Mariners' Temple Baptist Church

 As the Church moved into the 1970s, the congregation decided to move towards self-governance. At this time, Mariners’ was still being held in trust by the American Baptist Home Mission Society and governed by the New York City Baptist Society. However, in 1971, the congregation began to demand more self-governance. During this period, Mariners’ began to experience significant growth.

Mariners’ Temple became self-supporting in 1980. A new era began with the installation of the Reverend Suzan Denise Johnson Cook in 1983—the first female pastor in the church’s history. Under her leadership, the Church grew from an active membership of sixty to more than 1,000 members between the two congregations.

In 1986, Mariners’ Temple was able to raise funds to payoff the mortgage on its property at 2 Oliver Street, known as the JUDD House.  

In May 1992, under the tenure of the Pastor Johnson Cook, Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church congregation celebrated the title transfer of the Church building from the American Baptist Churches Metropolitan New York to the Church.
The present Church structure, the fourth building on the site, was built in 1844. Minard Lefever (1798–1854), one of the most influential architects in the United States at that time, designed the structure. Using the Lefever’s design, Isaac Lucas built the Church structure.

Lefever began his career as a carpenter around 1820. In 1829, he published five pattern books, which were instrumental in spreading the Greek Revival style: The Young Builders' General Guide Instructor in 1829, The Modern Builders’ Guide in 1833, The Beauties of American Architecture in 1835, and The Architectural Instructor in 1850. In the mid-nineteenth century, there were no professional schools of architecture and few who claimed the title architect. Most structures were designed and put up by builders, and architects and builders were trained by working under master builders. Builders across the United States also depended on pattern books published by Eastern architects like Lefever.

Lefever employed a Greek revival design that replicates the hand-carved Corinthian colonnade temples of Greece.

The Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church building was recognized as a Federal landmark in 1966 and a New York State landmark in 1977. It is one of the few landmark examples of nineteenth century Greek Revival architecture remaining in New York City.