This report is from New York Post written by Raquel Laneri

John Street Church — the first Methodist congregation in the US — celebrates its 250th anniversary this year. A small, inconspicuous house of worship nestled on a narrow side street in the Financial District; it’s also a New York City landmark, an architectural jewel and a religious museum with a rich, colorful history.

In addition to internal battles, the church has survived a fire and two upheavals, the Revolutionary War and 9/11. It helped give rise to the abolitionist movement and birthed the first all-black church in the city. Its members have included Sojourner Truth, publishing scion and former Mayor James Harper, and one of the first American Methodist bishops, Francis Asbury, of Asbury Park fame.

John Street Church was founded in 1766 by Philip Embury, an Irish immigrant who had been a lay preacher in England. Embury actually had no interest in starting his own parish, and had moved to the New World in the hopes of buying his own farm and raising a family. But according to “From Abyssinian to Zion,” by David Dunlap, Embury changed his tune after his strict Calvinist cousin, Barbara Heck, walked in on some of their family members playing a devilish game of cards.

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