New York City has a reputation for diversity that extends to its faith-based communities.
In recent years, progressive churches have redefined what it means to worship in the 21st century.
These spaces welcome people of all backgrounds. They emphasize social justice, celebrate inclusivity, and often integrate art, activism, and community outreach into their ministry.
Whether you’re a tourist or a lifelong New Yorker, these progressive churches in New York City are where faith meets forward-thinking values.
Best Progressive Churches in New York City
1. River NYC
Neighborhood: Lower Manhattan
River NYC is the best progressive church in New York City, with a vibrant spiritual community that reflects the Big Apple’s diversity and creativity.
With a firm commitment to being welcoming and inclusive, River NYC appeals to people looking for a progressive faith space where all gender identities, sexual orientations and cultural backgrounds overlap.
Its message revolves around personal growth, connection and spiritual exploration — avoiding guilt or fear.
Key Features:
- Thought-provoking Sunday gatherings featuring art, music, and visual storytelling
- A welcoming environment for young people to discover, explore, and experience God together
- Opportunities for community service and activism
River NYC started in October 2004 with 10 people looking to establish a lively church.
Today, the community has more than 150 members. Their teachings stem from the core values of diversity, unconditional love, good fruit, positive difference, and humility.
River NYC aims to enhance people’s connections with God, themselves, others, creation, and the world, fostering unconditional love and a more vibrant life.
2. Middle Collegiate Church
Neighborhood: East Village
Middle Collegiate Church is a beacon of outreach, art, and radical love in the heart of Manhattan.
The community needed years to rebuild after a fire devastated its historic sanctuary in 2020.
Now, the long-awaited moment has arrived, and this year, the congregation will reunite at its original location on East 7th Street.
Author, activist, and theologian Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis addresses relevant cultural concerns from the pulpit, such as white supremacy, anti-racism, trans rights, and gun reform.
Key Features:
- “Freedom Rising” is a justice initiative to discuss systemic oppression and explore a way forward
- Dynamic online and in-person worship celebrations that blend gospel, pop, and spoken word
- Activities revolving around various themes, such as faith and anti-racism
Middle Collegiate Church offers Interfaith and community collaborations to address injustice and poverty, support those in distress, protect the environment, and promote the presence of God’s kingdom on earth.
3. Judson Memorial Church
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village
Judson Memorial Church blurs the lines between faith, art, and activism.
Founded in the late 19th century, this congregation has long championed avant-garde performance, reproductive rights, and immigrant justice.
You might attend a worship service one day and an art exhibition or theater show the next.
Judson’s leadership team has committed to liberation theology, and their programming invites everyone — regardless of belief — to be part of a just, compassionate world.
Key Features:
- Immigrant and refugee advocacy
- Live performance residencies
- Spiritual support for all sexual orientations and gender identities
- Focus that extends beyond the soul, focusing on issues like sexual identity and expression, autonomy, and racial freedom
Judson has affiliations with Protestant denominations like American Baptist Churches, United Church of Christ and Alliance of Baptists, promoting a “free-church” approach to liberal Protestantism.
An elected 12-member board of trustees makes essential decisions related to finances, congregational policies and selecting a senior minister.
4. Church of the Village
Neighborhood: West Village
Church of the Village is one of the best progressive churches in New York City. It prides itself on being an inclusive spiritual home, ensuring everyone feels comfortable during worship and life milestones.
As a Reconciling Ministries Network member, the church explicitly welcomes queer, trans and nonbinary members.
Additionally, it aims to build spiritually nurturing connections and relationships that bridge socioeconomic divides.
Key Features:
- Queer spirituality groups
- Online and in-person services
- There are many small groups to join — like Learning and Conversation Together, COTV Choir, Prayer Ministry, Community Closet
- Weekly community food pantry and outreach
At Church of the Village, you’ll discover a community dedicated to caring and including each other.
5. St. Lydia’s Dinner Church
Neighborhood: Gowanus, Brooklyn
Consider joining St. Lydia’s if sharing homemade food while discussing life, faith, and justice sounds appealing.
This unique “dinner church” hosts services around a table and partakes in a communal holy meal, just like Jesus’ disciples.
Key Features:
- Dinner church every Sunday and waffle church every second Sunday
- Weekly and monthly events such as Drag Storytime and Neighborhood Pilgrimage
- Creative Bond initiative, giving local artists space and funding to host workshops
- An extensive blog on the website with various content, including recipes, poems, sermons, photos, and the latest news.
The theology is progressive, and the table is open to everyone. Here, hospitality is a pivotal part of the liturgy.
As an inclusive, queer church, St. Lydia’s celebrates all faiths and sexual orientations, open leadership and spiritual and intellectual engagement.
6. Trinity Lower East Side Parish
Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Founded in 1843, Trinity Lower East Side Parish has long been a grassroots beacon in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood.
The church’s casual worship style is rich in tradition, but its true strength comes from its dedicated service to the community.
Trinity exemplifies faith in action, offering services like a food pantry and advocating for low-income tenants and housing rights initiatives.
Key Features:
- Trinity’s Services and Food for the Homeless initiative provides meals for those in need, serving approximately 300 people daily
- The church’s youth hostel is a flexible chapel area where guests can stay for a donation of $30 per person per night to cover expenses
- Trinity Lower East Side Parish hosts many events, including musical performances, weddings, film and television shoots, and outdoor movie screenings
- Attend Sunday worship in person or online
Trinity is a proud Reconciling Works member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, committing to full inclusion and acceptance of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions.
It preaches that the church embraces inclusivity in all aspects, affirming that God’s love through Jesus Christ is for everyone.
7. Forefront Church
Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn
Forefront Church’s founders believe that faith should be open, inclusive, and conversing with culture, not in opposition to it.
Its sermons often address thorny questions about faith, doubt, sexuality, identity, and injustice. Forefront embraces nuance and complexity, creating space for people at all stages of belief.
Key Features:
- Podcast with remarkable pastors, artists, theologians, and inquisitive minds as they explore thought-provoking questions
- LGBTQ+ inclusion team and Pride celebrations
- A culture that promotes financial transparency allows you to view each year’s budget
- Weekly services that blend storytelling, music, and message
The church embodies a fair and compassionate representation of the Christian faith by actively promoting LGBTQ+ inclusion, fostering racial reconciliation, and strengthening community ties.
The services are casual, the music is contemporary, and the messages are refreshingly open and honest.
8. St. Paul the Apostle Church
Neighborhood: Columbus Circle/Upper West Side
Yes, a Catholic church made this list — and for good reason. St. Paul the Apostle Church stands at the intersection of tradition and progress.
While rooted in Catholic liturgy, the parish’s leaders are the Paulist Fathers, known for emphasizing ecumenism, modern communication, and outreach to marginalized groups.
Key Features:
- Art and spirituality workshops
- Social justice programming
- Robust music ministry with a live choir
Their ministry, Out at St. Paul, is one of the country’s most prominent Catholic LGBTQ+ ministries, offering a space for queer Catholics to feel fully embraced.
The church also partners with artists and cultural institutions, making it a spiritual hub for creatives and seekers.
9. CityLight Church
Neighborhood: Astoria, Queens, and Lower Manhattan
CityLight Church blends charismatic worship with a progressive, multicultural community.
While its roots are evangelical, the church emphasizes love over legalism and encourages members to bring their whole selves into worship.
CityLight’s two campuses attract a diverse congregation from all walks of life.
Key Features:
- Weekly healing and prayer nights
- Daily Life group gatherings to discuss relevant Christian readings
- Leadership development for young adults
- Many volunteer programs — including Media, Sound, Production, and First Impressions — warmly welcome new attendees
Its leaders regularly speak out on social justice issues, and the community invests in prayer and practical service.
If you’re looking for an engaging church service featuring uplifting music and practical biblical teachings among daily activities, this is your place.
10. The Fourth Universalist Society
Neighborhood: Upper West Side
The Fourth Universalist Society embraces a non-creedal approach. It provides a welcoming spiritual community for everyone, as long as their beliefs stem from principles of justice and love.
As a Unitarian Universalist congregation, it brings together people from various backgrounds — atheists, Christians, Buddhists, and seekers alike.
The founding principle of universal salvation highlights God’s love for everyone.
Key Features:
- Online and in-person opportunities to volunteer
- Environmental sustainability and climate action
- Youth and family spiritual education
- Services combine music, community sharing, prayer, meditation, and storytelling
- Join a congregation that advocates for immigration, racial, environmental, and democratic justice
Fourth U emphasizes doing good works and rallies around various causes, including LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, and climate change.
How to Choose the Best Progressive Churches in New York City
To curate this list, we evaluated various factors that matter most to today’s progressive worshippers.
- Inclusivity: Welcoming and affirming all gender identities, sexual orientations, races, and cultural backgrounds.
- Social justice initiatives: Active involvement in local or global causes, such as racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, environmental sustainability, and poverty alleviation.
- Community engagement: Programs that connect with the surrounding neighborhood and offer outreach beyond Sunday services.
- Theological approach: Emphasis on love, openness, and critical thought over dogma or fear-based teachings.
- Online presence and accessibility: User-friendly websites, livestream options, and ways to engage remotely.
Comparing the Best Progressive Churches in New York City
This chart gives you a closer look at how these churches stand out regarding inclusivity, workshop style, community outreach, and commitment to social justice.
| Church Name | Denomination | Why does it stand out? | Worship Style | Community Outreach |
| River NYC | Non-denominational | Spiritual growth, creativity, and inclusion | Contemporary and artistic | Mindfulness, community art |
| Middle Collegiate Church | Reformed | Justice, inclusion, and music | Gospel and theatrical | Anti-racism, public advocacy |
| Judson Memorial Church | Baptist/UCC | Art, immigrant rights, and progressive theology | Eclectic and interdisciplinary | Immigration and LGBTQ+ rights |
| The Church of the Village | Methodist | Multicultural worship and healing | Liturgical and bilingual | Food justice |
| St. Lydia’s | Lutheran | Community meals, and queer theology | Dinner-based and intimate | Faith and food, queer community |
| Trinity LES | Lutheran | Housing advocacy and food justice | Traditional and justice-oriented | Pantry, housing activism |
| Forefront Church | Interdenominational | Deconstruction, creativity, and mental health | Modern and conversational | LGBTQ+ support, justice talks |
| St. Paul the Apostle Chruch | Catholic | LGBTQ+ inclusion, art, and spirituality | Catholic and reflective | Out at St. Paul, art partnerships |
| CityLight Church | Non-denominational | Diversity, justice, and healing | Charismatic and energetic | Urban outreach, leadership training |
| Fourth Universalist Society | Unitarian Universalist | Interfaith, activism, ecology | Humanistic and poetic | Climate action, racial equity |
Finding Your Spiritual Home in NYC
It’s comforting to know that spiritual spaces promote love, justice, and inclusion in sprawling, bustling New York City.
These progressive churches are more than a place to worship — they are somewhere you can belong.
Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, worship leaders invite you to bring your full, authentic self.
Visit one, stay for a service, partake in a shared meal, or get involved in a justice initiative. Faith in NYC doesn’t fit a mold — it breaks it.