| Before
it had a name, the East Glenville Community Church
was an outreach serving the Glenville community. Concerned
for the children of their neighborhood, Mr. and Mrs.
Buchanan began a Sunday School class in their home in
February 1945. The class was a mission of the First
Presbyterian Church of Schenectady called the Saratoga
Road Branch Sunday School. The first meeting had
13 pupils in attendance. The Bible verse chosen for
the Sunday School was Matthew 6:33: "But seek
ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you."
Soon parents were joining the children and by April
1945 the Sunday School had outgrown the Buchanan home,
so it was moved to the nearby Gleason School. In June
a church service was held on a Sunday afternoon at 3:30.
The
work continued to grow under the leadership of various
short-term pastors. In 1947 the East Glenville
Chapel was officially formed with 28 charter members.
In December of that year the first Sunday morning
worship service was held. They were still meeting
in the Gleason School. In March 1949 the congregation
voted to purchase our present site for the sum of
$3,300. At this same meeting, the church was incorporated
in the State of New York as an independent church
under the name of East Glenville Community Church.
In May, the new church moved to the Grange Hall on
Pashley Road. Sunday School classes for some departments
were still maintained at the Gleason School.
In
November 1950 the cornerstone of the new building
was laid with 75 people in attendance. The building
was dedicated on May 24, 1953 with 300 people attending
our outdoor service. Soon ground was broken for a
second building project, including a large Sunday
School room and Chapel. By 1955 the Sunday school
and worship services had grown to three each Sunday
morning, so in 1956 plans were taking shape for a
new church building, our present sanctuary.
In
August 1992 the church entered a stewardship program
referred to as Focus on Faith with the purpose of
renovating the front of the sanctuary. Since then
we have refurbished our entire facility with the support
of two capital campaigns, Show US Your Way
and Building the Future.
From
its inception, EGCC made priority of serving our community,
ministering to children, and supporting world-wide
missions. Several years ago the current mission statement
was drafted, "We share the joy of our walk
with Jesus because God cares that none perish."
Our building has changed, the number of children and
families has increased, but the desire to seek God
first has remained the same.
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