The Clinton Hill and Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, once known collectively as a single neighborhood called “The Hill”, is a 1.3 square mile area that is home to 50,000 residents. The neighborhood is known for its beautiful, eclectic, and mostly harmonious mish-mash of diverse architectural styles, cultures, and races. Just as with an individual person, the attempt to boil down a complex neighborhood into a few descriptors is to diminish its richness. Nevertheless, a few characteristics make this neighborhood unique and we hope they’ll be the characteristics of our new congregation as a church that is intentionally in, of, and for our neighborhood.

Artistic

From Walt Whitman to Robert Mapplethorpe to Jhumpa Lahiri this is a place of historic, vital creativity. Anchoring the East end of the neighborhood is Pratt Institute, one of the most prestigious art schools in the country. At the West end is the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the oldest performing arts center in the United States. The artistic neighborhood vibe that permeates beyond these two institutions into businesses and individuals is palpable. Pratt in particular draws talented young people from around the world who settle in and contribute to the artistic life and culture of Brooklyn and NYC for the long-term. So our church will make vibrant worship and a redemptive culture of the arts a priority.

Academic

Between the neighborhood institutions of Long Island University, St. Joseph's College, and Pratt Institute there are over 14,000 students here. This lends a particular intellectual cast to the area and its inhabitants. Our network sees this as a strategic first step forward in our vision of creating long-term roots in Brooklyn through college, high school, and children’s ministries. We already have a number of Pratt Institute students, alumni, and one professor who are involved in our congregations. We have initiated a campus ministry at Pratt and are actively praying for and recruiting additional staff who might assist in this in the future.

African American

Over 60% of the population is African-American. Richard Wright wrote Native Son while living here and Brooklyn's first "colored school" for children of freed slaves opened here in 1847. The neighborhood has helped to produce Chris Rock, Mos Def, Notorious B.I.G., and Spike Lee, whose film headquarters still reside here. Beyond its African-American population Clinton Hill is notable even in Brooklyn for its racial, cultural, and economic diversity. As large housing projects stand in the midst of beautiful brownstones, it will continue to retain its ethnic and socio- economic diversity even in the midst of gentrification. We will emphasize gospel reconciliation and unity in Christ, and we will seek to be a family of staff and members that reflect the diversity of our neighborhood.