In the December of 1822, a young pastor proposed to the Presbytery of New York City that he begin a "Sabbath School" on the "edge of the wilderness" known today as Greenwich Village.

Under his leadership, his 10-member church directed their energies towards reforming the "saloon-sodden neighborhood where the recalcitrant residents were found reduced by intemperance to beggary, wretchedness, and death."

In an effort to restrain the "lustful avarice" of the city's rapidly developing economy, they launched a "reformation stage coach line" which hampered the delivery of mail on the Sabbath, and the delivery of people to bars.

Trace its course through the temperance movement of the 19th Century, the infusion of women's leadership in the 1960s and '70s, and the events that led to Broadway's stance on gay and lesbian ordination.

Click here to download more information about Broadway Presbyterian Church's colorful history. (Download requires Acrobat Reader, click Get Acrobat Reader icon for FREE DOWNLOAD)