ABSTRACT
Two of the oldest, most prestigious Protestant denominations in America are considering proposals to move their national headquarters out of New York City. In June, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be asked to ratify a committee’s recommendation that the offices of the newly reunited church be consolidated in Kansas City, and the United Church of Christ’s General Synod will act on a proposal that the church move its offices outside the New York metropolitan area by 1991. The Presbyterian decision follows the reunion of the church’s northern and southern branches, which have maintained separate offices in New York and Atlanta, and reflects a desire for a neutral site. The decision by the United Church of Christ comes in anticipation of the expiration of leases in areas of the city that have seen rapidly escalating rents. A possible shift to the Midwest for both groups follows a similar decision of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, a union body comprised of the nation’s largest Lutheran churches, which will soon establish its national headquarters in Chicago. If the recommendations of the location committees of the Presbyterian Church and the United Church of Christ are approved, the Episcopal Church will be the only remaining Protestant denomination with its principal national headquarters in New York City.
