From a Sunday School on Eastchester Road to a Sanctuary on Fish Avenue
In the spring of 1930, the Presbytery of New York City set out to plant a new church in the northeast Bronx. Reverend Floyd E. McGuire, fresh from the Biblical Seminary in New York, was appointed to begin a children's program, and on June 1, 1930, the first Sunday School service drew forty-seven scholars. Four months later, on October 5, 1930, the congregation held its first worship service with eighty-four charter members and the new body was formally organized as the Eastchester Road Presbyterian Church.
Growth quickly outgrew the original location, and in October 1932 the church moved to nearby Gun Hill Road under the name Eastchester Community Presbyterian Church. A decade later, on May 31, 1942, the congregation moved again to its present home on Fish Avenue, the site it still occupies in the northeast Bronx. Continued growth eventually led the church to offer two Sunday morning services, the 8:00 am Praise and Worship and the 10:00 am Worship Service, and in April 1998 a groundbreaking ceremony launched an expansion project. A year and a half later, the congregation celebrated the dedication of a new sanctuary, the worship space the church uses today.
Worship on Sunday Mornings
Eastchester Presbyterian Church gathers for worship every Sunday at 10:00 am in the sanctuary on Fish Avenue. The earlier 8:00 am Praise and Worship service, which had been a fixture of the church's two-service rhythm, was suspended on March 15, 2020, in response to the pandemic. Once a month, the 10:00 am service takes the form of a Communion Sunday, and recorded services feature a steady pattern of expository and topical preaching. Sermons are also livestreamed on Zoom, so members and friends who are traveling or unable to attend in person can still follow the service.
Music is a central part of the service. Jacqueline Bergland directs the choir and Justin Kelly serves as organist and pianist, and the congregation continues to lean on hymns and a choral tradition that has been part of the church's life since its earliest decades. Recent sermons, archived on the church's YouTube page, range from topical messages on Communion Sundays to expository series that walk through scripture book by book.
Five Values That Shape the Congregation
The church states its beliefs and priorities through five core values that frame every ministry.
- The Lordship of Jesus Christ. The congregation acknowledges Jesus Christ as the head of the church and seeks to honor him in every area of ministry.
- Bible-centered preaching and teaching. The Bible is treated as God's inspired, authoritative, and trustworthy rule of faith and practice.
- Prayer. Personal and corporate prayer undergirds the ministries and activities of the church.
- Evangelism and world missions. The church is committed to the Great Commission, reaching unchurched and unsaved people locally, nationally, and worldwide.
- The family. The church works to cultivate an atmosphere that fosters spiritual growth within families and teaches each member to fulfill their God-given role.
The church's stated motto is short and direct: "Jesus Christ alone is Lord of all and the way of salvation."
A Week Built Around Bible Study
If Sundays center the congregation around the sanctuary, the rest of the week revolves around the word studied and prayed over together. The church keeps four ongoing Bible studies on the calendar.
On Mondays at 12:30 pm, Interim Pastor Rev. Dr. Nancy Fields leads a Bible study in the conference room at the church. The hour-long gathering goes deeper into scripture, and lunch is provided unless otherwise specified. Later that same evening, at 7:00 pm, Elder Nnabu Gogoh leads the Adult Bible Study on Zoom, working through the same scriptures in a virtual setting that connects participants from across the city.
On Tuesdays at 7:00 pm, Elder Etta Graham Mitchell hosts the Tuesday prayer service, also held on Zoom. This is the longest-running of the weekly online gatherings and the place where many of the congregation's older members continue to meet.
On Saturday mornings at 8:00 am, the Men gather for in-person Bible study at the church, a weekly hour-long conversation for men of the congregation and the wider community. The men's study is one of the church's most durable small-group ministries and meets year-round in the same early-morning slot.
Music at the Heart of Worship
Music ministry at Eastchester Presbyterian Church is led by Choir Director Jacqueline Bergland and Organist and Pianist Justin Kelly. The choir rehearses every Wednesday evening at 7:30 pm, preparing anthems and choral music for the following Sunday's worship. Choir members and musicians are a regular part of the 10:00 am service, and services feature a steady blend of choral music, congregational hymnody, and special music for Communion and Christmas services.
Children, Youth, and the Breakthrough Ministry
The children's ministry at Eastchester Presbyterian Church focuses on laying a spiritual foundation that will carry young people from childhood through their teen years and into adulthood. Children's Church meets on the second, third, and fourth Sundays of each month during the 10:00 am service, and a staffed nursery is available every Sunday for the youngest children. Two directors, a Nursery-Kinder Director and a Children's Director, work with families to make sure each child is welcomed into a safe and loving environment where they can open their hearts to God through worship and study.
The church also runs a ministry it calls Breakthrough, designed for neuro-diverse and special needs children. Parents and staff collaborate to find the best fit for each child, with sensory-sensitive classroom options available for children from first grade through age eighteen. The church's stated conviction is that the congregation is richer for the presence of these children, and the ministry partners with what it sees as God's dreams and purposes for each one.
A separate youth ministry serves older students, and adults have their own ministry track focused on adult discipleship, fellowship, and continuing study.
Mom's Kitchen and the Deacon's Food Pantry
Two food ministries carry Eastchester Presbyterian Church's outreach beyond its own walls. Mom's Kitchen gathers every Thursday at 5:00 pm at the church and is organized by Elder Melody Crooks. The Thursday gathering is part food ministry and part fellowship, a chance for neighbors and members to share a meal together at the church.
The Deacon's Food Pantry is the second arm of the church's food ministry, supporting households in the wider Bronx community who need help putting food on the table. Together, the Thursday kitchen and the deacon's pantry are the most visible weekly outreach of the church.
A Bereavement Committee for the Wider Bronx
The Bereavement Committee exists to walk with families in the Bronx through some of the hardest moments of their lives. Rooted in the comfort of Psalm 34:18 ("The Lord is close to the brokenhearted"), the committee offers practical support and compassionate care to the wider community during times of loss. The ministry is open to anyone in the Eastchester community, not only members of the congregation, and there is no expectation that those receiving support must belong to the church.
The committee is led by Bereavement Coordinator Vintonette Lemond and is supported by a rotating team of volunteers who serve as reception hosts and hostesses at funeral repasts, helping to set up, serve refreshments, and clean up. Volunteers can step into the work as their schedules allow, and the church's social hall is one of the spaces the committee relies on for gatherings.
The Social Hall on Fish Avenue
The church's social hall is a long-standing community resource in the northeast Bronx, rented to families and organizations for funeral repasts, wedding receptions, birthday parties, meetings, and other gatherings. The hall seats up to one hundred guests and is set up with tables, chairs, dining ware, and cutlery, with a team on hand to help serve food and drinks. The church does not provide catering but can recommend trusted caterers for renters who need them.
A small private parking lot sits next to the building, with additional free street parking available nearby. The hall is accessible by trains and buses, and the church welcomes inquiries about reserving the space through its online reservation form.
Clergy and Leadership
The pastoral leadership of Eastchester Presbyterian Church is currently in the hands of Interim Pastor Rev. Dr. Nancy Fields, who has served the congregation since 2021. Rev. Dr. Fields leads the Monday midday Bible study and preaches at most Sunday services. The leadership team around her includes Clerk of Session Fredericka Bell-Berti, who guides the work of the Session, along with Organist and Pianist Justin Kelly and Choir Director Jacqueline Bergland. The current preaching rotation draws on Rev. Dr. Fields and members of the lay eldership, including Elder Nnabu Gogoh, who preaches and leads the Monday evening Adult Bible Study on Zoom.
The church's history reflects the central role of eldership in Presbyterian polity. The earlier pastors who shaped the congregation include founding pastor Rev. Floyd McGuire (1930 to 1939), Rev. Richmond Fewlass (1940 to 1949), and the long-serving Rev. R. Millard Farrell, who shepherded the church for thirty-seven years from 1950 to 1987. Rev. Dr. J. Perry Wootten followed, serving from 1990 to 2014, with Rev. Phil Tom serving as interim from 2015 to 2017 and Rev. Dr. Brian John as pastor from 2018 to 2020. Elder Carlton Knight served the congregation first as a commissioned lay pastor beginning in 1997 and then as associate pastor from 2008 to 2019.
Part of the Wider Presbyterian Church
Eastchester Presbyterian Church is a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). It sits within the Presbytery of New York City, which is part of the Synod of the Northeast, and the church displays the logos of each of these governing bodies. Annual reports prepared by the church's part-time administrator flow upward to both the presbytery and the General Assembly.
Visiting Eastchester Presbyterian Church
Visitors are welcome at the 10:00 am Sunday worship service at 3154 Fish Avenue in the Bronx. The church livestreams services on Zoom for those unable to attend in person, and recordings remain available on its YouTube channel. Bible studies run throughout the week, on Monday and Saturday in person and on Monday and Tuesday evenings on Zoom, and the choir rehearses on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 pm. Thursday evenings feature Mom's Kitchen, and the Bereavement Committee is available to support families in the wider community through times of loss. Tithes and offerings can be given online, and the church office can be reached at (718) 798-1855.