Failure to sell building brings MNYBA fresh vision for ministry in Upper Manhattan • Biblical Recorder

MNYBA building, Manhattan.

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (BP) — Feed “Metro New York Baptist Association” into a map search and the spot pinpointed will be two blocks from Central Park, two blocks from the Hudson River and one Express train stop from Times Square.

The prime real estate spot in Upper West Side Manhattan has been an office hub, home to church plants, and a headquarters for the Metro New York Baptist Association (MNYBA) for more than 50 years.

But maintenance needs impacted by COVID-19 and other issues led MNYBA to try to sell its six-story building. After two failed sale attempts, MNYBA again sought God’s will in prayer.

Moved by Jeremiah 29:1-7, MNYBA determined it was vital to maintain its presence in Manhattan.

“Part of the reason that God has it in our future to keep this building is to be able to remain rooted and grounded where He has called us,” MNYBA Executive Director Larry Mayberry said.

A fresh vision for staying in Manhattan’s Upper West Side came as leaders recognized that Jeremiah 29 called on those in exile to “build houses and live in them” and to establish themselves in a foreign land, Mayberry explained.

Rather than relocating to numerous smaller buildings outside Manhattan, the association recommitted to supporting the ministry already in place.   

More than 100 mission teams and 1,200 volunteers from across the nation stay annually at the MNYBA building and serve in ministry outreach and churches around the city.

A vital ministry housed at the building is MNYBA’s summer missionary training program that equips 18-22 summer missionaries annually to understand and serve the churches across New York City, Mayberry said.

“This is where leaders are trained up,” Mayberry said of the program, adding that several summer missionaries have stayed following their short-term commitment to live and serve.

Tze Tan and his wife Anna met while serving as summer missionaries at MNYBA and are now raising their three children in the city.

“My draw to New York City has always been the people,” Tze said. “The demographics and the saturation of all people have been the very thing that drew us and continues to draw us here in New York City.”

Anna noted that despite New Yorkers’ reputation for brusqueness, she found herself feeling at home. “God had changed my outlook and heart too much for me to go back to the comforts of my little southern town,” she said.

A cultural, political and economic center of New York City, Manhattan is home to the New York Stock Exchange, Broadway and headquarters for several global investment and commercial banks. The mayor’s office is in Lower Manhattan.

Estimates put the population of Upper West Side Manhattan near 110,000 people per square mile for a total of around 230,000.

Mayberry underscored the importance of a Southern Baptist presence by noting Islam’s growing real estate footprint.

“The largest religious group with the most money buying properties is Islam, and they are buying properties and turning them into mosques left and right, including former churches,” Mayberry said.

Mayberry pointed to an unintended consequence of a movement of recent decades that correctly sees the church as its people, rather than its property. Many churches turned to renting rather than owning a facility, he explained.

“We have sold buildings, allowed churches to die and didn’t take care of a legacy plan well enough, so the buildings were lost,” Mayberry said. “That mindset caused us to lose some ground and some time in a really important and necessary area — that is, that God has actually called us to establish ourselves in the cities that He wants us to love and reach with the gospel.”

Political shifts impact churches meeting in rented public spaces, Mayberry said, adding that MNYBA’s vision is to help church planters and pastors “in all five boroughs” embrace owning rather than renting a facility, he added.  

As renovation and updating is underway on the first floor, plans are in place for expanding the building’s capacity of cost-effective housing and food preparation for 48 mission team members at a time.

“This building provides a very strong connection for us to the rest of the country,” Mayberry said. “It allows teams and potential mission partners to be connected to us in a way we wouldn’t have if we didn’t have this building.”

Mayberry served many years as a MNYBA executive board member and followed the retiring George Russ as executive director in February 2025. Mayberry said he was determined to “see that future vision that we (with Russ) had crafted together come to fruition.”

Victor Park, pastor of Faithful Korean Baptist Church, leads a congregation meeting in the MNYBA building.

“New York City University students, young professionals, residents and tourists visiting New York City attend our Sunday worship service and meetings,” Park said.

Manhattan swells daily with commuters and tourists, Park said. Many are attracted to the Korean-American-owned businesses. Columbia University, Lincoln Center of Fordham University and other campuses are nearby.

Though small, Park’s congregation leads evangelism outreach in Times Square, Central Park, on college campuses and at subway stations.

As MNYBA embraced a fresh vision for ministry, Park admitted he and his congregation had become slack in praying for the salvation of the people of New York City. “We repented,” Park said simply, as they too embraced a fresh vision.

In Queens, Mayberry is lead pastor of Queens Church, where Tze Tan serves also as a lay pastor.

“One of the biggest needs for the gospel to be made known in New York City is to be a living example of Jesus in a world where social media and news often skew the perception of who our God is,” Tan said. “People need to see Jesus in action, in love in front of them.”

Living out the gospel in Manhattan is a Great Commission opportunity where the world is at the doorstep, Tan said.

“I often tell people that, to bring the gospel to the nations, New York City is a good gateway,” Tan said. “MNYBA serves to be that beacon of opportunity for those who want a taste of seeing the world and what it’s like to bring the gospel to many who have not heard the gospel and those who are so very different in worldviews.”