The Church of St. Theresa is a Roman Catholic parish

Parish

A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...

 located on the Lower East Side

Lower East Side

The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....

 of Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, at 16-18 Rutgers Street, northwest corner of Henry Street

Henry Street (Manhattan)

Henry Street is a street in the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City that runs in a northeasterly direction one-way eastbound from Oliver Street in the south and west, passing underneath the Manhattan Bridge and on to Grand Street in the north and east. The street is named for Henry...

. The parish is under the authority of the Archdiocese of New York

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York covers New York, Bronx, and Richmond counties in New York City , as well as Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties in New York state. There are 480 parishes...

.

The church building was built in 1841 for the First Presbyterian Church of New York (PCUSA

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

The Presbyterian Church , or PC, is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. Part of the Reformed tradition, it is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the U.S...

) in the Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

 architectural style. A special feature of the New York Times in 1901, mentioned the church among other Catholic structures in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, describing the group "for the most part...limit[ing] hemseves to the functions of a parish church, in districts where social needs are otherwise supplied." Without comment on other facilities attached.

The AIA Guide to New York City describes the church as “An ashlar

Ashlar

Ashlar is prepared stone work of any type of stone. Masonry using such stones laid in parallel courses is known as ashlar masonry, whereas masonry using irregularly shaped stones is known as rubble masonry. Ashlar blocks are rectangular cuboid blocks that are masonry sculpted to have square edges...

church in the tradition of the others nearby, which antedate 1850. This one conducts services in three languages: English, Spanish and Chinese.”