The New York City Church Extension and Missionary Society of the Methodist Episcopal Church was an organization whose mission was "... to promote Churches, Missions, and Sunday-schools in the City of New York." It built or purchased churches, missions, and Sunday schools, mostly in Manhattan and the Bronx,[1] and primarily in poor areas, or areas that were being developed.[2] Founded in 1866, it ran 24 congregations by 1895.[2]
The Church Extension and Mission Society owned a number of landmark buildings in Manhattan that later became synagogues. These included, from 1878 to 1885, the building subsequently purchased by Beth Hamedrash Hagadol,[2] and from 1889 to 1902, the building subsequently purchased by the First Roumanian-American congregation.[3]