Our History
The Cresskill Congregational Church traces its origins to a nondenominational Sunday School started in May 1856 under the leadership of a college student, Alexander McKelvey. The group met in the Coley house on County Road in Tenafly. Over many years, the Sunday School met in various places in and around Bergen County.
Many members who had attended the Sunday School lived in and around Cresskill. While there were many churches in the surrounding town, there were none here. It was then decided by these members to organize a church in Cresskill. So, under the leadership of Mr. Alfred Sneed, a student from the Missionary Alliance in Nyack, a meeting was held to organize a church. On March 21, 1907, the Gospel Church of Cresskill was organized with 59 charter members.
Mr. Sneed was called as its first pastor but he soon resigned and sailed to India to devote his life to missionary work. Following Mr. Sneed, Mr. Alexander Fraser became the new pastor. During his tenure, the church voted to become associated with a denominational body, the Congregational Church, on September 10, 1910.
Over the next 100 years, our church has birthed some great community ministeries. The Ladies Aid Society, which actually began prior to the church's official gathering, has met to provide help and support to the community. The Ingleside Society was another group, comprised of young women who met regularly in members homes to promote social cohesion and spirituality. A Couple's Club was organized in 1950 to promote friendship amoung couples of the church and to sponsor activities for the youth of the community.
Honoring our traditions of service and taking social activities to heart, we are becoming, more and more, a community-minded church. We sponsor meetings, display artwork from the local high school art classes, sponsor a Writers Group that allows for writers to meet, fellowship, and share their work with one another. We also have an Artists Circle where artists can paint, share their work, fellowship, and share their work within the community. More recently, we have begun an exercise class for all ages.
We also have outreach opportunities. Our Mission Committee manages our various mission projects while engaging in one of their own: dispersing donations and interest from an interest bearing endowment to non-profit agencies in and around our community. We also support many church fesitvals and bazaars to include an Apple Festival, our annual pumpkin sale, our Spring Sale, and our Strawberry Festival that are mainstays in our community. We also have a flea-market style shop with inexpensive household items for those seeking to fill their houses with authentic old-world charm. We also have outreach ministries for the poor that includes providing financial assistance as well as practical hands-on opportunities such as the hosting of dinners for the homeless at a mission in nearby Hackensack, NJ.
Today we continue the history established by our ancestors to have a progressive and faithful presence in and around our community. Together, we are learning new ways to engaging our faith in practical ways. For we believe that it is our responsibility to not only help our community but to do so in a way that reminds us that it is the responsibility of every person to reinterpret what it means to be a Christian in each generation. We invite you to journey with us and to find new ways to share love and support.Whether we are socializing with each other, offering help to young families moving into the community, or caring for the needy in the surrounding towns. We invite you to experience with us our 100-year commitment to share with our community faith, determination, and love.
Our Beliefs
We affirm the United Church of Christ Statement of Faith as central to our core beliefs as members of the body of Christ.
The United Church of Christ Statement of Faith
We believe in God, the Eternal Spirit, who is made known to us in Jesus our brother, and to whose deeds we testify:
God calls the worlds into being, creates humankind in the divine image, and sets before us the ways of life and death.
God seeks in holy love to save all people from aimlessness and sin.
God judges all humanity and all nations by that will of righteousness declared through prophets and apostles.
In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot, conquering sin and death and reconciling the whole creation to its Creator.
God bestows upon us the Holy Spirit, creating and renewing the church of Jesus Christ, binding in covenant faithful people of all ages, tongues, and races.
God calls us into the church to accept the cost and joy of discipleship, to be servants in the service of the whole human family, to proclaim the gospel to all the world and resist the powers of evil, to share in Christ's baptism and eat at his table,to join him in his passion and victory.
God promises to all who trust in the gospel forgiveness of sins and fullness of grace, courage in the struggle for justice and peace,the presence of the Holy Spirit in trial and rejoicing, and eternal life in that kingdom which has no end.
Blessing and honor, glory and power be unto God.
Amen.