The first Worship Service of The City Church, New York was held on The First Sunday in Lent on February 23rd, 1993. On April 18th, 1993, the Sunday after Easter, 343 adults and 34 children became Founding Members of The City Church, New York and 227 people living outside New York City became Founding Friends. On March 4th, 2007, the Second Sunday of Lent, The City Church, New York held its last Public Service of Worship.

The City Church, New York began when the Reverend Dr. R. Maurice Boyd agreed to come to New York and lead this new congregation. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, he served churches in Ireland and Canada before coming to New York City, where he served as the Senior Minister of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church from 1988 to 1992. He holds degrees in theology, music and philosophy, has written several books, and preached to wide acclaim at many of the major churches and universities in Canada and the United States.

But more important than his background, Dr. Boyd has the singular capacity to engage the hearts and minds of all who hear him. Drawing inspiration not only from scripture but the richness of our common literary and musical traditions, he spoke to our present-day condition, infusing old orthodoxies with new context and urgency, touching simultaneously the believer and unbeliever. His insights were a distillation of thought not just of theologians and biblical scholars, but also of poets, novelists, philosophers, and journalists.

The congregation was not affiliated with any denomination. Congregational in its constitution and organization, inclusive in spirit and it affirmed the major creeds of Christian Faith. When asked to describe the church, Dr. Boyd responded by quoting scripture:

“The City which we seek and towards which we move is a ‘City which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God’.”