeremiah. The ceilings of the vaults underneath the triforium galleries are faced with Guastavino tile[157] and contain lighting.[159]

 
View of the galleries above the nave, looking south. The Trompeta Majestatis organ on the eastern wall can be seen at left.

Above the clerestory, the nave's ceiling is eight stories high.[160][161] It consists of several vaults, each of which is divided into four segments by diagonally interlocking transverse ribs that do not provide structural support.[157] Eight iron lanterns hang from the transverse ribs and descend lower than the level of the triforium gallery.[159] The vaults contain a finish of acoustic Guastavino tiles, which are mostly gray.[157] The tiles above the chancel and the nave's northernmost two bays are brown because a sealant that was applied in 1953 to increase the organ's acoustical reach has turned yellow over time.[159]

The nave was built with a seating capacity of either 2,400,[21] 2,408,[68] or 2,500.[42] The ground level contains 38 rows of oaken pews that have Gothic decoration; five additional rows of pews used to exist at the front of the nave.[159] Two seating galleries overhang the southern portion of the nave.[159][160] The lower gallery is made of carved wood, has rows of oaken pews on a downward slope, and contains a wooden ceiling with nine lamps. The upper gallery is also made of carved wood and contains oaken pews on a slope but there is no canopy above it.[162] The upper gallery is illuminated with four lanterns that are similar to the eight above the main section of the nave. Behind the southern wall are six double-tiered niches with stone sculptures of ministers and Jacob Epstein's sculpture Christ in Majesty. The Trompeta Majestatis organ projects from the wall beneath the niches.[163]

Chancel, ambulatory, and apse

 
The chancel

The chancel is directly north of the nave, slightly raised above it and separated from the nave by a limestone railing with 20 quatrefoil medallions. The western portion of the rail contains a pulpit with a wooden canopy and three carved limestone blocks.[159][164] A labyrinth composed of three types of marble; it was inspired by a similar design at Chartres Cathedral and is inlaid in the middle of the chancel floor. The labyrinth is flanked on both sides are four rows of oaken choir stalls with carvings of Psalms texts.[159][165] To the north, behind the choir stalls, is the organ console.[165] A communion table made of Caen stone is near the back of the chancel in the center, behind which is a baptismal pool.[165][162]

The back of the chancel contains a convex polygonal wall that includes seven bays, each with three vertical tiers that are a few feet above the corresponding tiers in the nave. The lowest tier contains pointed arches with an elaborate stone chancel screen; the middle tier contains cusped arches with colonettes; and the top tier serves as the clerestory.[159] Each of the three center bays behind the chancel screen has one window group on the lower tier, each of which has two lancet windows topped by a rose window and is divided by vertical buttresses. The apse clerestory, the upper section of the ambulatory, is recessed slightly inward. The upper section's fenestration is similar in form; each window grouping contains a rose window above a pair of lancet windows but the window groupings are on five sides of the polygon.[151][153] The vertical piers of the chancel wall converge above the clerestory level, creating an apse above the chancel and ambulatory.[162]

Narthex

 
The chapel

The narthex, which was designed in the late Gothic style with a Romanesque layout,[148] is directly south of the nave and can be accessed from the church's West Portal. The narthex is split into four vaults that have Guastavino tiled ceilings that are supported by simple limestone columns.[148][155] A stone spiral staircase on the west side of the narthex, directly south of the West Portal, leads to the basement.[155] There are two grisaille windows and one rose window on each of the western and eastern sides of the narthex.[158] The eastern wall has four 16th-century lancet windows that were previously in the Park Avenue Baptist Church; they are the only windows in Riverside Church that were not built specifically for the church.[148][157] Stairs leading both upward and downward are on the eastern side of the narthex, and a mortuary chapel is on the northeastern corner.[157] The mortuary chapel is known as the Gethsemane Chapel but prior to 1959, it was called the Christ Chapel.[155][b]

Chapel

The chapel to the south of the narthex, which since 1959 has been known as the Christ Chapel,[148][163][b] was inspired by the Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus in France.[148] Its design was inspired by the pointed Romanesque nave at Carcassonne Cathedral. The design, which was described by architectural historian Andrew Dolkart as "earlier than Gothic", is intended to give the impression the rest of the sanctuary was built after the chapel.[139] The chapel is subdivided into four bays and has a barrel-vaulted ceiling with Guastavino tiles, and the walls and floor have a limestone finish. The southern wall, which is adjacent to the MLK Wing, has four arched, back-lit stained-glass windows; one in each bay. Double doors to the west lead to Riverside Drive and a passage to the south leads to the MLK Wing.[163] There are engaged columns on the north and south walls between each of the four bays, and eight lanterns hang from the columns.[167]

The eastern end of the chapel contains an altar, four steps above the chapel's main level. There is a lectern to the right of the altar and a pulpit to the left.[167][168] Several sculpted representations are above the altar.[168] Behind the altar are a baptismal pool and a reredos, which are accessed through an arched opening. An alcove to the narthex is north of the altar.[167]

Tower and carillon

 
The bell tower, seen from the east

The 392-foot (119 m) tower was named after Laura Spelman Rockefeller, the mother of John D. Rockefeller Jr.[42][44][52] The tower contains 21 usable floors, which include 80 classrooms and office rooms.[21][69][169] There are four elevators, of which two rise only to the 10th floor, whereas the other two rise to the 20th floor.[167][169] The 20-floor elevators, which rise 355 feet (108 m), were described in 1999 as the world's tallest elevators inside a church.[134] Two staircases ascend from ground level; one on the western side of the tower ends at the ninth floor, and the one on the eastern side continues to the carillon.[167] Balconies are at the southern corners on the 8th floor and on all sides of the 10th floor except the north side.[161]

The tower's main entrance is on the western elevation of the tower's base and is flanked by projecting vertical piers (see § Facade). Seven arched niches, each containing one statue of a king, are above the main entrance. A large rose window is above the statuary grouping.[133] The apex of the tower is fitted with aircraft warning lights.[134] Above the tenth floor are five tiers of window arrangements on each floor; the higher tiers become progressively narrower. From bottom to top, the successive tiers have two, three, four, and five windows on each side. There are narrow, canopied niches in each corner of the tower, with one statue inside each niche. At the top of the tower is a conical metal roof.[151][153]

Tower stories

Most of the tower's stories have plaster floors, steel doors, steel window frames, and iron lighting fixtures hanging from each ceiling. There are elevator lobbies with vaulted ceilings on several stories of the tower. On the stories that contain common spaces, including the ninth and tenth floors, the floors are finished with stone, terrazzo, and wood, and are fitted with wooden doors. Several spaces in the tower have been used by outside entities, who carpeted floors and installed lighting fixtures in some office rooms.[161]

Originally, the fourth through fourteenth floors were occupied by Riverside Church's school while the fifteenth floor and above contained staff and clergy offices, as well as spaces for group activities.[160] The second floor connects to the nave's lower seating gallery, while the third floor leads to the upper seating gallery. The fourth through eighth floors are below the height of the nave's ceiling; these housed the nursery, junior high, and high school departments of the church's school. The ninth and tenth floors housed the double-story school kitchen, school offices, and storage rooms over the nave.[160][161] The ninth floor also houses a library, and there is wooden furniture in the kitchen and library.[161] The main structure's roof is above the tenth floor, and the tower rises independently above that point.[160][161] The eleventh through fourteenth floors originally contained the church's elementary school while the fifteenth and sixteenth floors respectively housed the young people's meeting room and the social room.[160] These floors were later converted into office space, and several floors were subdivided and leased out.[161] The seventeenth through twentieth floors include meeting rooms and the seventeenth floor also contains offices. The twenty-first floor includes the carilloneur's studio and the twenty-second floor is devoted to mechanical space.[160][161]

Carillon

The 23rd floor of the tower contains a three-level belfry[167] that houses a carillon whose final complement of 74 bronze bells, which at the time of its construction the largest carillon of bells in the world, includes the 20-ton, 122-inch-diameter (3.1 m) bourdon, the world's largest tuned bell.[69][170] Though other carillons with more bells have been commissioned,[c] Riverside Church's carillon is still the largest in the world by aggregate weight: the bells and associated mechanisms weigh a combined 500,000 pounds (230,000 kg).[69][144] The bells themselves are cited as weighing approximately 100 short tons (89 long tons; 91 t)[173] or over 100 short tons.[174][175] Of the carillon's bells, 53 were made for the original Park Avenue church by English founders Gillett & Johnston[52][69][161] and another 19 were made for Riverside Church when it opened.[69][161] Two bells were added in 1955 and 58 treble bells were replaced by bell founders Van Bergen.[161] The bells were replaced again by Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 2004.[161] The bells can reportedly be heard from up to 8 miles (13 km) from the tower.[67][69] The bourdon sounds one octave lower than other bourdons.[176][175]

A mechanical power room and control room are in the belfry, with the clavier cabin at the top, above the carillon.[177] Due to the weight of the carillon, the heaviest steel beams used in the construction of Riverside Church were used in the tower. The north facade, which overhangs the nave, is supported by a single cross truss that weighs 60 short tons (54 long tons; 54 t).[169] Outside the carillon, the tower's facade has ornate Neo-Gothic detailing that includes features such as gargoyles.[151][153] On top of the carillon is a public observation deck;[144][177] the deck was closed after the September 11, 2001, attacks due to security concerns[144][177] but the church resumed tours in January 2020.[178]

Cloister passageway

The cloister passageway leads from the southern portion of the nave to Claremont Avenue in the east. It has four pointed-arch bays, each with a Corinthian-style colonette topped by a grisaille window opening on the south wall.[151][152] The north and south walls also contain stained-glass windows; the northern wall's windows are artificially illuminated. Inside the cloister passageway are five vaults, which are illuminated by six lanterns.[177] The entrance to the passageway is a small, two-story structure with two arched doorways facing Claremont Avenue and a set of double doors facing a short wheelchair ramp to the south. The top of the cloister entrance's eastern facade contains three niches with figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and the southeastern corner contains a figure of Maaseiah.[152][179] A gift shop is adjacent to the cloister passageway, and sculptures of the church's architects and builder are above the doorway leading to the tower's base.[177]

Martin Luther King Jr. Wing

 
View from Riverside Drive, at dusk

The Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Wing is a seven-story annex south of the main structure and facing 120th Street along the southern boundary of the plot.[87][177] The long arm of this L-shaped building lies north–south adjacent to Riverside Drive and the short arm lies west–east next to 120th Street. The MLK Wing connects to the original church building to the north and the Stone Gym to the east. The area between the MLK Wing and the cloister forms a small courtyard or garth, which is enclosed on the eastern side by a metal fence.[177] Inside the wing are children's chapels, space for the school, a rooftop recreation area, space for a radio station, community areas including a gymnasium and assembly room, and a basement with a parking lot.[75][87][180]

The structure, which was designed by Collens, Willis and Beckonert, and built by Vermilea-Brown,[75][181] is a simplified version of Allen and Collens' original church design and was perceived as being "modern Gothic".[181] The building was known as the South Wing until 1985, when it was renamed for civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.[91][115]

Facade

The facade is clad with Indiana limestone, the foundation is made of stone and concrete, and the structure is supported by a steel frame. The main entrance is through the chapel doors on Riverside Drive to the west; there are also entrances to the basement from 120th Street.[177] The basement, first and second floors of the western facade contains eight architectural bays, each with one small lancet window, which are recessed between projecting buttresses and below a set of arches. The two outermost bays project slightly outward and do not contain recessed arches. The section of the MLK Wing above the second floor is set back from Riverside Drive, and the windows on the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors are also recessed between buttressed arches. The seventh-floor windows are flush with the buttresses. The two outermost bays have two sets of windows rather than a single window on each floor, and project slightly outward.[149]

The wing's southern and eastern facades are designed in a similar fashion to the upper portion of the western facade; the seventh-floor windows are flush with the buttresses while the windows below are in recessed arched bays. The southern facade contains eight window bays, six of which are recessed. There are no windows into the first and second floors on the westernmost four bays of the southern facade but the eastern four bays do have windows into these floors. On the far eastern portion of the southern facade are two pointed-arched openings that lead to the church's underground parking garage (see § Basement).[182] The eastern facade is separated into two sections; the section at the end of the wing's short arm contains four recessed window bays. The section next to the north–south axis of the "L" contains six window bays, four of which are recessed.[182]

Interior

The northern arm of the MLK Wing's first floor includes the South Hall Lobby, which has a two-story-high coffered ceiling that is supported by a pointed-arch arcade and its walls are made of gray plaster. To the south of the lobby lie an elevator bank and an auditorium called the South Hall. The South Hall's walls are made of wood paneling below limestone and it has nine stained-glass lancet windows on the western side. To the east of the auditorium are two mezzanine levels that lie below the South Hall's ceiling, while a sealed tunnel leading to the Interchurch Center across 120th Street is also accessible from the auditorium.[183]

The third-to-seventh floors include classrooms, except for the fifth floor, which contains offices.[87][180][183] The hallway floors are made of terrazzo and individual rooms have resilient flooring, except for the fifth floor rooms, which contain carpeted rooms, and each level has dropped ceilings.[183] Chapels for children are on the third floor's southwestern corner and on the sixth floor's southern side.[87][183] The roof contains a solarium and a play area.[87][184]

Stone Gym

 
Stone Gym (center), MLK Wing (left), and tower (center-right)

The Stone Gymnasium is a 1+1⁄2-story English Gothic building at 120th Street and Claremont Avenue, east of the Martin Luther King Jr. Wing. The gym was built in 1912 to a design by Louis E. Jallade and was originally used by the Union Theological Seminary. Its architectural details include a facade of schist with limestone decoration and a metal hip roof.[91] The structure measures five bays long on the eastern facade and one bay wide on the southern and northern facades.[184] In 1957, Rockefeller donated the building to the church and five years later, it reopened as a gymnasium and community facility.[91][92] The building's interior contains a basketball court with synthetic flooring, and there are offices and lockers in its northern end.[91]

Basement

Riverside Church's basement includes several modern amenities such as a 250-seat movie theater and a gymnasium with a full-size basketball court.[134] The section of the basement under the nave has a double-height ceiling; an assembly hall is on the southern side of this space while the gymnasium is on the northern side. The assembly hall has a stone floor and walls, and there are six arched stained-glass windows on the eastern wall and one rectangular stained glass window on the south wall, as well as cabinets that contain two Heinrich Hofmann paintings (see § Paintings). It also has a wooden ceiling that is supported by stone arches, with lanterns suspended from the ceiling and a stage in the northern portion. A kitchen is east of the stage, and a corridor runs adjacent to the western wall of the assembly room and gymnasium.[167]

The basement originally included a four-lane bowling alley that was adjacent to the assembly floor.[134][167] It was later removed[134] and converted into storage space.[167] There is a two-story, 150-space parking lot[75][183] underneath the MLK Wing.[87][134]

Organs

The two Riverside Church organs are located in the chancel and the seating gallery.[185] The chancel organ is the 14th largest in the world as of 2017.[186][187] It was furnished in 1930 by Hook and Hastings,[185][188] and was originally criticized as mediocre.[188] Aeolian-Skinner built an organ console in the chancel in 1948 and replaced the chancel organ in 1953–1954,[185] and the ceiling above the chancel and the front of the nave was coated with sealant to improve the chancel's acoustic qualities.[159] The chancel organ was opened with a concert in March 1955 with a concert by Virgil Fox and the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, attended by 3000 people.[189] In 1964, another Aeolian-Skinner organ was installed within the eastern wall of the nave's seating gallery; three years later, Anthony A. Bufano installed a five-manual console for the gallery organ.[185] M. P. Moller built another stop for the gallery organ, the Trompeta Majestatis, in 1978.[163][185] Two years later, the chancel organ received a new principal chorus with the addition of the Grand Chorus division. In the 1990s, the console was rewired, the chancel organ was cleaned, and the ceiling was covered with ten layers of sealant.[185]

The Director of Music and organist is Christopher Johnson as of 2019.[190] Past organists at the Riverside Church include Virgil Fox (1946–1965),[191] Frederick Swann (1957–1982),[192] John Walker (1979–1992),[193] and Timothy Smith (1992–2008).[194]

Art and sculpture

Paintings

Paintings by Heinrich Hofmann that were purchased by Rockefeller Jr. and donated to the church in November 1930 are displayed in the building.[66] Christ in the Temple (1871) and Christ and the Young Rich Man (1889) are displayed in the assembly hall beneath the nave, and are usually locked within the cabinets there.[167] Hofmann's Christ in Gethsemane (1890) is displayed the Gethsemane chapel.[153]

Stained glass

Riverside Church's main building contains 51 stained glass windows, excluding small grisaille windows.[158] These were created in a mosaic style, which was becoming more popular at the time of the church's construction.[48] Of these, 34 windows are in the nave; most of them include religious iconography. Generally, the richly colored windows are on the building's western side, which is considered the "light" side, while those with muted colors are on the eastern "dark" side.[158]

French glassmakers Jacques Simon from Reims Cathedral and Charles Lorin from Chartres Cathedral were hired to create the glass for the clerestory windows in the nave.[48][150][157] Lorin designed the stained-glass windows on the western side of the clerestory while Simon designed those on the eastern side. Both sets of windows depict general religious and governmental themes, and also incorporate secular iconography and depictions of non-Christians.[157] The clerestory windows closely resemble those at Chartres and include a rose with lancet windows.[48][150] The other windows in the nave were created by Boston-based firm Reynolds, Francis and Rohnstock and depict 138 scenes with both religious and non-religious contexts.[48][157] The three groups of stained glass windows in the apse[48] and the nine stained glass windows in the South Hall were created by Harry Wright Goodhue.[183]

Mosaics

Gregor T. Goethals created two mosaics for the fourth and seventh floors of the MLK Wing. The fourth-floor mosaic depicts events described in the Old Testament while the seventh-floor mosaic depicts the Creation story.[183]

Sculpted elements

Exterior elements

 
Front doorway at the base of the tower. At the bottom are archivolts (directly under the arch), tympanum, and jambs (bottom, to either side of the doors). At the top is the circular rose window, and niches with the sculptures of seven kings.

The building's most prominent sculptural details are on the Riverside Drive facade. The main entrance beneath the tower is topped with five concentric archivolts with sculptures of Jesus's followers and prophets inlaid within each section.[45] The third arch of the main entrance has depictions of philosophers including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Immanuel Kant, and Pythagoras, while the second arch depicts scientists including Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, and Hippocrates.[45][50] Other figures depict the months of the year.[147] The columns framing the door jambs beneath the archivolts are decorated with capitals and gargoyles at the top and bottom, and a single figure in the middle. In the tympanum above the doors and below the archivolts is a figure of Christ seated, which is flanked by the symbols of the Evangelists.[133][146]

When Riverside Church was completed, there was controversy over the inclusion of Einstein, a living Jewish man, because the other figures represented people who had since died.[150][195] According to the publication Church Monthly, during construction, the committee tasked with the church's iconography had proposed depicting 20 scientists, not including Einstein, on the facade.[195] The faculty, however, unanimously decided Einstein should be included because he was indisputably one of 14 "leading scientists of all time".[150]

The chapel entrance on Riverside Drive south of the main entrance contains two archivolts that are supported by two sets of columns. The archivolts depict symbols of the zodiac and the second archivolt contains an elaborate decorative molding. A tympanum relief below the archivolts depicts the Virgin Mary flanked by two angels who are mirror images of each other.[133][146]

Sculpted elements are also placed within niches that are spread across the church's facade. Above the main entrance on the western facade are sculptures of seven kings.[133] Statues are also included in the tower's niches,[151][153] as well as in niches on the facade of the cloister entrance to the east.[152][179] The facade also has gargoyles, which are outside the carillon near the top of the tower.[151][153] The northern section of the nave's roof contains Angel of the Resurrection, a bronze statue of a trumpeter atop a pedestal.[133]

Interior elements

The carvings inside the church correspond to the respective uses of the areas in which they are sited. For instance, the 20 quatrefoil medallions inscribed on the chancel railing depict the typical "interests, emphases, activities, rites, and ceremonies" that are conducted within the chancel.[165] Around the pulpit are sculptures of ten Old Testament prophets.[159][165] Above the nave, the southern wall of the upper seating gallery contains multi-tiered niches, whose upper tiers contain sculpted figures of ministers. The two central niches contain a cast of Epstein's gilded-plaster sculpture Christ in Majesty.[163]

There seven-paneled chancel screen at the back of the chancel is carved from Caen stone.[159] It depicts influential figures including the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, the U.S. president Abraham Lincoln, the artist Michelangelo, the social reformer Florence Nightingale, and the author Booker T. Washington.[48][162] The panels depict physicians, teachers, prophets, humanitarians, missionaries, reformers, and lovers of beauty.[162][196]

Above the doorway between the cloister and the tower base are statues of architects Henry Pelton and Charles Collens, as well as general contractor Robert Eidlitz.[177]

  • Carving details
  •  

    Stone carving detail

  •  

    Several sculptures like these adorn the church

  •  

    Sculpted figures inside the gallery

Sculpture

When the Martin Luther King Jr. Wing was built, Jacob Epstein's sculpture Madonna and Child, which was commissioned in 1927, was placed in the courtyard between the MLK Wing and the cloistered entrance.[183][197][198]

Social services

 
Volunteers from the Riverside Church Prison Ministry

Riverside Church was conceived as a complex social-services center from the outset; the building has meeting rooms, classrooms, a daycare center, a kindergarten, library, auditorium, and a gymnasium. It was described by The New York Times in 2008 as "a stronghold of activism and political debate throughout its 75-year history ... influential on the nation's religious and political landscapes".[124] Riverside Church provides various social services, including a food bank, barber training, clothing distribution, a shower project, and confidential HIV tests and HIV counseling.[199] In 2007, The New York Times said Riverside Church has frequently "been likened to the Vatican for America's mainstream Protestants".[123]

Social justice ministries

Charity and shelter

Riverside Church's prisoner-related ministries, Riverside's Prison Ministry and Family Advocacy Program, conduct worship services in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, help prisoners and their families, links prisoners to their communities, workshops, support groups, and events, and lobby for prison reform and humane legislation.[200]

Riverside's Coming Home ministry, which was founded in 1985, helps ex-prisoners after they have been released.[201] The prison ministries began in 1971, when the Council on Christian Social Relations created a prison reform and rehabilitation task force.[202] It also deals with homelessness in New York City.[201] Riverside's advocacy of the homeless originated from a similar ministry, the Clothing Room and Food Pantry, which was a subdivision of the Social Services Department. The church began sheltering homeless people overnight from 1984 until 1994, when it was closed due to the decreasing homeless population and a staff shortage.[203]

Riverside participated in the Sanctuary movement during the 1980s, and was among numerous congregations nationwide that sheltered and assisted undocumented immigrants.[204] As part of the New Sanctuary Coalition, volunteers at Riverside Church assist detained asylum seekers and those on parole from immigration detention.[205] In 2011, as part of the Occupy Faith movement, Riverside Church donated tents to Occupy Wall Street protesters and sheltered them during cold and inclement weather, and after the evacuation of Zuccotti Park.[206]

Social and cultural

 
Riverside's Pride Parade Float

Riverside Church's LGBT ministry is named Maranatha.[207][208] It was founded in 1978 in response to growing demand from gay and lesbian congregants.[209] Maranatha hosts several activities, workshops, and events, and marches annually in the NYC Pride March.[209][210] In the 1980s, when the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City was at its peak, there was a backlash against Maranatha because the LGBT community was negatively associated with the epidemic. These events led to the founding of the separate HIV/AIDS ministry,[211] which hosts a support forum, provides testing, counseling, and referral programs, and collaborates with several other programs.[199]

Riverside Church's African Fellowship and Ministry sponsors educational forums about issues facing Africa, advocates on behalf of African diasporas with an active Facebook page.[199] The Sharing and Densford Funds advocate on behalf of Native Americans in the United States.[212] Other ministries at Riverside include support groups for South Africans, and for Hispanic and Latino Americans.[199]

Other activism

Riverside Church has several other social justice ministries. The environmentalist Beloved Earth ministry has a focus on climate change activism.[213] The Wellbotics ministry helps the families of cancer patients.[214] The church also has several pacifist task forces, including the Anti-Death Penalty Task Force and the "Overcoming Violence" task force, which is dedicated to fostering dialogue with the New York City Police Department.[199] Riverside Church also participates in the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.[215]

Former programming

When it was completed in 1959, Riverside Church's MLK Wing included space for a radio station that was planned by the church.[87] The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the church an FM broadcasting license in 1960,[216] and the following year, the church started operating the radio station WRVR (later WKHK, now WLTW), which broadcast on 106.7 MHz.[69][217][218] WRVR originally broadcast from the church's carillon but was relocated to the Empire State Building in 1971 to increase the range of its broadcast signal. WRVR, which was originally a noncommercial station, broadcast sermons and programming from cultural and higher-education institutions in New York City.[219] WRVR incurred an annual net loss for Riverside Church and in 1971, it was turned into a "limited commercial operation", which also failed to pay for itself.[220] The church decided to sell its radio station in 1975,[221][222] and the sale was finalized the following year.[220][223]

Starting in November 1976, Riverside Church hosted the Riverside Dance Festival, which was a continuation of previous dance ministries hosted by the church and normally offered 34 weeks of programming from over 60 dance companies.[224] The program ended in June 1987 because of a $900,000 funding shortfall.[225]

A link to 106.7 FM's days as Riverside Church-owned WRVR remains on WLTW in the present day. A recorded sermon from Riverside Church airs on the station from 5:00 to 6:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings, as part of WLTW's non-music public affairs programming.[226]

Called senior ministers

While Riverside Church is interdenominational, it is associated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ.[227] In chronological order, the called senior ministers at Riverside Church have been:

  • Adriene Thorne (2022–Present)[231]

Notable speakers

On April 4, 1967, a year before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech called Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, in which he voiced his opposition to the Vietnam War, at Riverside Church.[232][233][234] The Rev. Jesse Jackson gave the eulogy at Jackie Robinson's funeral service in 1972.[235] In 1991, Nelson Mandela, anti-apartheid activist and later South African president, spoke at Riverside following his release from prison.[236] Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan spoke there after the September 11, 2001, attacks,[237] and former U.S. president Bill Clinton spoke at the church in 2004.[238][239]

Speakers at Riverside Church have also included theologians Paul Tillich—who taught nearby—[240] and Reinhold Niebuhr;[236] civil-rights activists Cesar Chavez[236] and Desmond Tutu;[236][241] Cuban president Fidel Castro;[242] the 14th Dalai Lama;[122] and Abdullah II of Jordan.[122]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ These firms included McKim, Mead & White, Allen & Collens, Henry C. Pelton, Ralph Adams Cram, and York and Sawyer.[36]
  2. ^ a b There are two chapels that have been known as the Christ Chapel: the mortuary chapel, which was once known as the Christ Chapel, and the main chapel, which was the second to receive the name Christ Chapel.[166]
  3. ^ The carillon at Hyechon College in Daejeon, South Korea, contains 78 bells.[171] Kirk in the Hills in Bloomfield Township, Oakland County, Michigan, contains 77 bells.[172]

Citations

  1. ^ a b Rojas, Rick (July 11, 2019). "Pastor's Exit Exposes Cultural Rifts at a Leading Liberal Church". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. from the original on July 11, 2019. Retrieved July 12, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000, p. 1.
  3. ^ a b c "National Register of Historic Places Weekly Lists for 2012" (PDF). U.S. National Park Service. December 28, 2012. (PDF) from the original on December 28, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000, p. 2.
  5. ^ Pendo 1957, p. 9.
  6. ^ Pendo 1957, p. 22.
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Sources

  • Carder, Eugene Clayton; Church monthly (N.Y.) (1930). Architecture and symbolism of the Riverside Church. New York: Riverside Church. OCLC 3940539.
  • Dolkart, Andrew S. (1998). Morningside Heights: A History of its Architecture and Development. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-07850-4. OCLC 37843816.
  • Historic Structures Report: Riverside Church (PDF) (Report). National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service. December 21, 2012. (PDF) from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  • Miller, R.M. (1985). Harry Emerson Fosdick: Preacher, Pastor, Prophet. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-536523-8.
  • Paris, Peter J.; Cook, John Wesley; Hudnut-Beumler, James; Mamiya, Lawrence; Tisdale, Leonora Tubbs; Weisenfeld, Judith (2004). The History of the Riverside Church in the City of New York. Religion, Race, and Ethnicity. NYU Press. ISBN 978-0-8147-6836-5. from the original on May 22, 2020. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  • Pendo, Mina (1957). A Brief History of The Riverside Church. Riverside Church.
  • The Riverside Church (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. May 16, 2000. (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2019.

External links

  •   Media related to Riverside Church at Wikimedia Commons
  • Official website

January 26, 2023
riverside, church, confused, with, riverside, baptist, church, interdenominational, church, morningside, heights, neighborhood, manhattan, york, city, block, bounded, riverside, drive, claremont, avenue, 120th, street, 122nd, street, near, columbia, university. Not to be confused with Riverside Baptist Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan New York City on the block bounded by Riverside Drive Claremont Avenue 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University s Morningside Heights campus and across from Grant s Tomb It is associated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ The church was conceived by philanthropist businessman and Baptist John D Rockefeller Jr in conjunction with Baptist minister Harry Emerson Fosdick as a large interdenominational church in Morningside Heights which is surrounded by academic institutions Riverside ChurchRiverside Church in 2013Riverside ChurchShow map of ManhattanRiverside ChurchShow map of New York CityRiverside ChurchShow map of New YorkRiverside ChurchShow map of the United States40 48 43 N 73 57 47 W 40 81194 N 73 96306 W 40 81194 73 96306 Coordinates 40 48 43 N 73 57 47 W 40 81194 N 73 96306 W 40 81194 73 96306LocationNew York CityCountryUnited StatesDenominationInterdenominational American Baptist United Church of ChristMembership1 750 1 HistoryFormer name s Mulberry Street Baptist ChurchFifth Avenue Baptist ChurchPark Avenue Baptist ChurchArchitectureHeritage designationNational Register of Historic Places New York City Landmarks Preservation CommissionArchitect s Allen amp Collens and Henry C PeltonArchitectural typeNeo GothicGroundbreakingNovember 21 1927 95 years ago November 21 1927 CompletedOctober 5 1930 92 years ago October 5 1930 SpecificationsCapacity2 100Nave width89 feet 27 m Number of floors22Spire height392 feet 119 m Bells74 carillon Riverside ChurchU S National Register of Historic PlacesNew York City Landmark No 2037Location478 490 Riverside Dr amp 81 Claremont Ave New York CityBuilt1930 main building 1957 MLK Wing 1962 conversion of Stone Gym ArchitectAllen amp Collens H C Pelton main building Collens Willis amp Beckonert MLK Wing Louis E Jallade Stone Gym Architectural styleLate Gothic RevivalNRHP reference No 12001036NYCL No 2037Significant datesAdded to NRHPDecember 12 2012 3 Designated NYCLMay 16 2000 2 The original building opened in 1930 it was designed by Henry C Pelton and Allen amp Collens in the Neo Gothic style It contains a nave consisting of five architectural bays a chancel at the front of the nave a 22 story 392 foot 119 m tower above the nave a narthex and chapel and a cloistered passageway that connects to the eastern entrance on Claremont Avenue Near the top of the tower is the church s main feature a 74 bell carillon the heaviest in the world dedicated to Rockefeller Jr s mother Laura Spelman Rockefeller A seven story wing was built to the south of the original building in 1959 to a design by Collens Willis amp Beckonert and was renamed for Martin Luther King Jr in 1985 The Stone Gym to the southeast built in 1915 as a dormitory was designed by Louis E Jallade and was converted to a gymnasium in 1962 Riverside Church has been a focal point of global and national activism since its inception and it has a long history of social justice in adherence to Fosdick s original vision of an interdenominational interracial and international church 2 Its congregation includes members of more than forty ethnic groups The church was designated as a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2000 2 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012 3 Contents 1 History 1 1 Context 1 1 1 Congregation 1 1 2 Progressive ideology 1 2 Planning and construction 1 2 1 Site selection 1 2 2 Planning 1 2 3 Construction 1 3 Use 1 3 1 1930s through mid 1960s 1 3 2 Late 1960s through 1990s 1 3 3 21st century 2 Design 2 1 Main building 2 1 1 Facade 2 1 2 Nave 2 1 3 Chancel ambulatory and apse 2 1 4 Narthex 2 1 5 Chapel 2 2 Tower and carillon 2 2 1 Tower stories 2 2 2 Carillon 2 3 Cloister passageway 2 4 Martin Luther King Jr Wing 2 4 1 Facade 2 4 2 Interior 2 5 Stone Gym 2 6 Basement 3 Organs 4 Art and sculpture 4 1 Paintings 4 2 Stained glass 4 3 Mosaics 4 4 Sculpted elements 4 4 1 Exterior elements 4 4 2 Interior elements 4 5 Sculpture 5 Social services 5 1 Social justice ministries 5 1 1 Charity and shelter 5 1 2 Social and cultural 5 1 3 Other activism 5 2 Former programming 6 Called senior ministers 7 Notable speakers 8 See also 9 References 9 1 Notes 9 2 Citations 9 3 Sources 10 External linksHistory EditContext Edit Congregation Edit Several small Baptist congregations including the Mulberry Street Baptist Church that was established in 1823 by a group of 16 congregants were founded in Manhattan after the American Revolutionary War 4 5 The Mulberry Street church occupied at least three locations in the Lower East Side and two locations on Broadway in Midtown Manhattan before moving to a more permanent site at Fifth Avenue and 46th Street in the 1860s 4 The businessman William Rockefeller was the first of several Rockefeller family members to attend the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church he became a major financial backer of the church in the 1870s 4 6 William and his brother John D Rockefeller later became trustees of the church and many of its services were held at the Rockefellers home nearby 4 7 Cornelius Woelfkin who became the church s minister in 1912 started leading the church in a more modernist direction 8 By the early 20th century Fifth Avenue was experiencing increased commercial development and the church building became dilapidated 9 The congregation sold its old headquarters in 1919 10 and bought land at Park Avenue and 63rd Street the following year 11 John Rockefeller s son John D Rockefeller Jr funded half of the projected 1 million cost 4 12 The new church which was dubbed the Little Cathedral was designed by Henry C Pelton in partnership with Francis R Allen and Charles Collens 4 The final service in the Fifth Avenue location was held on April 3 1922 13 and the renamed Park Avenue Baptist Church held its first class in the new location the next week 4 14 Progressive ideology Edit In 1924 John D Rockefeller Jr donated 500 000 to the Cathedral of St John the Divine in Morningside Heights which was further uptown from the Park Avenue location in an unsuccessful attempt to influence the cathedral s ideology in a progressive direction 15 The following January Harry E Edmonds leader of the International House in Morningside Heights for whose construction Rockefeller had provided funds wrote to Rockefeller to propose creating a new church in the neighborhood Edmonds suggested progressive pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick should head such a church Rockefeller then told the Park Avenue Baptist Church s leaders about the plan and hired an agent to inspect the planned church site 16 Woelfkin quit in mid May 1925 and Rockefeller Jr immediately started looking for a new minister 17 ultimately deciding on Fosdick 16 18 19 who had declined Rockefeller s offers several times 16 saying he did not want to be known as the pastor of the richest man in the country 19 Fosdick stated he would accept the minister position on the conditions that the church would move to Morningside Heights follow a policy of religious liberalism remove the requirement for members to be baptized and become nondenominational 19 20 21 22 At the end of May 1925 Fosdick agreed to become minister of the Park Avenue Baptist Church 20 21 23 24 Only fifteen percent of congregants voted against Fosdick s appointment 25 Under Fosdick s leadership the congregation doubled in size by 1930 18 26 The new members were diverse of the 158 people who joined in the year after Fosdick became minister about half were not Baptists 18 27 Though some existing congregants had doubts about whether the Park Avenue Baptist Church should move from its recently completed edifice the church s board which was in favor of the relocation stated congregants would not have to pay any of the costs for the new church 28 Planning and construction Edit Site selection Edit Claremont Avenue view Morningside Heights where the new church was to be located was being quickly developed as a residential neighborhood surrounded by numerous higher education institutions including Union Theological Seminary and International House of New York 29 30 The development had been spurred by the presence of Riverside Park and Riverside Drive nearby as well as the construction of the New York City Subway s Broadway Seventh Avenue Line the modern day 1 train under Broadway 18 29 Rockefeller briefly considered a location on Morningside Drive on the eastern edge of Morningside Heights between 117th and 118th Streets 21 He ultimately chose a larger site at the southeastern corner of Riverside Drive and 122nd Street on the neighborhood s western border which overlooked Riverside Park to the west and Claremont Park to the north 30 31 Rockefeller felt the Riverside Drive site was more easily visible because it abutted the Hudson River and would be seen by recreational users of Riverside Drive 31 In May 1925 Rockefeller finalized his purchase of the new church s site at Riverside Drive 32 That July he exchanged his previous purchase of a plot on Morningside Drive for another plot on Riverside Drive 33 Shortly afterward he acquired yet more land after which he had a frontage of 250 ft 76 meters on Riverside Drive for the new church 34 At the time of the acquisition three apartment buildings and two mansions occupied the church s future site Rockefeller wished to keep the apartments in place for several years to fund the church s eventual construction 31 Planning Edit Rockefeller was the chairman of the committee tasked with developing a new building for the church Hoping to avoid publicity rather than host an architectural competition he privately asked several architectural firms to submit plans for the building 30 35 a Rockefeller tried to downplay his role in the planning and construction process asking for his name to be omitted from media reports and discussion of the church though with little success 20 His role in the selection process raised concerns from church trustees including Fosdick who believed such close financial involvement could place the church in a very vulnerable position 37 30 John Roach Straton pastor of Calvary Baptist Church on 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan criticized Rockefeller s involvement and mockingly suggested it be called the Socony Church after the oil company the Rockefellers headed 38 George S Chappell writing in The New Yorker under the pseudonym T Square said the project was known to most secular minds as the Rockefeller Cathedral 20 39 Neither Rockefeller nor Fosdick had strict requirements for the church s architectural style Rockefeller asked for the new building to include space for the Park Avenue Baptist Church s carillon which he had donated 35 Most of the plans entailed a church facing 122nd Street and wrapping around the existing apartment buildings on the site The exception was a plan by Allen amp Collens and Henry C Pelton who had designed Park Avenue Baptist Church that called for a Gothic Revival church with its main entrance on the side facing Riverside Drive with a bell tower and apartment towers for the neighboring Union Theological Seminary 40 The building committee removed the apartment towers from the church plan and Allen Collens and Pelton were selected to design the new church in February 1926 30 40 41 As part of the plans there would be a 375 foot 114 m later 392 foot 119 m bell tower a 2 400 seat auditorium and athletic rooms The building would occupy a 100 feet 30 m by 225 feet 69 m lot 30 41 There was no room for a chapel in the original plans so Rockefeller proposed trading land with the Union Theological Seminary In May 1926 Rockefeller gave Union an apartment building on 99 Claremont Avenue to the northeast of the church In exchange Riverside Church received a small plot to its south allowing for the construction of the chapel and a proposed cloister passage to Claremont Avenue 42 Rockefeller chose to delay the construction process until the leases of the site s existing tenants expired in October 1926 41 The official plans were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings in November that year 43 The following month the congregation voted to approve the building plans at a cost of 4 million 44 Pelton and Collens then went to France to look for churches upon which to model Riverside Church s design 45 46 They eventually selected the 13th century Chartres Cathedral as their model 44 45 47 Construction Edit Riverside Church between Grant s Tomb left and The Interchurch Center Marc Eidlitz amp Son Inc was hired as the contractor for the construction of the new Riverside Drive church 48 On November 21 1927 the church s ceremonial cornerstone was laid marking the start of construction 48 49 50 The cornerstone included items such as Woelfkin s Bible and New York Times articles about the new church 49 51 The Park Avenue church building and three adjacent rowhouses was sold for 1 5 million in April 1928 48 The same month Park Avenue Baptist Church s official monthly newsletter announced its existing 53 bell carillon would be expanded to 72 bells upon its relocation to Riverside Drive making it the largest set of bells in the world 52 In late 1928 three fires occurred after wooden scaffolding around the new church was ignited 53 On December 22 1928 one of these fires caused 1 million in damage and almost completely destroyed the interior though the exterior remained mostly intact Much of the damage was covered by an insurance policy placed on the building 54 55 Shortly after the December 1928 fire Rockefeller announced he would continue with construction after insurance claims were settled 56 The fire delayed the completion of the interior by six months 51 57 In February 1929 the congregation began seeking donations to continue construction Rockefeller donated 1 5 million which when combined with the proceeds from the sale of the Park Avenue building provided 3 million in funds 58 Construction of a mortuary at the Riverside Drive church was approved in March 1929 59 While construction was ongoing the congregation temporarily relocated to Temple Beth El on Fifth Avenue and 76th Street for nine months starting in July 1929 48 The first portion of the new church building to be completed the assembly hall under the auditorium opened in October 1929 60 61 That December Fosdick formally filed plans to rename the church from Park Avenue Baptist Church to Riverside Church 62 The bell was hoisted to the top of the tower s carillon in early September 1930 63 the tower was completed later that month and the first Sunday school class was held there on September 29 64 The church was completed on October 5 48 50 65 the same day the first service was held in the altar it was attended by 3 200 people All of the space in the nave and basement was filled and thousands more people wished to enter 50 65 The next month officials received two oil paintings from Rockefeller Jr s collection 66 The first officers of Riverside Church were elected in December 1930 19 and the church was formally dedicated with an interdenominational service two months later 19 67 The total cost of construction was estimated at 4 million 68 In the early years of the new building journalists often referred to the church in association with either Rockefeller who sought to reduce emphasis on his role at the church or Fosdick 69 Riverside Church s completion sharply contrasted with the Cathedral of St John the Divine which remained incomplete after almost four decades 70 Allen amp Collens s plan was described by architect Robert A M Stern as the culmination of a craving for a tall cathedral among people of everyday tall ideas which had started when St John s was proposed in 1889 21 Despite the completion of Riverside Church Rockefeller felt the surroundings still needed to be improved 70 In 1932 he announced he would pay for a 350 000 landscaping of the adjacent decrepit Sakura Park 70 71 Rockefeller hired the Olmsted Brothers to renovate the park 72 and the project was completed two years later 73 When Union Theological Seminary announced it would build a new apartment building at 99 Claremont Avenue Rockefeller offered to exchange his neighboring apartment building at 122nd Street and Claremont Avenue for the lots south of the church which were owned by the seminary The land was swapped in 1931 after Rockefeller offered to finance part of the dormitory s construction 72 In 1935 the land under the church was deeded to Rockefeller 74 and he purchased a lot at Riverside Drive and 122nd Street from St Luke s Hospital after which he owned all of the land along the eastern side of Riverside Drive between 120th and 122nd Streets 75 Rockefeller spent a total of 10 5 million on land acquisition and church construction 69 Use Edit 1930s through mid 1960s Edit John D Rockefeller Jr funded much of the church s construction The completion of the new church building at Morningside Heights resulted in a steady increase in the congregation s membership By May 1946 the congregation had 3 500 members an increase of 800 in twenty years According to a brochure issued by the church soon every room was in use seven days a week and enrollment at the church s Sunday school had correspondingly increased 69 Riverside Church became a community icon and a religious center of Morningside Heights By 1939 the church had more than 200 staff in both part time and full time positions and over 10 000 people a week were attending its social and religious services athletic events and employment programs 76 In addition to its well attended Sunday morning service Riverside Church hosted Communion services every first Sunday afternoon as well as Ministry of Music services on other Sunday afternoons The Riverside Guild the young adult fellowship held worship services during Sunday evenings Weddings and funerals were also hosted at the church 77 In 1942 the United States Naval Reserve Midshipmen s School at Columbia started using Riverside Church for services drawing 2 000 attendees on average 69 and continued to hold its services at the church until October 1945 69 78 In June 1945 Fosdick announced he would step down as senior minister the following May 79 This spurred a search for a new pastor and in March 1946 Robert James McCracken was chosen for the position 80 and officially became the senior pastor of Riverside Church that October 81 Fosdick and McCracken held each other in mutual respect so the transition between ministers went smoothly 82 Over the next two decades McCracken continued Fosdick s policy of religious liberalism 83 In 1956 halfway through McCracken s tenure the church conducted an internal report and found the organizational structure was disorganized and that most staff did not feel any single person was in charge As a result six councils were created and placed under the purview of the deacons and trustees 84 The councils partitioned power into a series of mini kingdoms according to a later pastor Ernest T Campbell 85 Construction on the Martin Luther King Jr Wing to the south of the existing church started in 1955 The seven story wing was designed by Collens Willis amp Beckonert successors to Allen amp Collens its 15 million cost was funded by Rockefeller 69 75 The wing was dedicated in December 1959 and contained additional facilities for the church s programs 69 86 87 A 15 foot 4 6 m dummy antenna had been placed on top of Riverside Church s 392 foot 119 m tall carillon earlier that year to determine whether it could be used by Columbia University s radio station WKCR 89 9 MHz FM despite strong opposition from parishioners and the local community 88 Nevertheless the church decided to place an antenna atop the carillon for its own radio station the top of the antenna being 440 feet 130 m above ground level 89 Riverside Church started operating the radio station WRVR 106 7 MHz FM in 1961 and continued to operate it until 1976 69 In 1960 Riverside Church s congregation voted to join the United Church of Christ the successor denomination to the Congregational Christian Churches 90 Rockefeller purchased the Stone Gym an existing Union Theological Seminary building southeast of the original church and reopened it as a community facility in April 1962 after a five year renovation 91 92 In April 1967 McCracken announced he would leave his position as senior minister citing health issues 93 Late 1960s through 1990s Edit Archivolts in the front doorway Ernest T Campbell became pastor in November 1968 94 95 Less than a year later civil rights leader James Forman interrupted a sermon at Riverside Church citing it as one of several churches from which Black Americans could ask for reparations for slavery 96 97 This led to the church releasing its financial figures in 1970 for the first time the figures valued the building at 86 million and the total financial endowment of 18 million 96 as well as the creation of a 450 000 Fund for Social Justice to disburse reparations over three years 97 98 Following a 1972 metropolitan mission study several ministries aimed toward ameliorating social conditions in the New York City area were formed at Riverside Church 99 Campbell s tenure was marked by several controversial sermons 97 and increasing conflicts among the church s boards councils and staff 94 In June 1976 Campbell suddenly resigned having felt his style of leadership was not sufficient to reconcile these disagreements 94 100 The same month saw the installment of the church s first female pastor Evelyn Newman 101 By a vote in August 1977 William Sloane Coffin was selected as the next senior minister of Riverside Church 102 Coffin officiated his first service in November 1977 103 At this point the congregation s size had been declining for several years but after Coffin s selection as senior minister membership increased to 2 627 by the end of 1979 and total annual attendance for morning services rose from 49 902 in 1976 to 71 536 in 1978 104 Coffin s tenure was also marked by theologically liberal sermons many of which were controversial 104 105 though he was more traditional in his worship 105 This era also saw Channing E Phillips the first African American major party U S presidential nominee being hired as minister of planning and coordination 106 Coffin announced his intention to resign in July 1987 to become the president of disarmament organization SANE Freeze 107 and held his last sermon that December 108 Riverside Church formed a committee that conducted a nationwide search for its next senior minister over the next year In February 1989 the committee chose James A Forbes a professor at nearby Union Theological Seminary for the position 109 110 The congregation voted almost unanimously to approve Forbes s selection and he became the church s first black senior minister 110 111 At the time between one fourth and one third of the congregation was Black or Hispanic 111 Tensions between Forbes and executive minister David Dyson soon developed over matters including the duration of Forbes s sermons and his musical choices Tensions grew and a mediator was engaged after Forbes tried to fire Dyson 112 The dispute was resolved when Dyson resigned in October 1992 113 In 1996 Riverside Church started conducting a study on the building s current use and services 114 and the following October Body Lawson Ben Paul Associated Architects and Planners published the Riverside Church Master Plan 115 The plan included a major addition on Riverside Church s eastern side consisting of the relocation of the Claremont Avenue entrance paving of the forecourt reconfiguration of the cloister lobby and construction of a seven story building over the gymnasium This plan was controversial among congregants some of whom petitioned the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission NYCLPC to designate the church to prevent the alteration of the original appearance of the Claremont Avenue entrance 114 In December 1998 the congregation voted to officially nominate the church for landmark status 116 Only the original church building was nominated the nomination excluded the Martin Luther King Jr Wing despite preservationists requests for the entire structure to be considered for landmark designation The NYCLPC approved landmark status for the original church in May 2000 117 21st century Edit View from Sakura Park Two controversies involving Riverside Church arose in the early 2000s an allegation of sexual abuse by the director of a basketball program at the church and an allegation of financial mismanagement due to a 32 million decrease in the endowment between 2000 and 2002 118 The accused basketball director resigned in 2002 119 while the accusation of financial mismanagement was prolonged through several years of court cases although the New York Supreme Court had dismissed a lawsuit over the topic 120 Forbes announced his retirement in September 2006 121 and held his last sermon in June 2007 By that time the church had 2 700 congregants a large proportion of whom were black and Hispanic 122 The church had a 14 million annual operating budget and a paid staff of 130 123 Another nationwide year long search for a new senior minister commenced and in August 2008 it was announced Brad Braxton had been selected as the sixth senior minister of Riverside Church 124 Braxton s tenure was marked by theological disputes congregants disagreed whether the church should take a fundamentalist or progressive position as well as a lawsuit over his salary which a church spokesperson stated was 457 000 In June 2009 Braxton submitted a letter of resignation due to these disputes 125 126 127 For the next five years Riverside Church had no senior minister and in 2014 its congregation had decreased to 1 670 a loss of over a thousand since 2007 128 In 2012 the church and its annexes were listed on the National Register of Historic Places 3 In June 2014 Amy K Butler was selected as the church s seventh senior minister becoming the first woman to hold that job 128 In September 2018 it was announced Riverside Church would buy the neighboring McGiffert Hall at Claremont Avenue and 122nd Street for 45 million The dormitory was on land John Rockefeller Jr had donated to the Union Theological Seminary and under the donation agreement the church had the right of first offer to buy the building should it ever be offered for sale 129 130 In July 2019 the church s governing council announced Butler s contract would not be renewed and the Church Council and Butler released a joint letter stating Butler s resignation was mutual A former Church Council member later said Butler was dismissed after she and several other female staff members had experienced sexual harassment by another former council member Dr Edward Lowe 1 131 Michael E Livingston became the interim senior minister 132 Design Edit The tower of Riverside Church center rises above the tree line of Riverside Park Grant s Tomb left and the Interchurch Center right can also be seen Riverside Church occupies a 454 by 100 foot 138 m 30 m lot 133 between Riverside Drive to the west 122nd Street to the north Claremont Avenue to the east and 120th Street to the south 134 Riverside Church s main architects Henry C Pelton Francis R Allen and Charles Collens created the general plan for the church 2 Pelton was most involved with tactical planning while Collens was most involved with the Gothic detail 42 Sculptural elements were designed by Robert Garrison and constructed by local studios including the Piccirilli Brothers 45 135 The church s interior was designed by Burnham Hoyt 48 136 The Martin Luther King Jr MLK Wing to the south of the original building was designed by Collens Willis amp Beckonert and the Stone Gym to the southeast was designed by Louis E Jallade 91 As of 2017 update Riverside Church is the tallest church in the United States and is among the world s tallest churches 137 138 with a tower rising 392 feet 119 m 42 44 52 Pelton and Collens chose a Gothic architectural style for Riverside Church s exterior by contrast the internal structure incorporates modern curtain walls and a steel frame 45 139 Fosdick later said the exterior Gothic style is suited to make people pray and that the church had not outgrown Gothic in that regard 140 Riverside Church s design is partially derived from Chartres Cathedral in France but also incorporates designs of several Gothic churches in France and Spain 44 141 Pelton and Collens said Chartres would provide the fundamental principles for the design of Riverside Church but that Riverside would have a completely different outline 45 47 The features inspired by Chartres include the detailing of the three Riverside Drive entrances and the lack of decorative elements on the facade except for the stained glass windows on the walls and the sculptural elements around each portal The massive single bell tower was inspired by the two western towers at Chartres 44 45 The rest of the facade consists of Indiana Limestone 133 Upon Riverside Church s completion its design received both praise and criticism 21 69 In mid 1931 The American Architect published pieces in mid 1931 that featured a critical viewpoint from Columbia architecture professor Walter A Taylor and a rebuttal from architect Charles Crane who had worked on the project with Pelton While Taylor believed the design should have been more modernist 139 142 Crane defended Pelton s Gothic design as being fundamentally Christian 139 143 The writers of the 1939 WPA Guide to New York City said the tower s features make the building itself seem smaller than it is so that its scale is scarcely impressive even when seen at close range 76 Other critics called the building s exterior overly opulent 144 according to one critic when considered along the progressive ideology the Gothic design can only be interpreted as an outward confession that religion is dead 50 The New York Sun referred to the building as one of the most outstanding additions to New York City s church architecture in recent years 145 Eric Nash in his book Manhattan Skyscrapers called Riverside Church Manhattan s last great eclectic skyscraper 134 while the AIA Guide to New York City dubbed the church easily the most prominent architectural work along the Hudson River from midtown to the George Washington Bridge 144 Main building Edit Riverside Church s main structure is centered around the nave which is aligned on a north south axis and is closer to Riverside Drive on the western portion of the block The chapel and narthex are to the south closer to 120th Street while the chancel which contains the altar and the ambulatory are to the north closer to 122nd Street 133 Facade Edit The northern facade of Riverside Church seen from 122nd Street at the eastern side of the ambulatory The western facade of the church s nave is adjacent to Riverside Drive 133 146 At the time of Riverside Church s construction the church did not own the lots along 120th Street to the south so the building s three entrances are on its western side facing Riverside Drive rather than on the southern side at the back of the nave as is customary in most churches The entrances are atop small flights of steps leading from the street 45 46 The building s main entrance faces west and is below the tower s base and is accessed through a set of double wooden doors with recessed wooden panels 133 The figures sculpted in the concentric archivolts of the doorway represent leading religious scientific and philosophical figures and an elaborate tympanum is below the arches see Sculpted elements 45 147 To the south is the entrance to the narthex which is accessed through a single door 148 Directly south of the narthex entrance another double door entrance leads to the chapel 148 149 this entrance contains two archivolts and a simpler tympanum 133 146 149 The northern portion of the western facade adjacent to the nave has five sets of windows see Nave 48 150 The view of the southern facade is mostly blocked by the MLK Wing to the south The top portions of four narrow arched stained glass windows can be seen above the hip roof of the structure that connects the two sections Above these stained glass windows are three recessed arched windows that are topped by a pediment containing a circular window 133 146 The eastern facade also has five groupings of windows facing the nave 48 150 but much of this facade is obscured by McGiffert Hall which faces directly onto Claremont Avenue and 122nd Street 151 152 On the eastern facade of the nave is a cloistered passageway leading to Claremont Avenue see Cloister passageway 91 151 Above the cloister section is a rose window 133 146 The northern facade surrounds the chancel and ambulatory An arched entrance called the Woman s Porch which contains carvings of biblical women is in the western portion of the north facade Above the entrance arch is an ornate belt course and nearby are two lancet windows 151 153 Another entrance is in the eastern right portion of the north facade 153 Between the two entrances is the ambulatory with two tiers of window groupings each with a rose window above a pair of lancet windows The lower section has three sets of windows while the upper clerestory section has five sets of windows Vertical buttresses which separate each window grouping end in finials above the roofline 151 153 Nave Edit The nave foreground looking toward the chancel background The Gothic themed nave was inspired by Albi Cathedral France 154 and measures 100 feet 30 m high 89 feet 27 m wide and 215 feet 66 m long 21 155 The width between the overhanging clerestory walls is 60 feet 18 m 154 155 139 The low wide form of the nave is inspired by those of southern French and Spanish churches 156 The nave has a metal roof whose base is surrounded by a shallow arcade 133 The nave s interior contains a finish of Indiana limestone the ceilings of its vaults are lined with Guastavino terracotta tiles and its floor is made of marble 155 Three main vertical sections which are split by buttresses comprise the nave s eastern and western walls 133 each of which has five architectural bays along the portion of the nave adjacent to the aisles each bay contains a pointed arch window 48 150 157 Above the stained glass windows of each bay is a triforium gallery with three colonettes followed by two adjacent lancet windows in the clerestory and topped with a rose window 133 157 158 Pointed arches resting on piers that contain engaged columns support each of the clerestory bays and serve as the bases for the ribs under the vaulted ceiling 155 The engaged columns are surmounted by Corinthian capitals that are decorated with scenes from the Book of Jeremiah The ceilings of the vaults underneath the triforium galleries are faced with Guastavino tile 157 and contain lighting 159 View of the galleries above the nave looking south The Trompeta Majestatis organ on the eastern wall can be seen at left Above the clerestory the nave s ceiling is eight stories high 160 161 It consists of several vaults each of which is divided into four segments by diagonally interlocking transverse ribs that do not provide structural support 157 Eight iron lanterns hang from the transverse ribs and descend lower than the level of the triforium gallery 159 The vaults contain a finish of acoustic Guastavino tiles which are mostly gray 157 The tiles above the chancel and the nave s northernmost two bays are brown because a sealant that was applied in 1953 to increase the organ s acoustical reach has turned yellow over time 159 The nave was built with a seating capacity of either 2 400 21 2 408 68 or 2 500 42 The ground level contains 38 rows of oaken pews that have Gothic decoration five additional rows of pews used to exist at the front of the nave 159 Two seating galleries overhang the southern portion of the nave 159 160 The lower gallery is made of carved wood has rows of oaken pews on a downward slope and contains a wooden ceiling with nine lamps The upper gallery is also made of carved wood and contains oaken pews on a slope but there is no canopy above it 162 The upper gallery is illuminated with four lanterns that are similar to the eight above the main section of the nave Behind the southern wall are six double tiered niches with stone sculptures of ministers and Jacob Epstein s sculpture Christ in Majesty The Trompeta Majestatis organ projects from the wall beneath the niches 163 Chancel ambulatory and apse Edit The chancel The chancel is directly north of the nave slightly raised above it and separated from the nave by a limestone railing with 20 quatrefoil medallions The western portion of the rail contains a pulpit with a wooden canopy and three carved limestone blocks 159 164 A labyrinth composed of three types of marble it was inspired by a similar design at Chartres Cathedral and is inlaid in the middle of the chancel floor The labyrinth is flanked on both sides are four rows of oaken choir stalls with carvings of Psalms texts 159 165 To the north behind the choir stalls is the organ console 165 A communion table made of Caen stone is near the back of the chancel in the center behind which is a baptismal pool 165 162 The back of the chancel contains a convex polygonal wall that includes seven bays each with three vertical tiers that are a few feet above the corresponding tiers in the nave The lowest tier contains pointed arches with an elaborate stone chancel screen the middle tier contains cusped arches with colonettes and the top tier serves as the clerestory 159 Each of the three center bays behind the chancel screen has one window group on the lower tier each of which has two lancet windows topped by a rose window and is divided by vertical buttresses The apse clerestory the upper section of the ambulatory is recessed slightly inward The upper section s fenestration is similar in form each window grouping contains a rose window above a pair of lancet windows but the window groupings are on five sides of the polygon 151 153 The vertical piers of the chancel wall converge above the clerestory level creating an apse above the chancel and ambulatory 162 Narthex Edit The chapel The narthex which was designed in the late Gothic style with a Romanesque layout 148 is directly south of the nave and can be accessed from the church s West Portal The narthex is split into four vaults that have Guastavino tiled ceilings that are supported by simple limestone columns 148 155 A stone spiral staircase on the west side of the narthex directly south of the West Portal leads to the basement 155 There are two grisaille windows and one rose window on each of the western and eastern sides of the narthex 158 The eastern wall has four 16th century lancet windows that were previously in the Park Avenue Baptist Church they are the only windows in Riverside Church that were not built specifically for the church 148 157 Stairs leading both upward and downward are on the eastern side of the narthex and a mortuary chapel is on the northeastern corner 157 The mortuary chapel is known as the Gethsemane Chapel but prior to 1959 it was called the Christ Chapel 155 b Chapel Edit The chapel to the south of the narthex which since 1959 has been known as the Christ Chapel 148 163 b was inspired by the Basilica of Saints Nazarius and Celsus in France 148 Its design was inspired by the pointed Romanesque nave at Carcassonne Cathedral The design which was described by architectural historian Andrew Dolkart as earlier than Gothic is intended to give the impression the rest of the sanctuary was built after the chapel 139 The chapel is subdivided into four bays and has a barrel vaulted ceiling with Guastavino tiles and the walls and floor have a limestone finish The southern wall which is adjacent to the MLK Wing has four arched back lit stained glass windows one in each bay Double doors to the west lead to Riverside Drive and a passage to the south leads to the MLK Wing 163 There are engaged columns on the north and south walls between each of the four bays and eight lanterns hang from the columns 167 The eastern end of the chapel contains an altar four steps above the chapel s main level There is a lectern to the right of the altar and a pulpit to the left 167 168 Several sculpted representations are above the altar 168 Behind the altar are a baptismal pool and a reredos which are accessed through an arched opening An alcove to the narthex is north of the altar 167 Tower and carillon Edit The bell tower seen from the east The 392 foot 119 m tower was named after Laura Spelman Rockefeller the mother of John D Rockefeller Jr 42 44 52 The tower contains 21 usable floors which include 80 classrooms and office rooms 21 69 169 There are four elevators of which two rise only to the 10th floor whereas the other two rise to the 20th floor 167 169 The 20 floor elevators which rise 355 feet 108 m were described in 1999 as the world s tallest elevators inside a church 134 Two staircases ascend from ground level one on the western side of the tower ends at the ninth floor and the one on the eastern side continues to the carillon 167 Balconies are at the southern corners on the 8th floor and on all sides of the 10th floor except the north side 161 The tower s main entrance is on the western elevation of the tower s base and is flanked by projecting vertical piers see Facade Seven arched niches each containing one statue of a king are above the main entrance A large rose window is above the statuary grouping 133 The apex of the tower is fitted with aircraft warning lights 134 Above the tenth floor are five tiers of window arrangements on each floor the higher tiers become progressively narrower From bottom to top the successive tiers have two three four and five windows on each side There are narrow canopied niches in each corner of the tower with one statue inside each niche At the top of the tower is a conical metal roof 151 153 Tower stories Edit Most of the tower s stories have plaster floors steel doors steel window frames and iron lighting fixtures hanging from each ceiling There are elevator lobbies with vaulted ceilings on several stories of the tower On the stories that contain common spaces including the ninth and tenth floors the floors are finished with stone terrazzo and wood and are fitted with wooden doors Several spaces in the tower have been used by outside entities who carpeted floors and installed lighting fixtures in some office rooms 161 Originally the fourth through fourteenth floors were occupied by Riverside Church s school while the fifteenth floor and above contained staff and clergy offices as well as spaces for group activities 160 The second floor connects to the nave s lower seating gallery while the third floor leads to the upper seating gallery The fourth through eighth floors are below the height of the nave s ceiling these housed the nursery junior high and high school departments of the church s school The ninth and tenth floors housed the double story school kitchen school offices and storage rooms over the nave 160 161 The ninth floor also houses a library and there is wooden furniture in the kitchen and library 161 The main structure s roof is above the tenth floor and the tower rises independently above that point 160 161 The eleventh through fourteenth floors originally contained the church s elementary school while the fifteenth and sixteenth floors respectively housed the young people s meeting room and the social room 160 These floors were later converted into office space and several floors were subdivided and leased out 161 The seventeenth through twentieth floors include meeting rooms and the seventeenth floor also contains offices The twenty first floor includes the carilloneur s studio and the twenty second floor is devoted to mechanical space 160 161 Carillon Edit The 23rd floor of the tower contains a three level belfry 167 that houses a carillon whose final complement of 74 bronze bells which at the time of its construction the largest carillon of bells in the world includes the 20 ton 122 inch diameter 3 1 m bourdon the world s largest tuned bell 69 170 Though other carillons with more bells have been commissioned c Riverside Church s carillon is still the largest in the world by aggregate weight the bells and associated mechanisms weigh a combined 500 000 pounds 230 000 kg 69 144 The bells themselves are cited as weighing approximately 100 short tons 89 long tons 91 t 173 or over 100 short tons 174 175 Of the carillon s bells 53 were made for the original Park Avenue church by English founders Gillett amp Johnston 52 69 161 and another 19 were made for Riverside Church when it opened 69 161 Two bells were added in 1955 and 58 treble bells were replaced by bell founders Van Bergen 161 The bells were replaced again by Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 2004 161 The bells can reportedly be heard from up to 8 miles 13 km from the tower 67 69 The bourdon sounds one octave lower than other bourdons 176 175 A mechanical power room and control room are in the belfry with the clavier cabin at the top above the carillon 177 Due to the weight of the carillon the heaviest steel beams used in the construction of Riverside Church were used in the tower The north facade which overhangs the nave is supported by a single cross truss that weighs 60 short tons 54 long tons 54 t 169 Outside the carillon the tower s facade has ornate Neo Gothic detailing that includes features such as gargoyles 151 153 On top of the carillon is a public observation deck 144 177 the deck was closed after the September 11 2001 attacks due to security concerns 144 177 but the church resumed tours in January 2020 178 Cloister passageway Edit The cloister passageway leads from the southern portion of the nave to Claremont Avenue in the east It has four pointed arch bays each with a Corinthian style colonette topped by a grisaille window opening on the south wall 151 152 The north and south walls also contain stained glass windows the northern wall s windows are artificially illuminated Inside the cloister passageway are five vaults which are illuminated by six lanterns 177 The entrance to the passageway is a small two story structure with two arched doorways facing Claremont Avenue and a set of double doors facing a short wheelchair ramp to the south The top of the cloister entrance s eastern facade contains three niches with figures of Faith Hope and Charity and the southeastern corner contains a figure of Maaseiah 152 179 A gift shop is adjacent to the cloister passageway and sculptures of the church s architects and builder are above the doorway leading to the tower s base 177 Martin Luther King Jr Wing Edit View from Riverside Drive at dusk The Martin Luther King Jr MLK Wing is a seven story annex south of the main structure and facing 120th Street along the southern boundary of the plot 87 177 The long arm of this L shaped building lies north south adjacent to Riverside Drive and the short arm lies west east next to 120th Street The MLK Wing connects to the original church building to the north and the Stone Gym to the east The area between the MLK Wing and the cloister forms a small courtyard or garth which is enclosed on the eastern side by a metal fence 177 Inside the wing are children s chapels space for the school a rooftop recreation area space for a radio station community areas including a gymnasium and assembly room and a basement with a parking lot 75 87 180 The structure which was designed by Collens Willis and Beckonert and built by Vermilea Brown 75 181 is a simplified version of Allen and Collens original church design and was perceived as being modern Gothic 181 The building was known as the South Wing until 1985 when it was renamed for civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr 91 115 Facade Edit The facade is clad with Indiana limestone the foundation is made of stone and concrete and the structure is supported by a steel frame The main entrance is through the chapel doors on Riverside Drive to the west there are also entrances to the basement from 120th Street 177 The basement first and second floors of the western facade contains eight architectural bays each with one small lancet window which are recessed between projecting buttresses and below a set of arches The two outermost bays project slightly outward and do not contain recessed arches The section of the MLK Wing above the second floor is set back from Riverside Drive and the windows on the third fourth fifth and sixth floors are also recessed between buttressed arches The seventh floor windows are flush with the buttresses The two outermost bays have two sets of windows rather than a single window on each floor and project slightly outward 149 The wing s southern and eastern facades are designed in a similar fashion to the upper portion of the western facade the seventh floor windows are flush with the buttresses while the windows below are in recessed arched bays The southern facade contains eight window bays six of which are recessed There are no windows into the first and second floors on the westernmost four bays of the southern facade but the eastern four bays do have windows into these floors On the far eastern portion of the southern facade are two pointed arched openings that lead to the church s underground parking garage see Basement 182 The eastern facade is separated into two sections the section at the end of the wing s short arm contains four recessed window bays The section next to the north south axis of the L contains six window bays four of which are recessed 182 Interior Edit The northern arm of the MLK Wing s first floor includes the South Hall Lobby which has a two story high coffered ceiling that is supported by a pointed arch arcade and its walls are made of gray plaster To the south of the lobby lie an elevator bank and an auditorium called the South Hall The South Hall s walls are made of wood paneling below limestone and it has nine stained glass lancet windows on the western side To the east of the auditorium are two mezzanine levels that lie below the South Hall s ceiling while a sealed tunnel leading to the Interchurch Center across 120th Street is also accessible from the auditorium 183 The third to seventh floors include classrooms except for the fifth floor which contains offices 87 180 183 The hallway floors are made of terrazzo and individual rooms have resilient flooring except for the fifth floor rooms which contain carpeted rooms and each level has dropped ceilings 183 Chapels for children are on the third floor s southwestern corner and on the sixth floor s southern side 87 183 The roof contains a solarium and a play area 87 184 Stone Gym Edit Stone Gym center MLK Wing left and tower center right The Stone Gymnasium is a 1 1 2 story English Gothic building at 120th Street and Claremont Avenue east of the Martin Luther King Jr Wing The gym was built in 1912 to a design by Louis E Jallade and was originally used by the Union Theological Seminary Its architectural details include a facade of schist with limestone decoration and a metal hip roof 91 The structure measures five bays long on the eastern facade and one bay wide on the southern and northern facades 184 In 1957 Rockefeller donated the building to the church and five years later it reopened as a gymnasium and community facility 91 92 The building s interior contains a basketball court with synthetic flooring and there are offices and lockers in its northern end 91 Basement Edit Riverside Church s basement includes several modern amenities such as a 250 seat movie theater and a gymnasium with a full size basketball court 134 The section of the basement under the nave has a double height ceiling an assembly hall is on the southern side of this space while the gymnasium is on the northern side The assembly hall has a stone floor and walls and there are six arched stained glass windows on the eastern wall and one rectangular stained glass window on the south wall as well as cabinets that contain two Heinrich Hofmann paintings see Paintings It also has a wooden ceiling that is supported by stone arches with lanterns suspended from the ceiling and a stage in the northern portion A kitchen is east of the stage and a corridor runs adjacent to the western wall of the assembly room and gymnasium 167 The basement originally included a four lane bowling alley that was adjacent to the assembly floor 134 167 It was later removed 134 and converted into storage space 167 There is a two story 150 space parking lot 75 183 underneath the MLK Wing 87 134 Organs EditThe two Riverside Church organs are located in the chancel and the seating gallery 185 The chancel organ is the 14th largest in the world as of 2017 update 186 187 It was furnished in 1930 by Hook and Hastings 185 188 and was originally criticized as mediocre 188 Aeolian Skinner built an organ console in the chancel in 1948 and replaced the chancel organ in 1953 1954 185 and the ceiling above the chancel and the front of the nave was coated with sealant to improve the chancel s acoustic qualities 159 The chancel organ was opened with a concert in March 1955 with a concert by Virgil Fox and the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra attended by 3000 people 189 In 1964 another Aeolian Skinner organ was installed within the eastern wall of the nave s seating gallery three years later Anthony A Bufano installed a five manual console for the gallery organ 185 M P Moller built another stop for the gallery organ the Trompeta Majestatis in 1978 163 185 Two years later the chancel organ received a new principal chorus with the addition of the Grand Chorus division In the 1990s the console was rewired the chancel organ was cleaned and the ceiling was covered with ten layers of sealant 185 The Director of Music and organist is Christopher Johnson as of 2019 update 190 Past organists at the Riverside Church include Virgil Fox 1946 1965 191 Frederick Swann 1957 1982 192 John Walker 1979 1992 193 and Timothy Smith 1992 2008 194 Art and sculpture EditPaintings Edit Heinrich Hofmann Christ in Gethsemane 1886 Paintings by Heinrich Hofmann that were purchased by Rockefeller Jr and donated to the church in November 1930 are displayed in the building 66 Christ in the Temple 1871 and Christ and the Young Rich Man 1889 are displayed in the assembly hall beneath the nave and are usually locked within the cabinets there 167 Hofmann s Christ in Gethsemane 1890 is displayed the Gethsemane chapel 153 Stained glass Edit Riverside Church s main building contains 51 stained glass windows excluding small grisaille windows 158 These were created in a mosaic style which was becoming more popular at the time of the church s construction 48 Of these 34 windows are in the nave most of them include religious iconography Generally the richly colored windows are on the building s western side which is considered the light side while those with muted colors are on the eastern dark side 158 French glassmakers Jacques Simon from Reims Cathedral and Charles Lorin from Chartres Cathedral were hired to create the glass for the clerestory windows in the nave 48 150 157 Lorin designed the stained glass windows on the western side of the clerestory while Simon designed those on the eastern side Both sets of windows depict general religious and governmental themes and also incorporate secular iconography and depictions of non Christians 157 The clerestory windows closely resemble those at Chartres and include a rose with lancet windows 48 150 The other windows in the nave were created by Boston based firm Reynolds Francis and Rohnstock and depict 138 scenes with both religious and non religious contexts 48 157 The three groups of stained glass windows in the apse 48 and the nine stained glass windows in the South Hall were created by Harry Wright Goodhue 183 Mosaics Edit Gregor T Goethals created two mosaics for the fourth and seventh floors of the MLK Wing The fourth floor mosaic depicts events described in the Old Testament while the seventh floor mosaic depicts the Creation story 183 Sculpted elements Edit Exterior elements Edit Front doorway at the base of the tower At the bottom are archivolts directly under the arch tympanum and jambs bottom to either side of the doors At the top is the circular rose window and niches with the sculptures of seven kings The building s most prominent sculptural details are on the Riverside Drive facade The main entrance beneath the tower is topped with five concentric archivolts with sculptures of Jesus s followers and prophets inlaid within each section 45 The third arch of the main entrance has depictions of philosophers including Ralph Waldo Emerson Immanuel Kant and Pythagoras while the second arch depicts scientists including Albert Einstein Charles Darwin and Hippocrates 45 50 Other figures depict the months of the year 147 The columns framing the door jambs beneath the archivolts are decorated with capitals and gargoyles at the top and bottom and a single figure in the middle In the tympanum above the doors and below the archivolts is a figure of Christ seated which is flanked by the symbols of the Evangelists 133 146 When Riverside Church was completed there was controversy over the inclusion of Einstein a living Jewish man because the other figures represented people who had since died 150 195 According to the publication Church Monthly during construction the committee tasked with the church s iconography had proposed depicting 20 scientists not including Einstein on the facade 195 The faculty however unanimously decided Einstein should be included because he was indisputably one of 14 leading scientists of all time 150 The chapel entrance on Riverside Drive south of the main entrance contains two archivolts that are supported by two sets of columns The archivolts depict symbols of the zodiac and the second archivolt contains an elaborate decorative molding A tympanum relief below the archivolts depicts the Virgin Mary flanked by two angels who are mirror images of each other 133 146 Sculpted elements are also placed within niches that are spread across the church s facade Above the main entrance on the western facade are sculptures of seven kings 133 Statues are also included in the tower s niches 151 153 as well as in niches on the facade of the cloister entrance to the east 152 179 The facade also has gargoyles which are outside the carillon near the top of the tower 151 153 The northern section of the nave s roof contains Angel of the Resurrection a bronze statue of a trumpeter atop a pedestal 133 Interior elements Edit The carvings inside the church correspond to the respective uses of the areas in which they are sited For instance the 20 quatrefoil medallions inscribed on the chancel railing depict the typical interests emphases activities rites and ceremonies that are conducted within the chancel 165 Around the pulpit are sculptures of ten Old Testament prophets 159 165 Above the nave the southern wall of the upper seating gallery contains multi tiered niches whose upper tiers contain sculpted figures of ministers The two central niches contain a cast of Epstein s gilded plaster sculpture Christ in Majesty 163 There seven paneled chancel screen at the back of the chancel is carved from Caen stone 159 It depicts influential figures including the composer Johann Sebastian Bach the U S president Abraham Lincoln the artist Michelangelo the social reformer Florence Nightingale and the author Booker T Washington 48 162 The panels depict physicians teachers prophets humanitarians missionaries reformers and lovers of beauty 162 196 Above the doorway between the cloister and the tower base are statues of architects Henry Pelton and Charles Collens as well as general contractor Robert Eidlitz 177 Carving details Stone carving detail Several sculptures like these adorn the church Sculpted figures inside the gallery Sculpture Edit When the Martin Luther King Jr Wing was built Jacob Epstein s sculpture Madonna and Child which was commissioned in 1927 was placed in the courtyard between the MLK Wing and the cloistered entrance 183 197 198 Social services Edit Volunteers from the Riverside Church Prison Ministry Riverside Church was conceived as a complex social services center from the outset the building has meeting rooms classrooms a daycare center a kindergarten library auditorium and a gymnasium It was described by The New York Times in 2008 as a stronghold of activism and political debate throughout its 75 year history influential on the nation s religious and political landscapes 124 Riverside Church provides various social services including a food bank barber training clothing distribution a shower project and confidential HIV tests and HIV counseling 199 In 2007 The New York Times said Riverside Church has frequently been likened to the Vatican for America s mainstream Protestants 123 Social justice ministries Edit Charity and shelter Edit Riverside Church s prisoner related ministries Riverside s Prison Ministry and Family Advocacy Program conduct worship services in the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision help prisoners and their families links prisoners to their communities workshops support groups and events and lobby for prison reform and humane legislation 200 Riverside s Coming Home ministry which was founded in 1985 helps ex prisoners after they have been released 201 The prison ministries began in 1971 when the Council on Christian Social Relations created a prison reform and rehabilitation task force 202 It also deals with homelessness in New York City 201 Riverside s advocacy of the homeless originated from a similar ministry the Clothing Room and Food Pantry which was a subdivision of the Social Services Department The church began sheltering homeless people overnight from 1984 until 1994 when it was closed due to the decreasing homeless population and a staff shortage 203 Riverside participated in the Sanctuary movement during the 1980s and was among numerous congregations nationwide that sheltered and assisted undocumented immigrants 204 As part of the New Sanctuary Coalition volunteers at Riverside Church assist detained asylum seekers and those on parole from immigration detention 205 In 2011 as part of the Occupy Faith movement Riverside Church donated tents to Occupy Wall Street protesters and sheltered them during cold and inclement weather and after the evacuation of Zuccotti Park 206 Social and cultural Edit Riverside s Pride Parade Float Riverside Church s LGBT ministry is named Maranatha 207 208 It was founded in 1978 in response to growing demand from gay and lesbian congregants 209 Maranatha hosts several activities workshops and events and marches annually in the NYC Pride March 209 210 In the 1980s when the HIV AIDS epidemic in New York City was at its peak there was a backlash against Maranatha because the LGBT community was negatively associated with the epidemic These events led to the founding of the separate HIV AIDS ministry 211 which hosts a support forum provides testing counseling and referral programs and collaborates with several other programs 199 Riverside Church s African Fellowship and Ministry sponsors educational forums about issues facing Africa advocates on behalf of African diasporas with an active Facebook page 199 The Sharing and Densford Funds advocate on behalf of Native Americans in the United States 212 Other ministries at Riverside include support groups for South Africans and for Hispanic and Latino Americans 199 Other activism Edit Riverside Church has several other social justice ministries The environmentalist Beloved Earth ministry has a focus on climate change activism 213 The Wellbotics ministry helps the families of cancer patients 214 The church also has several pacifist task forces including the Anti Death Penalty Task Force and the Overcoming Violence task force which is dedicated to fostering dialogue with the New York City Police Department 199 Riverside Church also participates in the National Religious Campaign Against Torture 215 Former programming Edit When it was completed in 1959 Riverside Church s MLK Wing included space for a radio station that was planned by the church 87 The Federal Communications Commission FCC granted the church an FM broadcasting license in 1960 216 and the following year the church started operating the radio station WRVR later WKHK now WLTW which broadcast on 106 7 MHz 69 217 218 WRVR originally broadcast from the church s carillon but was relocated to the Empire State Building in 1971 to increase the range of its broadcast signal WRVR which was originally a noncommercial station broadcast sermons and programming from cultural and higher education institutions in New York City 219 WRVR incurred an annual net loss for Riverside Church and in 1971 it was turned into a limited commercial operation which also failed to pay for itself 220 The church decided to sell its radio station in 1975 221 222 and the sale was finalized the following year 220 223 Starting in November 1976 Riverside Church hosted the Riverside Dance Festival which was a continuation of previous dance ministries hosted by the church and normally offered 34 weeks of programming from over 60 dance companies 224 The program ended in June 1987 because of a 900 000 funding shortfall 225 A link to 106 7 FM s days as Riverside Church owned WRVR remains on WLTW in the present day A recorded sermon from Riverside Church airs on the station from 5 00 to 6 00 a m on Sunday mornings as part of WLTW s non music public affairs programming 226 Called senior ministers Edit Harry Emerson Fosdick While Riverside Church is interdenominational it is associated with the American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ 227 In chronological order the called senior ministers at Riverside Church have been Harry Emerson Fosdick 1925 1945 24 79 Robert J McCracken 1946 1967 81 228 Ernest T Campbell 1968 1976 95 100 William Sloane Coffin 1977 1987 103 108 James A Forbes 1989 2007 111 122 Brad R Braxton 2008 2009 124 125 Amy Butler 2014 2019 229 230 Adriene Thorne 2022 Present 231 Notable speakers EditOn April 4 1967 a year before his assassination Martin Luther King Jr gave a speech called Beyond Vietnam A Time to Break Silence in which he voiced his opposition to the Vietnam War at Riverside Church 232 233 234 The Rev Jesse Jackson gave the eulogy at Jackie Robinson s funeral service in 1972 235 In 1991 Nelson Mandela anti apartheid activist and later South African president spoke at Riverside following his release from prison 236 Secretary General of the United Nations Kofi Annan spoke there after the September 11 2001 attacks 237 and former U S president Bill Clinton spoke at the church in 2004 238 239 Speakers at Riverside Church have also included theologians Paul Tillich who taught nearby 240 and Reinhold Niebuhr 236 civil rights activists Cesar Chavez 236 and Desmond Tutu 236 241 Cuban president Fidel Castro 242 the 14th Dalai Lama 122 and Abdullah II of Jordan 122 See also Edit Architecture portal Christianity portal New York City portal NRHP portalList of Baptist churches List of carillons in the United States List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan above 110th Street National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan above 110th StreetReferences EditNotes Edit These firms included McKim Mead amp White Allen amp Collens Henry C Pelton Ralph Adams Cram and York and Sawyer 36 a b There are two chapels that have been known as the Christ Chapel the mortuary chapel which was once known as the Christ Chapel and the main chapel which was the second to receive the name Christ Chapel 166 The carillon at Hyechon College in Daejeon South Korea contains 78 bells 171 Kirk in the Hills in Bloomfield Township Oakland County Michigan contains 77 bells 172 Citations Edit a b Rojas Rick July 11 2019 Pastor s Exit Exposes Cultural Rifts at a Leading Liberal Church The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on July 11 2019 Retrieved July 12 2019 a b c d Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000 p 1 a b c National Register of Historic Places Weekly Lists for 2012 PDF U S National Park Service December 28 2012 Archived PDF from the original on December 28 2019 Retrieved February 15 2020 a b c d e f g Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000 p 2 Pendo 1957 p 9 Pendo 1957 p 22 Nevins A 1940 John D Rockefeller The Heroic Age of American Enterprise John D Rockefeller The Heroic Age of American Enterprise C Scribner s Sons p 455 Archived from the original on May 16 2022 Retrieved November 3 2019 Paris et al 2004 p 18 Pendo 1957 p 40 Fifth Av Baptists Sell Church Home Property Long in the Market Is Purchased by Michael Dreicer The New York Times May 30 1919 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 New Apartment For Park Avenue Two Large Parcels Acquired at the Southeast Corner of Sixty third Street The New York Times November 6 1920 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 Rockefeller Aids New Church Fund Offers to Add 50 Per Cent to Amount Raised by Fifth Av Baptist Congregation The New York Times May 8 1917 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 Final Service Held In 5th Av Church Dr Cornelius Woelfkin Reviews Baptist Congregation s History of 91 Years The New York Times April 3 1922 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 Rockefeller Class In New Home Today Park Avenue Baptist Church Will Occupy Edifice of 64th Street for the First Time The New York Times April 9 1922 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 Dolkart 1998 pp 70 71 a b c Dolkart 1998 p 72 Dr Woelfkin Quits Park Avenue Pulpit Resigns After 40 Years in Baptist Ministry 13 of Which Were at His Present Post The New York Times May 11 1925 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 a b c d Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000 p 3 a b c d e Paris et al 2004 p 19 a b c d Dolkart 1998 p 73 a b c d e f g h Stern Robert A M Gilmartin Patrick Mellins Thomas 1987 New York 1930 Architecture and Urbanism Between the Two World Wars New York Rizzoli p 154 ISBN 978 0 8478 3096 1 OCLC 13860977 Dr Fosdick Called By Park Av Baptists Insists On Changes Stipulates That Church Shall Not Demand Baptism by Immersion The New York Times May 16 1925 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 Miller 1985 p 162 a b Dr Fosdick Accepts Call Will Create A Liberal Church The New York Times May 29 1925 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 Dolkart 1998 p 383 note 157 Pendo 1957 p 49 Miller 1985 p 201 Dolkart 1998 p 383 note 157 a b Dolkart 1998 p 1 a b c d e f Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000 p 4 a b c Dolkart 1998 p 74 Rockefeller Jr Buys Plot Uptown Block on Morningside Drive Considered Logical Location for Edifice Asked by Fosdick The New York Times May 26 1925 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 Fosdick s Church to Go Up on Drive Rockefeller Exchanges Morningside Plot for Site Near Grant s Tomb The New York Times July 25 1925 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 Rockefeller Adds to Plot for Church Acquires Twelve Story Apartment House on Riverside Drive Making Frontage of 250 Feet The New York Times August 8 1925 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 a b Dolkart 1998 p 75 Dolkart 1998 pp 75 76 Miller 1985 p 204 Straton Criticizes Fosdick s Church Thinks It Means Rockefellers Hereafter Will Have Their Own Sanctuary The New York Times June 8 1925 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 Chappell George S T Square November 29 1930 The Sky Line The New Yorker Vol 6 p 82 a b Dolkart 1998 p 76 a b c Rockefeller Plans 4 000 000 Church On Riverside Drive 400 Foot Gothic Campanile Will House the Carillon Close to Grant s Tomb The New York Times February 12 1926 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 a b c d e Dolkart 1998 p 77 Rockefeller Plan for Church is Filed 4 000 000 Edifice of Park Av Baptists Will Rise on Riverside Drive The New York Times November 2 1926 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 a b c d e f Baptists Approve 4 000 000 Plans For Fosdick Church Razing Starts on the Site for Edifice to Be Built to Endure for Generations The New York Times December 27 1926 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 4 2019 Retrieved November 4 2019 a b c d e f g h i j Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000 p 5 a b Carder 1930 p 5 a b Carder 1930 p 9 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000 p 6 a b Cornerstone Laid For Fosdick Church Hundreds Witness Ceremony in Drive at Foundation of 4 000 000 Edifice The New York Times November 21 1927 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 a b c d e Dolkart 1998 p 80 a b Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000 p 12 a b c d Largest Chimes for Park Avenue Church Democrat and Chronicle April 24 1928 p 4 Archived from the original on May 16 2022 Retrieved November 8 2019 via newspapers com Rockefeller Pays Visit to Ruins at Church Fire New York Daily News December 23 1928 p 318 Archived from the original on May 16 2022 Retrieved November 5 2019 via newspapers com Night Fire Sweeps Riverside Church As 100 000 Look On Flames Raging In Rockefeller s Riverside Church The New York Times December 22 1928 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 4 2019 Retrieved November 4 2019 Fire Guts Rockefeller Church Huge Edifice Reduced to Black Shell Brooklyn Citizen December 22 1928 p 1 Archived from the original on May 16 2022 Retrieved November 5 2019 via newspapers com Rockefeller Church To Resume Building Work to Proceed on Burned Riverside Edifice as Soon as Insurance is Settled The New York Times December 24 1928 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 4 2019 Retrieved November 4 2019 Miller 1985 p 208 Seek Gifts to Build Riverside Church Trustees Planning Endowment Fund Say Contributions Will Be Welcomed The New York Times February 19 1929 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 4 2019 Retrieved November 4 2019 Mortuary Chapel in Riverside Church Rockefeller Approves Feature for New Edifice of Park Avenue Congregation The New York Times March 23 1929 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 4 2019 Retrieved November 4 2019 First Unit Opened In Riverside Church Pre Communion Service Is Held in Assembly Hall of New Rockefeller Edifice The New York Times October 3 1929 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 3 2019 Retrieved November 3 2019 Miller 1985 p 205 Fosdick Church Drops Baptist From Title Changes Name to the Riverside Church The New York Times December 12 1929 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 Will Hoist 22 Ton Bell Riverside Church to Complete Carillon on Tuesday The New York Times September 7 1930 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 6 2019 Retrieved November 6 2019 Memorial Tower Opened Riverside Church Sunday School Classes Held There The New York Times September 29 1930 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 a b Paris et al 2004 p 137 a b Reveal Rockefeller Gift Riverside Church Executives Tell of Receiving Two Paintings The New York Times November 1 1930 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 6 2019 Retrieved November 6 2019 a b Riverside Carillon is Heard Miles Away Notes of 72 Bells Ring Out as Denominational Leaders Laud Spirit of Church The New York Times February 12 1931 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 8 2019 Retrieved November 8 2019 a b Riverside Church Puts in Pew Phones Equipment Available to Aid Hearing in All Parts of New Edifice The New York Times September 27 1930 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 8 2019 Retrieved November 8 2019 a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Landmarks Preservation Commission 2000 p 7 a b c Dolkart 1998 p 81 Claremont Park to be Beautified Rockefeller to Pay 350 000 for Improvement of City Plot at Riverside Church The New York Times February 9 1932 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 a b Dolkart 1998 p 82 Claremont Park is Opened to Public Two Acre Tract on Riverside Drive Improved by Rockefeller at Cost of 315 000 The New York Times May 26 1934 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 Riverside Church Deeded Formal Transfer of Land by Rockefeller Is Placed on Record The New York Times June 16 1935 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 5 2019 Retrieved November 5 2019 a b c d e Dolkart 1998 p 83 a b Federal Writers Project 1939 New York City Guide New York Random House pp 387 389 ISBN 978 1 60354 055 1 Reprinted by Scholarly Press 1976 often referred to as WPA Guide to New York City Paris et al 2004 pp 67 70 Navy School Thanks Riverside Church The New York Times October 22 1945 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 8 2019 Retrieved November 8 2019 a b Fosdick to Quit Riverside Church Retirement Date Set for May 1946 Announcement Made at Joint Meeting of Deacons and Trustees Founder and Pastor of the Church Since 1930 The New York Times June 6 1945 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 8 2019 Retrieved November 8 2019 McDowell Rachel K March 28 1946 Riverside Church Names New Pastor in New Riverside Church Offices The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 8 2019 Retrieved November 8 2019 a b Riverside Church Installs Pastor New Riverside Church Pastor Installed The New York Times October 3 1946 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 8 2019 Retrieved November 8 2019 Paris et al 2004 pp 74 75 Paris et al 2004 p 34 Paris et al 2004 pp 43 44 Paris et al 2004 p 46 New 8 Story Wing Opens at Riverside The New York Times December 7 1959 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 9 2019 Retrieved November 9 2019 a b c d e f g h Dedicate Riverside Church Wing New York Daily News December 7 1959 p 165 Archived from the original on May 16 2022 Retrieved November 9 2019 via newspapers com Riverside Church Is Aroused By Trial Radio Aerial on Roof The New York Times January 9 1959 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 9 2019 Retrieved November 9 2019 Shepard Richard F December 28 1960 New FM Station on Air Here Jan 1 WRVR Will Be Sponsored by Riverside Church The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 9 2019 Retrieved November 9 2019 Riverside Church Acting on Merger Meets to Ratify Constitution of United Church of Christ 2d Consolidation Urged The New York Times December 8 1960 ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 9 2019 Retrieved November 9 2019 a b c d e f g National Park Service 2012 p 3 a b Paris et al 2004 p 255 Dugan George April 24 1967 Dr McCracken to Leave Pulpit After Two Decades at Riverside The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the 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Woman as Pastor The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 9 2019 Retrieved November 9 2019 Wedemeyer Dee August 15 1977 Riverside Church Vote Approves Coffin as Minister The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 9 2019 Retrieved November 9 2019 a b Dunning Jennifer November 7 1977 Dr Coffin Has a Lively First Service at Riverside The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 9 2019 Retrieved November 9 2019 a b Briggs Kenneth A December 31 1979 Coffin and His Liberal Pulpit Renew Legacy of Controversy The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on November 9 2019 Retrieved November 9 2019 a b Paris et al 2004 pp 106 107 McQuiston John T November 12 1987 Channing E Phillips Dies at 59 Minister and Civil Rights Leader The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Archived from the original on October 25 2020 Retrieved November 10 2019 Goldman Ari L July 20 1987 Coffin Resigns to Praise and 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Riverside Church Riverside Church The Riverside Church PDF Report New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission May 16 2000 Archived PDF from the original on March 16 2021 Retrieved November 11 2019 External links Edit Media related to Riverside Church at Wikimedia Commons Official website Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Riverside Church amp oldid 1135095206, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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