Judson Memorial Church

It’s a cool venue, excellent acoustics. But! Never ever buy seats for the mezzanine area unless they are free or basically free: you won’t be able to see all the stage, and even if you stand you still won’t be able to see the whole stage. They should really be advertised as restricted view and priced as such. The seats at stage level look very very good.

I’m not a member of this church– Heck, I’m not even Christian. However, any church that allows me to come in and hang out with real self governing Anarchists in entire day meetings, as well as having been the venue to one of my first open mikes is OK in my book.
1) Anarchists Book Fair — Dig it. You have to see it to believe it. Then after you believe it, you have to sit in and join in on the discussion. Guaranteed wholesome fun. Everyone is so very accepting. Who says anarchists are destructive and chaotic? Only the media.
2) Open Mike at the Judson (95 – 98) — Some of the best memories of my life were created here every Wednesday evening. WSP, the Chess Forum, Mammouns and then the Open Mike… Jazz Clubs and DIY punkness ’til the wee morning and school the next day.
If you’re not a City Kid, you wouldn’t understand. Eat your heart out, Transplants.

I’m an atheist, and I dig this church.
Judson was founded as a Baptist church in 1890 and – according to its website – is dually-​aligned with the American Baptist Church and the United Church of Christ. Importantly, they welcome everyone, and host community events such as the Really Really Free Market (last Sunday of the month) and various community performance projects. In 1999, Rev. Billy put on a week-​long extravaganza here called «Millenium’s Neighborhood.»
At its founding, it was an important source of drinking water for the neighborhood; Judson sought to bring together the riff-​raff of the immigrant class and the wealthy people north of Washington Square. As a matter off fact, Judson’s community-​oriented work dates back at least to the 1950s.
The most recent event I attended at Judson was a memorial for a HIV-​positive transsexual equestrienne which featured a few nudes of her in the slide show. Candles were arranged in a horseshoe shape, and the whole event was not only well-​attended but incredibly moving.
Judson is a church Christ himself would have been glad to be a member of!

This is my church. Doesn’t this make me bias. No. Why? Because I made them work very hard to earn my love.
I come from a fracked up religious/​spiritual background. I went from being on a Missionary Track to Atheism to building myself back up into researched & educated spirituality over the course of a decade. I am the last person to step inside of a church unless someone I know is preaching or performing… or I’m being paid to do either.
I found Judson because I was paid to do a show for them. Everyone was great. But I kept up my strongly-​built wall and waited another 6 months before going to an actual service. And that was the last 6 months of my life that I would feel the spiritual void in my soul which I’d been looking to fill my entire life.
Give them at least one try, no matter what your religious or spiritual background is. Judson isn’t conventional worship. They don’t have a Sanctuary; they have a meeting room. People from all religious and spiritual backgrounds attend, are members and are welcome to come and go as they are able/​willing. You’re not special for being gay, non-​caucasian, handi-​capable, hiv +, et al; everyone is equal. I can have my arm around my partner during a service and no one even notices. The environment is completely supportive!
If you have issues worshipping with show tunes, jazz, and other non-​conventional forms of music… why not push yourself out of your boundaries for one Sunday? Or if you feel that this may speak to you, here’s a place that might work fo ryou! They also offer free play readings on various Wednesdays during which they offer a free community meal to anyone regardless of need. It’s a great way to meet members of the congregation, see the awesome work they do for the community, and observe in a non-​religious setting.
Are there things to be desired? Of course. You can’t have a grouping of that many people without encountering differences. But I’ve never felt comfortable in any place of worship or with any spiritual group before finding Judson. I give thanks each day for being guided to this congregation!

I attended the Horizons psychedelic conference here on October 27, 2007.
Judson has a long history since the sixties of representing underdog causes and communities.
The main room, up the stairs, is beautiful. The speakers’ daïs is illuminated by a beautiful stained glass window. Sound for the conference was excellent. The art room for the conference was downstairs in the basement. All the rooms were large, clean and comfortable. This would be a great conference venue.
The Greenwich Village location rocks, and is a short walk from Little Italy and many other locations, obviously.