Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York City)

Redeemer Presbyterian Church (PCA), is a church located in New York City, founded in 1989 by Timothy J. Keller, who retired as pastor in July 2017. The family of Redeemer churches includes Redeemer Downtown (Sr. Pastor John Lin), Redeemer West Side (Sr. Pastor David Bisgrove), Redeemer East Side (Sr. Pastor Abraham Cho), Redeemer Lincoln Square (Pastor Michael Keller), and Redeemer East Harlem (Pastor Justin Adour). Christianity Today called Redeemer "one of Manhattan's most vital congregations."[2]

Redeemer Presbyterian Church
150 West 83rd Street, home to Redeemer's Upper West Side location
LocationNew York City
CountryUnited States
DenominationPresbyterian Church in America
Membership1,760[1]
Websiteredeemer.com
History
Founded1989 (1989)
Administration
PresbyteryMetropolitan New York
Clergy
Senior pastor(s)Abraham Cho (East Side)
David Bisgrove (West Side)
John Lin (Downtown)

History
The auditorium of the W83 ministry center

Redeemer draws around 5,000 people to its services each Sunday at venues on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side and Downtown. According to the church's 2014 annual report, the current total membership is 1,760.[3] In a 2006 survey of 2,000 American Protestant church leaders, Redeemer was named the #16 most influential church in America.[4] Redeemer has attracted members of the public such as young professionals, doctors, bankers, lawyers, artists, actors, musicians, and designers, many of whom are in their 20s and 30s.[5]

In January 1998, a New York Times article about the church discussed its conservative stance, in that it condemned homosexuality and did not allow women to be ministers. In the article, current and former members of the congregation described the Redeemer church as intolerant, and "being full of fundamentalists and zealous, newly converted Christians pushing hard-line views".[6] In response to the article, Tim and Kathy Keller wrote to The New York Times and claimed that the church was neither "hardline" nor "fundamentalist."[7]

Through its church planting center, Redeemer has helped start over 100 smaller churches in the New York metropolitan area. With respect to planting and starting new churches in urban areas, The New York Times reported that "pastors from around the world are beginning to come in a steady stream to New York City to glean what they can from Dr. Keller and Redeemer."[8] In 2012, the church bought a parking garage at 150 West 83rd Street on the Upper West Side for conversion to a church building of its own.[9] The church has an office at 1166 Avenue of the Americas.

References
  1. http://download.redeemer.com/pdf/AR2014.pdf#page=30
  2. New York's New Hope: Christianity Today, December 1, 2004. Archived September 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. http://download.redeemer.com/pdf/AR2014.pdf#page=30
  4. Church Relevance.com The Church Report: 50 most influential churches, 2006 Archived December 22, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Tim Keller Wants to Save Your Yuppie Soul: New York Magazine, November 29, 2009. Archived November 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  6. Lewine, Edward (25 January 1998). "Making new Christians". The New York Times. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  7. Redeemer Church Rejects The 'Hard-Line' Label: New York Times, Sunday, February 15, 1998.
  8. Preaching the Word and Quoting the Voice: New York Times, Sunday, February 26, 2006.
  9. City Room, NY Times, 2011 Feb 8 by LIZ ROBBINS and COLIN MOYNIHAN
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.