First Lutheran Church (Albany, New York)

First Lutheran Church is a Lutheran congregation in Albany, New York. Founded in 1649 as Ebenezer Lutheran Church, First Lutheran is the oldest congregation of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America,[1] the only congregation in the ELCA to be founded while New York was under control of the Dutch,[2] and the oldest Lutheran congregation in the United States. When the congregation was founded, it was a part of the Dutch settlement of New Netherland; it later adopted German and then English in 1808 for use during worship.[2] The congregation began to use the name First Lutheran Church in 1871.

The congregation has worshipped in five different buildings; the current building has been in use since 1929.[3] In 1926, another Lutheran congregation, the Church of the Redeemer, was consolidated with First Lutheran Church. First Lutheran is currently a part of the Upstate New York Synod of the ELCA. The current pastor is the Reverend John M. Medwid, a former Roman Catholic priest.