The Church-in-the-Gardens is a community Congregational Church. We believe each member has the undisturbed right to interpret the word of God according to her or his own mind and conscience under the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.

Christian Education is one way in which the spiritual needs of children and adults in our congregation are met. Through teaching and learning about the Bible, the church, the Lord Jesus

Christ and our faith in the world around us, we live out the covenant to uphold each person in her or his walk with Christ.

We encourage individual spirituality, intellectual freedom, and personal experience so that our children and adults can make personal choices in their relationship with God and the greater community. We want to open eyes and broaden minds as our adults and children develop individual conviction and conscience

We encourage creativity, truth and love and believe that where they exist God is present. Through Bible study, the Word of God will become a natural part of everyday life and will help our children to become strong, courageous and loving followers of Jesus Christ.

Sunday School classes are offered for children ages 3 through teens in the 12th grade. In addition to teaching our children about the Bible, and learning verses, prayers, and songs we are committed to teaching what it means to be a good Christian and how to accomplish that in everyday life. Class time is one hour.

Sunday Mornings (September - June)

9:30 Sunday Nursery

10:00 Sunday School

10:00 Adult Education

11:25 Children’s Church

11:25 Co-op Nursery

The Sunday Nursery is available for children under age 3 from 9:30 until the end of the 11:00 worship service. The nursery is available for those who wish to attend Adult classes or participate in other activities in the Church on Sunday mornings.

Children’s Church offers an opportunity for children to enjoy fellowship with their peers during the 11:00 worship service. The children go to the church service then go to Children’s Church following the children’s sermon.

All activities focus on worship and learning more about God. Children’s Church includes singing, Bible stories, games, and even arts and crafts activities as we teach the children about God and worship. Children’s church is for grades 1 - 6, although all are welcome.

This nursery is for children 3-5 years. It is less structured than Children’s Church, and offers a chance for children to participate in activities during the worship service. Parents are invited to volunteer to help, but the nursery is staffed. Parents can send their children with church staff to the Co-op following the Children's’ Sermon. The nursery is available to those attending the worship service.

Sunday morning adult classes focus on thematic Bible studies. Topics are offered for a specific time period, so a number of topics are covered during the year. These courses promote spiritual growth as they focus on living out our faith through participation in the church and the world. 

Youth Group

The church offers PYF for 7th-12th graders. The group is a way for teens to fellowship together in their spiritual walk with God. Youth group activities include occasional adventure outings.

VBS occurs for one week during the summer for Kindergarten through 6th grade students. The week’s activities include daily worship, swimming, Bible lesson, and arts and crafts. There is a fee for this program, please call for registration information.

For additional information, please call the church at (718) 268-6704

We welcome your interest in exploring the sacrament of baptism with us. It’s our hope that this brochure will help you understand what baptism means, and how we think about it. If you have further questions, please speak with our pastor, Rev. Noel Vanek.

Baptism is one of the two sacraments we celebrate together (the other being Holy Communion.) A sacrament is an outward and visible sign of the grace of God. It is a time when we expect God’s holiness to be particularly present. Baptism is the sacrament by which we are incorporated into the Christian faith and church. The New Testament makes clear that baptism is the first step of being a Christian.

In Congregational churches people may be baptized at any time from infancy through adulthood. Baptism with water and the Holy Spirit to indicate:

1) the mark of their acceptance into the care of Christ's church

2) the sign and seal of their participation in God's forgiveness through Christian burial to sin and resurrection in the new life of Jesus Christ

3) and the beginning of their new growth into full, mature Christian faith and life.

The invocation of the Holy Spirit upon the water and upon the person being baptized affirms a most important concept: it is God who takes the initiative in this sacrament. God reaches out first to us, and seeks a relationship with us, even before we look for God.

Baptism is:

- an act of unconditional grace, un-merited by either the person's faith or the "goodness" of the others around the candidate;

- a recognition of God's gracious gifts, and is our human response to God's offer of salvation;

- the "sign and seal" of our common discipleship.

When an infant or young child is baptized, one or both parents promise to assume primary responsibility for the Christian nurture of the baptized child. One parent, at least, must be a practicing Christian, able to profess faith in Jesus Christ. In a sense, the baptized child is loaned faith by the parent or parents.

Normally in churches of the Reformed theological tradition (such as The Church-in-the-Gardens), a requirement for baptism of a child has been church membership by at least one parent. The Sacrament of baptism is most meaningful when celebrated at a public worship service, with the entire congregation taking part in a covenant. There the congregation pledges to encourage the family as they raise the child in the love and knowledge of God, and promises to provide a caring environment for this and all children.

Not everyone who comes seeking baptism for a child is a church member, or prepared to enter into a covenantal commitment with this church for the raising of their child as a Christian. When this is the situation, a private baptism service may be arranged after consulting with the pastor. Private services are still public events: a deacon from the church will participate. The family invites friends. These usually occur late on a Sunday afternoon.

In either case, the parents must receive baptismal instruction prior to the baptism of a child. Baptismal instruction classes are offered several times per year, usually on a weekend, led by the pastor. The church secretary can tell you when the next class is scheduled.

Baptism is not only a personal celebration in the lives of the individual baptismal candidates and their families, but also a central celebration of faith in the life of the church. At baptism, we are not baptized into a specific congregation, but into the whole church universal. Therefore, baptism should occur only once in a person's lifetime. When a baptism is performed in the midst of a church worship service, it is understood as a covenant made between the parents and church, and God. Together they will work to nurture the seed of faith placed in the child through the Holy Spirit, at baptism. By God’s grace, and their joint Christian nurture, the child will come to have an eternal identity as one who loves God and follows Christ.

Often people ask what we believe about "god-parents." The role of the godparent is to accompany the new Christian and offer guidance and support on their journey of faith. Godparents may stand up with the candidate and family at the time of baptism. A Godparent should develop an-ongoing relationship with the newly baptized person, seeking to offer encouragement, friendship, and guidance. A God-parent should commit to pray regularly for the child.

Many persons come to faith for the first time as adults, without having received baptism as infants. This was a normal circumstance in the world of the New Testament churches, and is increasingly common in our world today. We strongly encourage adults who wish to receive the sacrament of baptism as a sign and seal of their faith in Jesus Christ to come forward. There is no need for embarrassment. Our congregation celebrates this step in faith with you! Baptism is required before an adult joins the church as a member, or before a youth may be Confirmed. Adult baptism is normally shared before the entire congregation and is a cause for rejoicing. However, special circumstances may make a private baptismal service equally appropriate.

Please consider these questions:

What do you think baptism means, and why is it important to you? What will your plan be to follow up upon your commitment as a parent, to raise your child as a Christian? (Or, in the case of an adult candidate, to live and grow as a Christian?) Are you comfortable with this church, it’s worship and practices?

We are a Protestant congregation. We uphold the principles of the authority of the scriptures in the life of the church, and the responsibility of each believer to make confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and to nurture his or her own faith within the context of Christ's church.

As a community church, we affirm our connection to Forest Hills and its neighboring vicinities as our primary place for service and mission. The church has served this community since its formation in 1912.

As a Congregational Church, our heritage extends back to our Pilgrim forbears who came to New England in the 1620's to establish new churches in a new land, where Christians would be free to fully respond to God's calling and to govern their churches without the interference of the state or outside ecclesiastical authority. Today, The Church-in-the-Gardens is affiliated with the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches.