New Utrecht Reformed Church

328 Years
1677-2005

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Rev. Terry Troia, Minister

Fall 2003

Dear Members and Friends:

We at New Utrecht are called to be "Stewards of a Living History." Those of us who have grown up in this church feel a keen sense of responsibility to those who have gone before us in this place. There is a cloud of witnesses who came before in the life of New Utrecht Church - a church that has served as God's witness for 326 years. We lift up the names of Rev. Martin Paul Luther and Martha Luther, Catherine Van Brunt, Cora Fanning, Emma Anslavar, Mary Giannini, Dorothy and Arnold Dybing, Virginia and Gordon Barning, Charles Lood, Albert Hollenga, Josephine Safay, Alice Safay, Dorothy and Harold Adamson, Bill Scott, Robert Stillman, Rev. Gregory and Angie Padula, Bessie Bacchi, Gertrude Skillman, Alice and Irv Stanton and countless individuals and families dating back to 1677. What a company of saints and angels!! We present generation stand on their shoulders to continue to do the Lord's work.

The wonder and miracle of New Utrecht Church is that God's grace continues to work here, so that both new members and those former members who relocate also feel this sense of stewardship and responsibility. People may move away from New Utrecht Church, but New Utrecht Church never leaves their heart and soul. The commitment to New Utrecht is total and for a lifetime (it requires our time, our talent and our financial backing). At the heart of this feeling is Jesus' working through this church - in this community, for the greater good and for the Church universal.

There are many challenges presently and in the future life of New Utrecht Church. We have engaged an architect, Kenneth Barricklo, an Engineering firm, Robert Silman Associates, and a plaster conservator to help us deal with the findings of an Existing Conditions report that was compiled for inclusion with our Historic Preservation Grant Application submitted in June 2003. We are talking with the RCA General Synod and we have opened discussions with a fundraising group. Friends of Historic New Utrecht is supporting these efforts and working with us, interfacing with local legislators and business associations.

As we gather on September 14 for Communion Sunday and the resumption of our Fall schedule, we raise our voices to say that our faith is alive at New Utrecht Church, which has been a beacon in Bensonhurst and in the minds and spirit of those who love the Lord.

To God be the glory, always.
Susan Hanyen
Vice President of Consistory