History & Logo

Intersections: Our History

It could be said that Intersections actually began on June 25, 1891 in Long Branch, New Jersey. On that night, 23 year old Frederick Brokaw, son of the fabulously wealthy 5th Ave. clothier Isaac Brokaw, drowned while trying to save the life of Annie Doyle, a young immigrant Irish servant girl.

Frederick’s grieving parents, in honor of the heroic act of their son, gave properties, called the Bethany Memorial Buildings to Madison Avenue Reformed Church to house the church’s mission outreach, specifically to poor and immigrant communities on the East side of Manhattan. In 1917, the Madison Ave. Reformed Church disbanded and the building sold, but the Bethany buildings and assets were turned over to the Collegiate Church Corporation.

The result was a new global initiative dedicated to promoting justice, reconciliation and peace with the name, Intersections

Subsequently, the Bethany Memorial Reformed Church congregation was formed and began using the property for their primary worship and fellowship space. By 1995, however, the congregation was no longer able to sustain its buildings and a process was initiated to sell the property. This process concluded in 2003, with a result being that the consistory of the Collegiate Church use income from the endowment created by its sale to fund a new ministry. Bethany Church still remains as a congregation, sharing space with the First Hungarian Reformed Church and funded, in part, by the Collegiate Church.

Upon completion of the sale, the consistory of the Collegiate Church embarked upon a discernment process that lasted more than two years and stressed outside-the-box thinking as to the shape and scope of this new initiative. The result was a new global initiative dedicated to promoting justice, reconciliation and peace with the name, Intersections, symbolic of the need to bring together diverse groups to forge a common ground for social justice. Intersections began its work in September, 2007.

So, it is now as it was at its beginning—an intersection dedicated to sustaining life—where this fabulously wealthy young man from New York City’s 5th Avenue made the ultimately sacrifice for an immigrant Irish servant girl from Long Branch, New Jersey. Now, more than 100 years later, Intersections has the opportunity to continue this heroic legacy in bold and innovative ways. In honor of both Frederick Brokaw and Annie Doyle, we can do no less.

Intersections’ logo expresses humanity’s diversity in ways that honor our individuality, as well as the spaces where our lives intersect. The different ‘i’s represent individuals of various cultures, religions, races, and beliefs intersecting while maintaining their uniqueness, to form the most basic building structure: a square brick. This symbol expresses the bringing together of diversity, unity, and possibility to build a solid, common ground for global social justice.