On September 23 at 12:00 noon in 1857, Jeremiah Lanphier conducted his first prayer meeting in the Old Dutch North Church at Fulton and Williams Streets in New York City. The church was in decline and hired this businessman to visit and build up the church. He decided to hold a prayer meeting. Only six showed up, but it was decided to meet again during the lunch hour when businesses closed from 12-1:00 p.m. Twenty men came the next Wednesday and forty the following week. The group decided to meet daily.