The First Methodist Church
John Street, New York.
Published Date: 1873
Notes:
Written on border: "Nov. 1, 1873".
Printed on border: "Philip Embury, the first Methodist Preacher in America".
Digital ID: 801050
NYPL Call Number: PC NEW YC-Chu-(A-Z)
Methodist Episcopal:
1767, Rigging loft in Horse and Cart Street ( 120 William),
between John and Fair (Fulton) streets;
1768�, "Wesley Chapel" or "John Street," between Nassau and William streets
(the first Methodist church in America);
1817�, rebuilt;
1841, rebuilt smaller. 1789 "Forsyth Street"
("Second Street" and "Bowery") in Second (Forsyth), near Division Street;
1833, rebuilt;
1873, altered and cut down. 1797, "Duane Street"
("North Church," "North River Church," and "Hudson Church"), Barley (Duane),
between Hudson and Greenwich streets; abandoned and sold;
"Duane Church," its successor, 1863, Hudson, near Spring Street.
"Seventh Street" ("Two璏ile Stone," "Bowery Village"), a school house and room;
1795, Nicholas William, between Seventh and Eighth streets and Second and Third avenues;
1817, church built beside it with part of material of first church in John Street;
1830, removed; 1836�, Seventh Street, between Second and Third avenues.
1810, "Bedford Street" ("Greenwich Village"), corner of Bedford and Morton streets;
1830, enlarged;
1840, new building. 1810� "Allen Street" ("Fourth Street,")
between Delancey and Rivington streets;
1836�, rebuilt;
1888,, removed to Rivington between Ludlow and Orchard streets, and
named "Allen Street Memorial";
original church sold to and refitted by a Jewish synagogue. 1819,
"Willett Street," occupied a mission house leased of Presbyterians, Broome, near Lewis Street;
1826, Willett Street. 1820, "The Methodist Society" (Stillwellite), school room
in Chrystie Street, then church in . Chrystie, between Pump (Canal) and Hester streets;
eventually dissolved.
1824, a second church in "Sullivan Street" (Stillwellite), near Spring Street;
1830, joined the Methodist Protestant Church;
1839, sold and rebuilt in same street, near Bleecker;
1842, joined the Methodist Episcopal Church as "Sullivan Street";
1860, "Washington Square," Fourth Street between Sixth Avenue and Washington Square.
...The story of the John Street Church actually begins in Ireland, where Philip Embury, his wife,
Barbara Ruckle Heck (Embury's cousin), and her husband were converted to Methodism. Philip Embury
became one of Wesley's local preachers.
In 1760, a number of Irish Methodists, including the Emburys and the Hecks, immigrated to New York City.
Some of the group departed from Methodist ways, to Barbara Heck's distress. She persuaded Philip Embury
to begin preaching again, and in October 1766 he began holding regular services in his home.
The services soon outgrew the Embury home, and the Methodist Society began meeting in rented facilities;
first on Barrack Street and then on Horse and Cart (now William) Street. The latter was called
"The Old Rigging Loft" because the upper story was sometimes used to rig ship's sails.
Philip Embury was soon joined in the pulpit by Captain Thomas Webb, a British officer (actually with
lieutenant's rank) and a licensed Methodist lay preacher. By 1768, the congregation had outgrown the
rigging loft, and on March 30, 1768, two lots on nearby John Street were purchased. The first building
erected on this site was called Wesley Chapel and was dedicated on October 30, 1768. It was the first
permanent home of America's oldest continuous congegation.
A trustee, Thomas Taylor, wrote John Wesley about the chapel's construction and requested financial
help and spiritual leadership. In response, Wesley sent the first two Methodist missionaries, Joseph
Pilmore and Richard Boardman, to America. They were soon followed by others, most notably Francis Asbury.
The Hecks and Emburys left New York City in 1770, but the work at John Street continued. Francis Asbury
preached there numerous times, and early General Conferences held their sessions in the chapel.
A slave named Peter Williams was one of many African American members of Philip Embury's society. He
became sexton of Wesley Chapel and, with James Varick and others, formed what later became the Methodist
Episcopal Zion Church.
In 1817 the chapel was torn down to make way for a larger structure, dedicated in 1818. A third
(and smaller) edifice was erected in 1841 and is still in use today.
Points of interest at this Heritage Landmark:
The sanctuary dates from 1841 and the interior and furnishings remain much as they were in the
mid-nineteenth century.
Below the sanctuary, the Wesley Chapel Museum displays many artifacts from eighteenth and nineteenth
century American Methodist history in the city of New York. These include church record books, the
Wesley Clock (a gift of John Wesley, 1769), love feast cups, class meeting circular benches, the original
1785 altar rail, the original 1767 pulpit made by Philip Embury, and his owned signed Bible.
John Street United Methodist Church
New York, New York
Heritage Landmark of The United Methodist Church
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