Church of the Covenant (Manhattan)

[1] Friends and former parishioners of Prentiss immediately began a movement for the establishment of a new church on Murray Hill with the Bowdoin College graduate at its head.

Prentiss gave his first sermon on Sunday November 25, 1860, nineteen days after the election of President Lincoln, and more than four months before the attack on Fort Sumter.

In the autumn of 1861, the church moved to Dodworth's new studio building, on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Twenty-sixth Street.

There on the evening of March 21, 1862, at a meeting of the eight-three member congregation, the church was organized, and three ruling elders were appointed.

To say nothing of the question of taste, the historical identity of some of our most important churches had thereby, upon the removal of the congregation to a new locality, been wholly lost to the public mind.

Despite the raging [American Civil] war, the church leaders forged ahead and a mere ten months later the cornerstone was laid on November 5, 1863.

The Romanesque style building was designed by James Renwick Jr., the noted architect of St. Patrick's Cathedral, was located on the northwest corner of Fourth (Park) Avenue and 35th Street.

Early on the church started on a young men's prayer group on the East side with rented space over a stable at No.

"[1] A "Dedication Hymn" was written for this occasion by Mrs. Elizabeth Prentiss: Thankfully, O Lord, we come To this new and happy home; Wilt thou not from heaven descend.