Ninety Years on Stewart Avenue
The Garden City Community Church has stood on Stewart Avenue since the mid-1930s, when the congregation gathered its first members. A history gallery on the church's own site, titled "90 Years," walks visitors through that arc, from the original community of worshippers to the present-day congregation that voted in 2019 to revise its by-laws and adopt a new church structure that is reviewed annually. The longevity shows in the building itself, where a sanctuary, Gardner Hall, the Parlor, the Kensington Room, the Community Room, the World Church Room, the Choir Room, and a wing of church school classrooms together form a campus that serves both members and the wider village of Garden City on Long Island. The mailing address is 245 Stewart Avenue, Garden City, NY 11530.
An Open and Affirming Congregation
The church declares itself to be "an Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ." It is part of the UCC's long-standing welcome to all who seek to follow Christ, "regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic background, physical and mental ability, social and economic status, and other differences that might otherwise distinguish us one from another." The congregation is listed on the UCC's Open and Affirming registry and joins the Long Beach Pride Parade each year as part of its social action. Its members are pledged to seek "justice and equality for all people in all areas of society." The senior minister, the Rev. Dr. Maria Francesca French, leads the congregation, with Frank Crosio directing music and Amanda Dias coordinating youth ministry and outreach.
Sunday Morning at 10:30
Sunday worship gathers at 10:30 a.m. in the sanctuary, with Sunday school for children meeting at the same hour so families can worship and learn together. The service is livestreamed on Vimeo, and archived services are available online for those who wish to revisit a sermon. After the service, a fellowship hour begins at 11:30 a.m., rotating between Gardner Hall and the Parlor. The congregation marks the church year with several special services, including a Blessing of the Animals each fall and a Christmas Vespers sung by the Adult Choir. A weekly pastor letter, "On the Way to Sunday," is emailed along with the church's weekly reminders.
A Choir Program at the Center
Music is treated here as a form of worship in its own right, not a decoration. Frank Crosio directs the music program, which offers four ensembles. The Adult Choir welcomes singers from high school age onward and rehearses on Thursday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.; it is supported by four professional section leaders and draws its repertoire from sacred music across many styles, periods, and languages. The choir sings on Sundays and holidays from September through June. The Handbell Choir performs four times a year at the 10:30 service, on special occasions, and at Bell Festivals with other local bell choirs, rehearsing on three Saturday mornings before each performance. The Youth Choir, open to children in grades three through eight, sings at the 10:30 service before the Sunday school dismissal. The Youth Band, for high school students and adults, plays for special occasions. The Choir Room upstairs, with its always-tuned baby grand piano, holds the Adult Choir's regular rehearsals.
Faith Formation from Nursery School through High School
The church's educational life begins earlier than most congregations. The Garden City Community Church Nursery School is housed in the church building under director Cathie McCullough, operating as a separately licensed preschool program at gcccnurseryschool.com, with a direct line at (516) 746-1756. Church school for older children meets during the 10:30 worship hour and combines a structured curriculum with hands-on service projects and intergenerational interaction with parents and teachers. During the summer, the regular Sunday School gives way to Summer Fundays, and a Vacation Bible School program is also offered.
For teenagers, the youth program extends well beyond the confirmation years. Each summer, the youth group travels for a week of mission service, a tradition more than twenty years old. Past trips have included an Indian reservation in upstate New York and New Mexico, soup kitchens and a domestic violence shelter in Colorado, a children's center in California, an at-risk community in South Carolina, and an AIDS camp in the Bahamas. Amanda Dias, the Youth Ministry and Outreach Coordinator, links the work that goes on the road with the work that happens closer to home.
An Outreach Calendar That Runs All Year
The church keeps a long list of hands-on outreach projects, anchored by its Community Giving Garden, which supplies fresh vegetables to those in need on Long Island. The congregation prepares Snack Bags for the Interfaith Nutrition Network (INN) in Hempstead, in lieu of the pre-pandemic Sandwich Sundays in which members made sandwiches after worship, and collects Thanksgiving Fixin-Bags, toiletry kits, diapers, and other supplies for the same network. Annual drives collect hats and mittens, winter coats for Anna House, backpacks and school supplies for children returning to school, used eyeglasses and hearing aids for the Lions Club International, and gently used shoes for Soles4Souls. The "Will Sing for Food" concert benefits the Harry Chapin Food Bank, and Souper Bowl of Caring turns the Super Bowl weekend into a food drive. Birthday in a Box provides birthday supplies for children in shelters to have their own party. At Christmas, the congregation buys gifts for the children of Nueva Vida Presbyterian Church and supports mothers at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Each year, members also carol to homebound members of the church itself, and weekly food donations are dropped on the Whitehall Boulevard porch for the New LIFE Center on Long Island.
Adults: Forums, Breakfast, and Recovery
Adults at GCCC have several entry points. The monthly Men's Breakfast meets on the first Saturday of every month at 8:00 a.m. at the Carle Place Diner, 151 Old Country Road in Carle Place. Le Salon, a gathering for women, meets on Thursday evenings at 6:00 p.m. in the chapel. Periodic forums in the Parlor, organized by the Committees on Christian Social Responsibilities and Just Peace, bring in outside speakers to discuss current social issues. Small-group study has included a shared viewing and discussion of "The Chosen," which the congregation completed through Season 4 before pausing for Season 5.
The church also opens its doors for recovery meetings. Alcoholics Anonymous meets there on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., and an Al-Anon group gathers on Sundays at 6:30 p.m. All of these meetings are listed as open to anyone seeking them. The church is in regular contact with the Nassau County AA intergroup at www.nassauny-aa.org.
A Building Made for Borrowing
Much of the church's weekday life happens in rented space, made available through the Room Rentals program. Gardner Hall, a 3,000-square-foot basement room with a stage, professional lighting, and a commercial kitchen available for an additional fee, can seat up to 280 and hosts theatre productions, dinner parties, and athletic groups. The 900-square-foot Parlor, renovated in the summer of 2018, seats up to 52 around a freshly tuned baby grand Baldwin piano and is popular for piano recitals, meetings, and auditions. The 1,060-square-foot World Church Room is home on Sundays to the LI Grace Christian Church, which worships and shares a meal there, and is otherwise available to outside groups. The 480-square-foot Kensington Room, the 780-square-foot Community Room with elevator access, the 1,250-square-foot Choir Room on the second floor, and a wing of five classroom spaces round out the rentable inventory, serving scout troops, exercise classes, SAT prep courses, and Bible study groups. The church also hosts baptisms, weddings, and funerals for members.
What the Community Church Believes
The theology is expressed in the language of the United Church of Christ. Members affirm their faith in Jesus Christ and the church Christ called into being, which "by His grace, welcomes all people." They live by several UCC principles: that they "may all be one" (John 17:21); that in essentials there is unity and in nonessentials diversity; that faith is expressed in testimonies rather than tested by formulas; that there is "yet more light and truth to break forth from God's Holy Word"; that all believers share a priesthood; and that responsible freedom calls Christians into covenant with one another. The congregation is governed by a periodically reviewed set of by-laws and by a Safe Church Policy in force since 2007, in compliance with UCC guidelines and Insurance Board recommendations. New York State sexual harassment prevention policies are posted in the staff handbook.
Sunday worship at 10:30 a.m., with livestream and Sunday school at the same hour, remains the heart of the church. Everything else, from the Adult Choir rehearsal on Thursday evening to the Giving Garden to the AA meetings three nights a week, gathers around that central service and the welcome that frames it.