Riverside was conceived and built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., with the intention that Rev. Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick be the senior minister. In the 1920s, Rockefeller belonged to a Baptist congregation, worshipping at the Park Avenue Baptist Church. Fosdick (a Northern Baptist Minister) had been preaching at the First Presbyterian Church when a controversy arose regarding his views on Fundamentalism, most notably captured in his sermon entitled, “Shall the Fundamentalists Win?” Due to this controversy, he left First Presbyterian and eventually agreed to serve at Riverside, with the caveat that its congregation be non-denominational rather than Baptist. Rockefeller agreed, and the congregation at the Park Avenue Baptist Church became the Riverside Church congregation.