The Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is a large congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...

. The church was founded in 1808 as the Cedar Street Presbyterian Church

Cedar Street Presbyterian Church

Cedar Street Presbyterian Church also known as the Scotch Presbyterian Church on Cedar Street was a former Presbyterian church of the eighteenth century and nineteenth century located in the Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City....

  and has been located on Fifth Avenue at 55th Street

55th Street (Manhattan)

55th Street is a two-mile-long, one-way street traveling east to west across Midtown Manhattan.-Sutton Place South:*The route officially begins at Sutton Place South which is on a hill overlooking FDR Drive....

 in midtown Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan

Midtown Manhattan, or simply Midtown, is an area of Manhattan, New York City home to world-famous commercial zones such as Rockefeller Center, Broadway, and Times Square...

 since 1875. It has approximately 3,250 members from a variety of backgrounds.

The church has long been noted for its high standards in preaching and music, led by pastors such as John Hall

John Hall (Presbyterian pastor)

Reverend John Hall, D.D., L.L.D. was Pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City, from 1867 until he died in Bangor, Northern Ireland in 1898. The landmark New York church, which still stands today on Fifth Avenue at 55th Street, was built during his tenure.-Biography:Said of Dr...

 and musicians such as Lowell Mason

Lowell Mason

Lowell Mason was a leading figure in American church music, the composer of over 1600 hymn tunes, many of which are often sung today. His most well-known tunes include Mary Had A Little Lamb and the arrangement of Joy to the World...

, and it has been at the forefront of many fields, from the development of Sunday school

Sunday school

Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...

 to homeless advocacy.

“Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church is famed for its sloping auditorium, its fine acoustics, its old gas brackets

Gas lighting

Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...

 and reflectors. Instrumental in founding Princeton Theological Seminary

Princeton Theological Seminary

Princeton Theological Seminary is a theological seminary of the Presbyterian Church located in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey in the United States...

, Presbyterian Hospital (now New York Presbyterian Hospital) and many a mission church, this rich old house of God was once called the Cathedral of Presbyterianism.”

The Church operates a Theater Fellowship, which has produced Equity Showcase

Off-Off-Broadway

Off-Off-Broadway theatrical productions in New York City are those in theatres that are smaller than Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are often defined as theaters that have fewer than 100 seats, though the term can be used for any show in the New York City area that...

revivals of several plays. Members range from newcomers to successful Broadway professionals.

The Church's Center for Christian Studies includes classes in Art, Literature, Theology and Creative Writing. The Creative Writing class produces an annual spring coffeehouse, http://www.55thandbleecker.org, introducing audiences to prose, poetry and theatrical works by current and past students.