History of Third Presbyterian Church

Celebrate the Journey Since 1827

As you might guess, "Third Church" was indeed the third Presbyterian congregation in Rochester. "First" and "Second" no longer exist under those names. Third Presbyterian Church started with 22 members on December 31, 1826 and was the first religious society to meet east of the Genesee River. Thus Third Church, at its very inception, was in the vanguard of the struggle against outworn dogmas and on behalf of a vital religion.

One of the stories of our culture is that the early congregation decided on one Sunday to construct a church building, agreed to complete the project and meet in it for worship the next Sunday, and actually met that goal.

Third has continued to be in the vanguard of movement and growth within the national Presbyterian Churches. In 1953, one of our members, Lilian Alexander presented a momentous proposal to Session to approve the ordination of women to the ministry. It did, and sent the overture to the General Assembly (the National Presbyterian Body), which passed the overture in 1955.

Click here to learn more about the history of Third Presbyterian Church. Click here to view historic photos of the church.