Since its founding in 1827, Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, New York, has been a leader in social reform movements and an advocate for equality. In 1831, Third Presbyterian hosted religious revivalist Charles Grandison Finney, a leader in the  Second Great Awakening, who preached from the church’s pulpit for six months. Third Presbyterian became an advocate for women’s ordination to ministry within the national Presbyterian Church in 1953, and in 1987 became a “More Light” church welcoming the LGBTQ+ community and has worked to change policies toward the LGBTQ+ community within the PCUSA as well as in the New York State Legislature. Third Presbyterian’s current sanctuary was constructed in 1893 in the Romanesque style and features slate roofs, an amphitheater-style sanctuary, and eight Tiffany stained-glass windows. The church’s bell tower houses the Copeland Chime, the first of its kind in Rochester when it was installed in 1927 for the centennial celebration.

Third Presbyterian works with a variety of community partners on programs related to hunger, education, housing, peacemaking, racial justice, LGBTQ+ justice, and gun violence. The congregation hosts the East Avenue Grocery Run annually, a 5K race that raises awareness and money for 25 local hunger programs and contributes 1,500 pounds of canned goods for Foodlink (the regional food bank) each year. 

A National Fund grant of $100,000 with $100,000 in matching funds to be raised by the congregation will fund the repointing and resetting of granite blocks on the exterior of the sanctuary and parish house, including a bell tower, spirelet and chimneys.   

Photo by James Kealey