John D. Rockefeller Jr. conceived and largely funded the church for the former Park Avenue Baptist congregation. Allen & Collens with Henry C. Pelton designed it, and Marc Eidlitz & Son built it. The cornerstone was laid on November 21, 1927, and a fire in December 1928 damaged the interior. It was completed on October 5, 1930. The style is Gothic Revival, partly based on Chartres Cathedral.
The tower is 392 feet (119 m) tall and houses a 74-bell carillon. The nave is about 215 feet long and 100 feet high. The exterior is Indiana limestone over a steel frame, with Guastavino tile vaults inside. The Martin Luther King Jr. Wing was dedicated in 1959.
It is an interdenominational church and community center, a New York City landmark since 2000, and on the National Register of Historic Places.
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