Park Street Church

Park Street Church
The Park Street Church in Boston
Data
place	Boston , Massachusetts
builder	Peter Banner (architect), Benajah Young (head stonemason), Solomon Willard (carpenter)
Construction year	1809
height	66 m
Coordinates	42 ° 21 '24.9 "  N , 71 ° 3' 43.7"  W Coordinates: 42 ° 21 '24.9 "  N , 71 ° 3' 43.7"  W.

The Park Street Church , built in 1809, is a church building in Boston in the state of Massachusetts in the United States . It belongs to the local Conservative Congregational Christian Conference and is located on the corner of Tremont Street and Park Street in the Downtown Crossing district .

history

The Park Street Church in 1904

The Park Street Church is a historic part of the Freedom Trail . It was founded on February 27, 1809 by a group of 26 Boston citizens, most of whom had previously been members of the Old South Meeting House . The foundation stone was laid on May 1st of the same year, and by the end of the year the construction work was completed under the supervision of Peter Banner ( architect ), Benajah Young (head stonemason ) and Solomon Willard ( carpenter ). Banner borrowed several early pattern books for the design of the building , the final design of the building is said to be reminiscent of a London church built by Christopher Wren . The steeple reaches a height of 217  ft (66  m ) and is still a landmark that can be seen from afar. The steeple has been the terminus of Columbus Avenue and Tremont Street since the church was built . The building is adjacent to the historic Granary Burying Ground next door . The first service was held on January 10, 1810.

The church came to be known as Brimstone Corner , partly because of the missionary nature of the services and partly because of the large quantities of gunpowder stored there during the 1812 war.

Religious Influence

The Park Street Church has a long and strong tradition of mission linearization, evangelical teaching and application of the Bible on social issues and assigns a remarkable list of preachers on. Edward Dorr Griffin (1770-1837) was the first pastor of the church and attacked in a famous series of Sunday evening sermons the New Theology by Samuel Hopkins .

In 1816, Park Street Church and Old South Church formed the City Mission Society , a social service to support the poor in Boston. In 1826, Edward Beecher , brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and a respected abolitionist , pastor of Park Street Church. On July 4, 1829, William Lloyd Garrison gave his first public address against slavery with his Address to the Colonization Society in the church . From 1829 to 1831, Lowell Mason , a distinguished Christian composer , served in the church as a choirmaster and organist .

The song My Country, 'Tis of Thee , written by Samuel Francis Smith , was sung in the church for the first time on July 4, 1831 . The industrialist Benjamin E. Bates , who in Maine that bears his name Bates College was founded, was a teacher at the Sunday school and an active participant in the church in the mid-19th century. Gleason L. Archer , son of Suffolk University founder Gleason Archer, Sr., and a prominent follower and theologian of fundamentalist biblical interpretation , served as an assistant pastor from 1945 to 1948.

Park Street Church also claims to have founded an American mission on what was then the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii ), where a church still stands today. There, the Handel and Haydn Society originated, and began in 1949 at the same location of the first transcontinental Crusade of Billy Graham . The recognized theologian and co-founder of the New Evangelical Movement Harold J. Ockenga was a senior pastor from 1936 to 1969. During this time he was together with Billy Graham founder of the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and also co-founder of the Fuller Theological Seminary , the National Association of Evangelicals , the later World Relief and the Christian publication Christianity Today .

The role of the church in the present

Interior of the church (2007)

Even after 200 years, the church is still involved in current social projects. Among other things, Park Street Church supported the opening of the private Boston Trinity Academy high school in Hyde Park in 2002 to improve the education of residents in downtown Boston. Over 70% of the students have a scholarship , more than 50% belong to minorities . During the week there are many classes with English as a second language , but the school also offers English courses for international students and immigrants .

The church maintains and supports facilities for the homeless , such as the Boston Rescue Mission and Park Street's Starlight Ministry . In the area of ​​unwanted pregnancy , the Church works with the Daybreak Pregnancy Resource Center , among others . Through a facility called Alive in Christ , which is a subsidiary of Exodus International and represents conversion therapy, the church would like to “ help those who struggle against their homosexuality and seek Christian guidance ” (German: “ help those who fight against their homosexuality and Christian Looking for guidance ”).

Park Street is an international denomination with members from over 60 nations . The church attracts many churchgoers with good education at, especially those with an undergraduate degree ( undergraduate ) and a postgraduate degree ( graduate ) to the universities in the area of Boston. Park Street Church is a firm believer in the close relationship between education and faith, and therefore is involved in many educational institutions such as the Park Street Kids and Park Street School . The church is also a partner of Campus Crusade for Christ International , the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary .

The Park Street Church supported in 2010 with 200,000 US dollars a competition for social change.

February 27, 2009 was proclaimed Park Street Day by then Boston Mayor Menino on the occasion of the bicentenary of the church .

Leading pastor from 1811 until today

Portrait of Edward Beecher , Pastor of Park Street Church from 1826 to 1830; Drawing by Thomas Edwards , ca.1832

The Park Street Church in the 19th century

The following persons have held the office of Senior Minister since the existence of the Church :

Surname	Term of office
Edward D. Griffin	1811-1815
Sereno E. Dwight	1817-1826
Edward Beecher	1826-1830
Joel H. Linsley	1832-1835
Silas Aiken	1837-1848
Andrew Leete Stone	1849-1866
William HH Murray	1868-1874
John L. Withrow	1876-1887; 1898-1907
David Gregg	1887-1890
Isaac J. Lansing	1893-1897
Arcturus Z. Conrad	1907-1937
Harold J. Ockenga	1937-1969
Paul E. Toms	1969-1989
David C. Fisher	1989-1995
Pablo Polischuk	1995-1997
Gordon P. Hugenberger	1997 - today

literature

• Park Street Church: The semi-centennial celebration of the Park Street Church and Society . held on the Lords̓ Day, February 27, 1859: with the festival on the following day. H. Hoyt, Boston 1861, OCLC 2229457 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
• Committee for the Preservation of Park Street Church, Boston: The preservation of Park Street Church, Boston . Ellis, Boston 1903, OCLC 4032500 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).
• Arcturus Z. Conrad: Commemorative exercises at the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of Park Street Church, February 26-March 3, 1909 . Park Street Centennial Committee, Boston 1909, OCLC 11923238 (English, limited preview in Google Book Search).

Web links

Commons : Park Street Church  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Park Street Church official website

Individual evidence

1. ^ Park Street Church: History. Retrieved November 6, 2011 . 
2. ^ The William and Anita Newman Library: The Beecher Tradition: Edward Beecher. (No longer available online.) 2001, archived from the original on February 25, 2010 ; accessed on November 6, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ^ Park Street Church: Our Beginnings. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 13, 2008 ; accessed on November 6, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ^ Hughes Oliphant Old: The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church, Volume 6: The Modern Age . William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids (Michigan), Cambridge (UK) 2007, ISBN 0-8028-3139-7 , pp. 164 .
5. ^ William Lloyd Garrison: Address to the Colonization Society. July 4, 1829, accessed November 6, 2011 . 
6. ^ Daniel Walker Howe: What hath God wrought . the transformation of America, 1815-1848. Oxford University Press, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-19-507894-7 , pp. 641 .
7. ^ Daybreakinc Organization. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on October 2, 2011 ; accessed on November 6, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ Patricia Wen: Ex-gay ministry reaches out to Hub. In: Boston.com. October 28, 2005, accessed November 6, 2011 . 
9. ^ Park Street Church: Social Change Competition. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on June 7, 2010 ; Retrieved March 11, 2010 . 
10. ^ Park Street Church Celebrates Its Bicentennial. In: PR.com. March 1, 2009, accessed November 6, 2011 .