Denominations Unite At Community Church; Work Is Flourishing
The Town Manager, July 1932, p. 13 & 15
In January, 1922, the first reception of members in this church took place. There were 109 charter members according to the permanent records. Previous to 1922, however, a Sunday School had been conducted for some time. The meeting place was the auditorium of the volunteer firehouse on Kenwood place. Soon after the organization of the church the present site on the corner of Elm Avenue and North Street was acquired. Because the church is located one block south of Cedar Lane it naturally followed that the larger number of early members and friends were drawn from the Bogota section. In fact the early post office address of the church was "Bogota"! With the rapid growth and expansion of Teaneck the church enlarged its field. Today many come from the newer section north of Cedar Lane and also from east of the West Shore Railroad.
There have been three ministers since the founding of the church. The first was the Rev. Frederick K. Shield, Sr., who remained until 1924. Rev. Mr. Shield was the founder of the organization. Following him came the Rev. Lawrence H. French, who served for five years, from 1924 to 1929. Since the church was without a pastor after the resignation of Rev. Mr. French, Rev. Mr. Shield, who resided just north of the church, again stepped in and aided in the work. He remained until July, 1930, when the present minister, Rev. John J. Soeter, became pastor.
It is significant to note that there are eleven different denominations represented in the membership of the church at present. It is well that this is so. The present trend in American church life is toward closer alliance of the various protestant groups. Success has been marked in cities and towns throughout the country where churches of different denominations have united for the common good and purpose. The outstanding result in most cases has been that instead of several small and struggling groups there emerged one large, strong body of Christians. So it has been in the Community Church here. Work has been carried forward without any great difficulty which might come from having so many creeds and doctrines placed together under one roof. It is a credit to the people of the church of the present age, in that they can see the deeper truths which can unit all Christians, while they overlook the surface facts of formerly having been members of this or that "denomination'.
while this church carries on the full work of the church in various branches from September to the end of June, there is a let-up during July and August. During the latter two months the usual Church School is omitted. The hour of Sunday worship is changed from the usual time of 11 a.m. to 9 a.m. The nine o'clock services are held on the Last Sunday of June, all of July and the first Sunday of August. During the remaining three Sundays of August and the first Sunday of September the church is closed. On the first Sunday after Labor Day all work commences again for the year.
The people of Smith Community Church appreciate the courtesy of "The Town Manager" in kindly extending to the Churches of Teaneck the opportunity to outline their various historical sketches and programs.
