New York Avenue Presbyterian Church - Beyond A Building

Beyond A Building

Ultimately, though, it is what happened in this first church building and its 1951 successor that matters. The ministers of this church have repeatedly had the opportunity to speak truth to power. In addition to Adams, Jackson, and Lincoln, other Presidents of the United States attended services to hear their preaching, including William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Harrison, Dwight David Eisenhower, and Richard Milhous Nixon, as well as members of their Cabinets, Congress, and the Supreme Court.

President Lincoln worshiped regularly at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church during the American Civil War. Lincoln rented a pew for $50 a year. Lincoln and Rev. Gurley developed a relationship in which they frequently discussed theology. Gurley presided over the funeral of Lincoln's son, William Wallace Lincoln, in 1862, and then over the funeral of Lincoln himself in 1865. Rev. Gurley had an "insider's" perspective of Lincoln's faith, and reported it as follows:

"I have had frequent and intimate conversations with him on the Subject of the Bible and the Christian religion, when he could have had no motive to deceive me, and I considered him sound not only on the truth of the Christian religion but on all its fundamental doctrines and teachings. And more than that, in the latter days of his chastened and weary life, after the death of his son Willie, and his visit to the battlefield of Gettysburg, he said, with tears in his eyes, that he had lost confidence in everything but God, and that he now believed his heart was changed, and that he loved the Savior, and, if he was not deceived in himself, it was his intention soon to make a profession of religion."

The Rev. Peter Marshall preached many famous sermons from the church's pulpit during World War II. In the late 1940s, Marshall was appointed Senate chaplain. The book and feature film, A Man Called Peter, depict Marshall's memorable years at the church.

The Rev. Dr. George MacPherson Docherty preached a Lincoln Day sermon on February 7, 1954, to a congregation that included President Eisenhower. The sermon, titled "A New Birth of Freedom," is credited with prompting the U.S. Congress to amend the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag of the United States, inserting the phrase Lincoln used at Gettysburg, "under God."

At the invitation of Dr. Docherty, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke from New York Avenue's pulpit to warn about the consequences of the war in Vietnam. And, more recently, the church twice served as a host for the Christian Witness for Peace for Iraq in its efforts to call into question the war there.

Service to city and country and hospitality to all who enter this church are part and parcel of this place. Led by the Rev. Peter Marshall, the church opened its doors to the young men and women who streamed into Washington to fight or to support those who fought in World War II. NYAPC ministers, Dr. Docherty and the Rev. Jack E. McClendon, journeyed to Selma to march for civil rights with Dr. King. The church served as a haven for protestors of the Vietnam War and the center for publicity and public information for the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington in the spring of 1968. New York Avenue became a destination for prayer and comfort for many on September 11, 2001. And in January 2009, the church welcomed hundreds of the thousands of people who journeyed to the capital for President Barack Obama’s inauguration, providing food, drink, tours, and a warm place on a cold day—“a Godly pit-stop,” in the words of one visitor.

For many years, the church has hosted the Jewish High Holiday celebrations of Fabrangen Havurah. These services, which are free and open to all, annually draw hundreds from in and around the city.