Blog

As the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) gathers in St. Louis, Missouri for the 223rd General Assembly this June 16–23, we're taking a look at some of the significant reports, discussions, and decisions made at previous General Assemblies held in St. Louis. 

1818 (Philadelphia) & 1919 (St. Louis)

Two hundred years ago, the 1818 Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. General Assembly in Philadelphia passed a resolution printing 1,500 copies of a pastoral letter written by its moderator, Jacob Jones Janeway. The letter urged Presbyterian churches to guard against the “...

On December 26^th 1965, Duke Ellington took the stage at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City for a performance of what he would call the most important work he had ever done. That day he performed one of his three “Sacred Concerts.” These concerts were written in the later stages of his life as he found himself grappling with his own mortality and relationship to God. The Presbyterian Historical Society is fortunate to hold within our collections a program from that historic night....