RIVERSIDE CHURCH

Riverside Church



Riverside Church

Introduction

The Riverside Church stands as a beacon to the north of the island of Manhattan. In a city full of skyscrapers, this Gothic masterpiece still manages to excel in height. Actually, the Riverside Church is the tallest church in the United States and is ranked 26th in the list of the world's highest church. On the other hand, it is much more than a large structure as the Riverside Church has been the place of worship and sanctuary for generations of residents of Harlem. This church is known for its commitment and activism to the community as much as for its height.

This is a place of worship interfaith claiming both, the American Baptist Church and the United Church of Christ. The congregation was originally formed in lower Manhattan in 1841. Originally as a Baptist church, it became odd very quickly by its interracial and international split into two streams, one fundamentalist and the other reformist, in the early 20th century. The second stream, obtaining financial support from John D. Rockefeller, formed the project of creating a church dedicated to its values ??and support of causes related to social justice. Construction of the church began in December 1927. It was brutally interrupted by terrible internal scaffolding. The church was finally inaugurated on 5th October 1930 (Zikmund, 1987).

Riverside church is the place of social debates and political discussions. Pastor Martin Luther King spoke in 1967, at the Riverside Church in a sermon stating, "It is time to break the silence", therefore taking a stand against United States intervention in Vietnam. The church has also resonated with echoes of the voice of Nelson Mandela shortly after his release, Castro (in 1999, during one of his rare visits to the United States), and United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan also ...