By Alexander Dworkowitz
For 75 years in Flushing, the Church on the Hill has made a name for itself sitting on its perch at 35th Avenue and 168th Street.
While its nearly 200 members flock to Sunday morning services, hundreds more make use of the church every week. The church has become a home from everything from Taekwondo classes to Alcoholic Anonymous meetings to a sale on thousands of knickknacks that has become famous throughout the borough.
“We are a very active church, and we keep our doors open,” said the church’s pastor, the Rev. Robert A. Perless. “It’s very important to bring the community to our building.”
The church has highlighted its relationship with its neighbors in its yearlong celebration of its diamond anniversary in a series of events throughout the year.
The church, a Reformed Church in America congregation, was founded in 1927. The original worshipers met in a storefront on 169th Street off State Street, the present-day 35th Avenue.
The following year, the Church on the Hill broke ground on its new facility across the street from the storefront. Services began in the current building in 1929.
Since its founding, the church has expanded twice and it now covers the entire block of 35th Avenue from 168th Street to 167th Street.
The church has marked its anniversary this year on four separate days. So far the events have ranged from a children’s sleepover to talks on the church’s history to a gala dinner.
The final celebration will occur on Nov. 10 with a special service, coffee hour, and opera concert.
The 65-year-old Perless has been with the Church on the Hill since 1970. The church has had only four pastors in its history, Perless noted.
“It’s been a very friendly and cooperative congregation with its ministers over the years,” he said.
Perless said reaching out to other community organizations was a prime goal of his tenure at the church.
Nearly every day of the week, a local group makes use of the church’s facilities. Alcoholic, Gamblers and Overeaters Anonymous chapters meet at the church as well as the Broadway Flushing Homeowners Association. Local theater groups and a Taekwondo class often make use of the church’s auditorium.
During the winter, the church puts out six beds for homeless women on Thursday and Friday evenings.
“They are very thankful for the chance to have two things: a warm place to sleep and a safe place to sleep,” Perless said.
The church also runs a “Bargain Boutique” in its basement. The boutique has thousands of items for sale, such as used clothing, books, toys and jewelry.
“We get people from all over the neighborhood,” said Josie Richardson, who helps run the boutique. “People come to find treasures.”
Richardson said about 200 people shop at the church every week. Even though some shirts can be bought with a quarter, the church expects to sell $40,000 worth of goods this year, money which will go to children’s charities and the church’s Sunday school.
Richardson said many of the borough’s immigrants come to shop at the church.
“We have people who come here who send a lot of things back to their country,” she said. “There’s always an afterlife for almost everything here in this place.”
Opening their doors to the community has reaped benefits for the church. At a time when many English-language congregations in northeast Queens are losing members, the Church on the Hill’s congregation has remained at about 200, Perless said.
“All those outreach organizations have brought us members who have gotten involved in a church,” he said.
Reach reporter Alexander Dworkowitz by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 141.
