Friendship Community Church (Bronx, New York, USA)
The Mennonite House of Friendship in Bronx, New York, USA, began in 1956 as a mission outreach of the Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities and the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities. They sponsored Abner G. Stoltzfus, a pastor at the Maple Grove Mennonite Church in Atglen, Pennsylvania, to spend three days a week establishing a new work in evangelizing in New York City. John I. and Irene Smucker, also from the Maple Grove congregation, became the first full-time workers at the mission in January 1957. The mission became part of the Ohio and Eastern Mennonite Conference in 1962 because of its link to Maple Grove and because it had less strict regulations than the Lancaster Mennonite Conference in such things as accepting converts who had been divorced as members.
At first, the congregation met in a house on the corner of Southern Boulevard and Grote Street. This facility was purchased in 1956 and dedicated on 22 January 1957 when the permanent workers arrived. In the early 1960s, the congregation raised money to construct a church on the lot next door. Completed in 1966, this was the only constructed-from-new Mennonite church in New York City. The first service was held on 12 February 1966.
During the 1960s, the neighborhood around the House of Friendship changed. The Jewish population dwindled while the African-American and Hispanic populations increased dramatically. Friendship experienced many ups and downs during this period. It had to shift its priorities and reckon with gang conflicts that intruded on the neighborhood between Hispanics, African Americans, and Italians. Nevertheless, the church continued to offer community programs, employing a youth worker and offering a coffeehouse in the church basement, and taking youth to a nearby college to use the athletic facilities. It opened a day-care in 1968.
The community around the church continued to change in the 1970s and became poorer. In addition, the congregation experienced a time of charismatic renewal that was unsettling for some.
The House of Friendship reached a membership of 103 in 1971, but the congregation's leadership remained in the hands of traditional Mennonites at that time.
Sometime around 1974, the congregation changed its name to Friendship Community Church.
In 2021 the congregation was part of the Atlantic Coast Conference of Mennonite Church USA. The minister was Kenneth Lee Thompson.
Bibliography
Bauman, Harold E. "A Congregation Speaks and Listens." 59, no. 15 Gospel Herald (19 April 1966): 356-357.
Burkholder, Ruth. "Friendship Community Church." Atlantic Coast Conference Currents 4, no. 2 (March-April 1982): 1.
"House of Friendship Dedicated" Gospel Herald 50, no. 7 (12 February 1957): 159.
Kauffman, Nelson E. "Introducing Mennonite House of Friendship." Gospel Herald 49, no. 40 (2 October 1956): 951.
Kraybill, Charlie. "My Visit to Friendship Community Church, Bronx, NY, Aug. 24, 2014." Facebook. 2 September 2014. Web. 24 November 2021. https://www.facebook.com/marginalmennonitesociety/photos/a.222064161152813.73931.195351727157390/953824211310134/.
MacMaster, Richard. Mennonite and Brethren in Christ Churches of New York City. Kitchener, Ontario: Pandora Press, 2006.
"Mission Board Meeting" Gospel Herald (26 June 1956): 621.
Smucker, John I. "Can Christians purge themselves?" Gospel Herald 65, no. 36 (12 September 1972): 735-736.
Stoltzfus, Grant M. Mennonites of the Ohio and Eastern Conference; From the Colonial Period in Pennsylvania to 1968. Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite history, no. 13. Scottdale, Pa: Herald Press, 1969: 324.
Additional Information
Address: 2281 Southern Blvd., Bronx, New York 10460
Phone: 718-933-3915
Website:
Denominational Affiliations: Atlantic Coast Conference
Pastoral Leaders at Friendship Community Church
| Name | Years of Service |
|---|---|
| John I. Smucker | 1957-1979 |
| Nelson E. Kauffman (Interim)(1904-1981) | 1969-1970 |
| Sammy Santos | 1969-1975 |
| Marcos Chico | 1974-1975 |
| Mervin Horst | 1979-1984 |
| Lester Sutter | 1985-1989 |
| Billie Lee Thompson | 1987-1999 |
| Kenneth Lee Thompson | 1995-present |
Membership at Friendship Community Church
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1964 | 52 |
| 1970 | 96 |
| 1980 | 78 |
| 1990 | 47 |
| 2000 | 40 |
| 2007 | 60 |
| 2020 | 40 |
| Author(s) | Samuel J Steiner |
|---|---|
| Date Published | November 2021 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Steiner, Samuel J. "Friendship Community Church (Bronx, New York, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. November 2021. Web. 23 Nov 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Friendship_Community_Church_(Bronx,_New_York,_USA)&oldid=172660.
APA style
Steiner, Samuel J. (November 2021). Friendship Community Church (Bronx, New York, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 23 November 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Friendship_Community_Church_(Bronx,_New_York,_USA)&oldid=172660.
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