page_title: First Congregational Church of Albany
section_title: 1600s–1850: Congregationalism and its journey to Albany
hierarchical_section_title: First Congregational Church of Albany / History / 1600s–1850: Congregationalism and its journey to Albany
caption_attribution_description: English: The 1795 Presbyterian church later used by the First Congregational Church of Albany until 1866; since demolished.
context_page_description: The First Congregational Church of Albany, also known as The Ray Palmer Memorial, is located on Quail Street in the Woodlawn section of Albany, New York, United States. It is a brick building in the Colonial Revival architectural style built in the 1910s and expanded half a century later. In 2014 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  Within two years of its establishment in 1850 the congregation hosted the Albany Convention, a gathering which helped Congregationalism develop a nationwide reach. The Rev. Ray Palmer, later known for his hymns, guided the church through its early years, when it was located in downtown Albany, first in a former Presbyterian church and later in its own building. In the early 20th century, the church followed its congregants in moving out towards the more suburban areas of Albany being developed along the city's trolley lines.
  The Fuller & Robinson Company designed the present church, following the Wren–Gibbs tradition. It was the first Colonial Revival church in the city, attracting much local media attention. Construction was delayed by the onset of World War I; it was formally dedicated to Ray Palmer in 1919.
context_section_description: Congregationalism arose in the 16th century, during the English Reformation, when local churches sought greater control over their affairs than the Roman Catholic Church, and after it the Protestant Church of England, would allow. Many of its adherents were among the Puritans who left England during the next century for its North American colonies. For a century afterwards, even after the establishment of the United States, American Congregationalists were primarily concentrated in New England. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as settlers from that region began to move west in search of land to farm, the denomination began establishing itself in those regions, particularly upstate New York.
  At first, many of those Congregationalists worshipped with other Protestant denominations, as they were too few to support churches of their own. In Albany, it took until 1849 before 13 Congregationalists, among them congressman and banker Rufus H. King, were able to take the first step in that direction, when they bought a former Presbyterian church at the corner of Beaver and South Pearl streets near the end of the year. That building, no longer extant, was in the Wren–Gibbs tradition, built in 1795 with a steeple by Philip Hooker added in 1808.
  During the ensuing year further steps would be taken to establish a Congregationalist church. After renovations to the building were finished in April, the first services were held there; The Rev. Leonard Bacon traveled up to Albany from his church in New Haven, Connecticut, to preside. Over the summer the church was formally incorporated, with 81 members joining. By December 1850, The Rev. Ray Palmer was called from Bath, Maine, to become the church's first pastor.
caption: The 1795 church used by First Congregational during its first years
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