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MNYBA building, Manhattan.<\/p>\n MNYBA building, Manhattan.<\/p>\n
MANHATTAN, N.Y. (BP) \u2014 Feed \u201cMetro New York Baptist Association\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s will in prayer.<\/p>\n
Moved by Jeremiah 29:1-7, MNYBA determined it was vital to maintain its presence in Manhattan.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart 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,\u201d MNYBA Executive Director Larry Mayberry said.<\/p>\n
A fresh vision for staying in Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side came as leaders recognized that Jeremiah 29 called on those in exile to \u201cbuild houses and live in them\u201d and to establish themselves in a foreign land, Mayberry explained.<\/p>\n
Rather than relocating to numerous smaller buildings outside Manhattan, the association recommitted to supporting the ministry already in place.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A vital ministry housed at the building is MNYBA\u2019s summer missionary training program that equips 18-22 summer missionaries annually to understand and serve the churches across New York City, Mayberry said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where leaders are trained up,\u201d Mayberry said of the program, adding that several summer missionaries have stayed following their short-term commitment to live and serve.<\/p>\n
Tze Tan and his wife Anna met while serving as summer missionaries at MNYBA and are now raising their three children in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy draw to New York City has always been the people,\u201d Tze said. \u201cThe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anna noted that despite New Yorkers\u2019 reputation for brusqueness, she found herself feeling at home. \u201cGod had changed my outlook and heart too much for me to go back to the comforts of my little southern town,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s office is in Lower Manhattan.<\/p>\n
Estimates put the population of Upper West Side Manhattan near 110,000 people per square mile for a total of around 230,000.<\/p>\n
Mayberry underscored the importance of a Southern Baptist presence by noting Islam\u2019s growing real estate footprint.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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,\u201d Mayberry said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have sold buildings, allowed churches to die and didn\u2019t take care of a legacy plan well enough, so the buildings were lost,\u201d Mayberry said. \u201cThat mindset caused us to lose some ground and some time in a really important and necessary area \u2014 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Political shifts impact churches meeting in rented public spaces, Mayberry said, adding that MNYBA\u2019s vision is to help church planters and pastors \u201cin all five boroughs\u201d embrace owning rather than renting a facility, he added.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
As renovation and updating is underway on the first floor, plans are in place for expanding the building\u2019s capacity of cost-effective housing and food preparation for 48 mission team members at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis building provides a very strong connection for us to the rest of the country,\u201d Mayberry said. \u201cIt allows teams and potential mission partners to be connected to us in a way we wouldn\u2019t have if we didn\u2019t have this building.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201csee that future vision that we (with Russ) had crafted together come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor Park, pastor of Faithful Korean Baptist Church, leads a congregation meeting in the MNYBA building.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew York City University students, young professionals, residents and tourists visiting New York City attend our Sunday worship service and meetings,\u201d Park said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Though small, Park\u2019s congregation leads evangelism outreach in Times Square, Central Park, on college campuses and at subway stations.<\/p>\n
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. \u201cWe repented,\u201d Park said simply, as they too embraced a fresh vision.<\/p>\n
In Queens, Mayberry is lead pastor of Queens Church, where Tze Tan serves also as a lay pastor.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne 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,\u201d Tan said. \u201cPeople need to see Jesus in action, in love in front of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Living out the gospel in Manhattan is a Great Commission opportunity where the world is at the doorstep, Tan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI often tell people that, to bring the gospel to the nations, New York City is a good gateway,\u201d Tan said. \u201cMNYBA serves to be that beacon of opportunity for those who want a taste of seeing the world and what it\u2019s like to bring the gospel to many who have not heard the gospel and those who are so very different in worldviews.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MNYBA building, Manhattan. MANHATTAN, N.Y. (BP) \u2014 Feed \u201cMetro New York Baptist Association\u201d into a map search and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":378709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-378708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=378708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/378708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/378709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=378708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=378708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=378708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}