Service to city and country and hospitality to all who enter this church are part and parcel of this place. Led by the Rev. Peter Marshall, the church opened its doors to the young men and women who streamed into Washington to fight or to support those who fought in World War II. NYAPC ministers, Dr. Docherty and the Rev. Jack E. McClendon, journeyed to Selma to march for civil rights with Dr. King. The church served as a haven for protestors of the Vietnam War and the center for publicity and public information for the Poor People’s Campaign in Washington in the spring of 1968. New York Avenue became a destination for prayer and comfort for many on September 11, 2001. And in January 2009, the church welcomed hundreds of the thousands of people who journeyed to the capital for President Barack Obama’s inauguration, providing food, drink, tours, and a warm place on a cold day—“a Godly pit-stop,” in the words of one visitor.