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Jan Hus Presbyterian Church
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Jan Hus Presbyterian Church
Avenue Church NYC, formerly known as Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, is a Christian congregation on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, associated with the Presbyterian Church USA. It is the oldest historically Czech Presbyterian congregation in the US, having been founded in 1877, and their original church building was opened in 1888.
The church was originally named for Jan Hus, a Bohemian priest who was a theologian and reformer. The church is in the area that was once known as Little Bohemia. Once a center of the Czech community, the church now has a diverse and inclusive congregation.
The church ran an active Neighborhood House that promoted music, theater, and culture and operated a homeless outreach program. The church basement includes a 150-seat theatre that was home to Gilbert and Sullivan performing groups almost continuously from 1952 to 1975. Chicago City Limits performed there throughout the 1980s. Since then, several arts organizations have been based at the theatre.
In 2019, the Session of Jan Hus Presbyterian sold the 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m2) church building located at 351 East 74th Street, New York City, New York, in Manhattan's Upper East Side to purchase a more modern facility to meet the growing needs of the congregation and their large community outreach missions. Their new property, located at 1745 First Avenue, New York City, New York, opened in late 2020.
The church was founded in 1877 when Gustav Alexy, a Hungarian missionary, wanted to work among the Czech community. The building was designed by R.H. Robertson and built in 1888, and bears the inscription "Truth Prevails", a famous Jan Hus saying. The church sits down the block from the Byzantine Moderne-style Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.
When Pastor Alexy died in 1880, the newly official Presbyterian Church asked 21-year-old Vincent Pisek to take over as leader. At the turn of the century Czech families immigrated to America in large numbers settling in New York. The followers of Jan Hus had been persecuted or forced out of Bohemia. Pisek was "free-thinking" and performed marriages between men and women from different ethnic groups. His enthusiasm to help make these marriages was a part of what helped to build his church.
With thousands of Czech parishioners when the church started, the congregation has changed greatly with the Czech community dispersing over the years. By the 1950s, Jan Hus Church was no longer predominantly Czech. Jan Hus Church has not had a Czech pastor since the 1960s.
Ray Bagnuolo became the pastor August 2, 2009.
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Jan Hus Presbyterian Church
Avenue Church NYC, formerly known as Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, is a Christian congregation on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, associated with the Presbyterian Church USA. It is the oldest historically Czech Presbyterian congregation in the US, having been founded in 1877, and their original church building was opened in 1888.
The church was originally named for Jan Hus, a Bohemian priest who was a theologian and reformer. The church is in the area that was once known as Little Bohemia. Once a center of the Czech community, the church now has a diverse and inclusive congregation.
The church ran an active Neighborhood House that promoted music, theater, and culture and operated a homeless outreach program. The church basement includes a 150-seat theatre that was home to Gilbert and Sullivan performing groups almost continuously from 1952 to 1975. Chicago City Limits performed there throughout the 1980s. Since then, several arts organizations have been based at the theatre.
In 2019, the Session of Jan Hus Presbyterian sold the 23,000-square-foot (2,100 m2) church building located at 351 East 74th Street, New York City, New York, in Manhattan's Upper East Side to purchase a more modern facility to meet the growing needs of the congregation and their large community outreach missions. Their new property, located at 1745 First Avenue, New York City, New York, opened in late 2020.
The church was founded in 1877 when Gustav Alexy, a Hungarian missionary, wanted to work among the Czech community. The building was designed by R.H. Robertson and built in 1888, and bears the inscription "Truth Prevails", a famous Jan Hus saying. The church sits down the block from the Byzantine Moderne-style Greek Orthodox Archdiocesan Cathedral of the Holy Trinity.
When Pastor Alexy died in 1880, the newly official Presbyterian Church asked 21-year-old Vincent Pisek to take over as leader. At the turn of the century Czech families immigrated to America in large numbers settling in New York. The followers of Jan Hus had been persecuted or forced out of Bohemia. Pisek was "free-thinking" and performed marriages between men and women from different ethnic groups. His enthusiasm to help make these marriages was a part of what helped to build his church.
With thousands of Czech parishioners when the church started, the congregation has changed greatly with the Czech community dispersing over the years. By the 1950s, Jan Hus Church was no longer predominantly Czech. Jan Hus Church has not had a Czech pastor since the 1960s.
Ray Bagnuolo became the pastor August 2, 2009.
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