As you can see, the story of the Brooklyn Church Project is just beginning, but we are preparing even now for new chapters in the not-so-distant future.
Present
Leadership development is the primary means of forming new congregations and Brooklyn Church Project is privileged to have many young leaders. Because the best way to learn about starting new churches is to participate in a startup church, these congregations have already welcomed numerous interns and assistant pastors. The Park Slope church received John Sweet as a pastoral intern in 2004 and Jamison Galt in 2006, both of whom are now ordained. Resurrection church brought Chris Hildebrand on staff in 2005 and he was ordained in 2006. Jedidiah Slaboda has since joined the staff of Resurrection as pastoral intern and he, too, hopes to be ordained soon.
The importance of leadership development is juxtaposed with the financial challenges to young congregations. Because they cannot yet afford multiple staff, these pastors and interns are responsible for raising most, if not all, of their support. For this reason, Brooklyn Church Project continues to raise financial support from people and churches around the country who have a vision for reaching global cities with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Future
With these interns and assistant pastors, we hope to have churches in new neighborhoods planted in the years to come, beginning with a Flabush congregation in 2008. As these churches begin worshipping, they will take on interns who will help further the church-planting project in the future. For news of recent developments, visit our blog.
Past
Brooklyn has been known as the Borough of churches and has a rich history of congregational life and worship. However, as in other American urban centers, many churches dwindled as populations moved out of the city in the 60’s and 70’s. In the mid-1980’s, a few leaders in the Presbyterian Church in America prayerfully began to plan for a new church in New York City--one that would be the first of a network of churches throughout the metropolitan area. In 1989, Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan was born and has since grown into a body of over 5000 worshippers. Redeemer has facilitated the birth of multiple churches in the metropolitan area.
Over the years, many “Brooklynites” attending Redeemer began to pray for a new church plant in Brooklyn. The Rev. Matthew Brown and his wife Deb, who had both ministered in the borough during their college years, accepted the call to plant Park Slope Presbyterian Church, the answer to those prayers and the first church in the Brooklyn Church Project. PSPC began worship in March of 2004. The neighborhood of Park Slope was chosen in part because it has a “Brooklyn identity” and because its central location would be conducive to further church planting.
In May of 2005, Resurrection Presbyterian Church in the neighborhood of Williamsburg became the second worshipping community in the Brooklyn Church Project. Long-time New Yorkers, pastor Vito Aiuto and his wife Monique moved to the neighborhood known for its rich diversity of Latin, Jewish, and Italian cultures, as well as a recent influx of artists and professionals. Many of these residents have joined together to form this church and are striving to live out the Good News before their friends and neighbors.
Who is the Brooklyn Church Project?
