Reformed Church of Newtown facts for kids
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Reformed Church of Newtown Complex
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Reformed Church of Newtown
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 Location in New York
Location in the United States
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| Location | 85-15 Broadway, Queens, New York |
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| Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
| Built | 1832 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival, Vernacular Greek Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 80002751 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | April 23, 1980 |
The Reformed Church of Newtown is an old and important church in the Elmhurst area of Queens, New York City. It was started by Dutch people who moved there in 1731.
The neighborhood where the church stands was first set up by the Dutch in 1652. They called it Middenburgh. This was a small village near New Amsterdam, which is now New York City. In 1664, the English took control of the Dutch colony. They renamed the village New Town, which later became Newtown. Even when Newtown was renamed Elmhurst in the late 1890s, the church kept its original name. You can still see the name Newtown on the local high school and a subway station.
The Reformed Church of Newtown is part of a larger group of churches. It belongs to the Queens classis, which is like a local church district. This group is part of the New York regional synod, a bigger church meeting. Both are part of the Reformed Church in America (RCA). The RCA started in 1628, making it the oldest Protestant Christian church group in the United States.
The Church Building's History
The first church building was finished in 1735. It was built in a style called Federal-Greek Revival. This building survived many tough times, including the American Revolutionary War. During the war, the British army even took over the church and used it to store weapons.
In 1832, the original building was replaced by the church you see today. This current building is considered a special landmark by New York City. The entire church area, known as the Reformed Church of Newtown Complex, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. This list helps protect important historical places.
You can still see a piece of the first church building. Its original cornerstone is in the foundation of the current church. The church building and its nearby meeting hall are special because they are "one of the few all wood church groups remaining in the City." This was noted by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. In 1989, some parts of the church, called cupolas, were fixed after a storm damaged them.
The Church Community
Over time, the church and its community changed. To meet new needs, the church hired more staff and made improvements to the building. The language used for sermons also changed from Dutch to English.
In 1956, the church celebrated its 225th anniversary. For this special event, the President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower, visited the church. A minister named Reverend A. Nelson Doak wrote a short history of the church for the occasion. He also praised how many different kinds of people lived in Elmhurst.
In 1980, the Elmhurst neighborhood started to have many new people move in. Reverend Doak's hopes for the church began to come true. His replacement, Reverend David Boyce, saw that the community's needs were changing. He started a church service for people from Taiwan. Later, he started another service for the growing number of people from India who spoke Tamil. This meant the church, which started with Dutch, now had services in English, Taiwanese, and Tamil.
The Tamil language services stopped after the Tamil minister, Reverend Paul Theodore, passed away. However, some Tamil members joined the English service and stayed with the church. Meanwhile, the Taiwanese services, led by Reverend Bill H.C. Lee, grew very quickly. The number of members more than doubled between 1981 and 1982. The Taiwanese members joined as a new part of the church, not a separate one. They became full members, could vote, and soon joined the church's leadership group, called the consistory. Even though a church usually has only one main pastor, Pastor Boyce was very open-minded. He made Pastor Lee an equal "co-pastor" with him because of the special situation.
In 1995, Reverend David K.T. Su started a third worship service in Mandarin Chinese. The church tries to follow a Bible teaching to be "a house of prayer for all peoples." Because of this, every Sunday, the church has services in Taiwanese, Mandarin, and English. People from Asian, Latino, and white American backgrounds attend these services. In December 2017, Reverend Su retired after almost 30 years of serving the church. After his retirement, Reverend Dr. Tien-Heng Chiu became the new Senior Pastor.
The Reformed Church of Newtown has also helped train several ministers for the Reformed Church in America in recent years. These include Reverend I. Douglas Estella, who became a minister in 1986, and Reverend Ben Lin, who became a minister in 1997. Both of them grew up in the Newtown Church.
See also
