By Sophia Chang
In 2000, the Community Church of Little Neck marked its diamond anniversary by embarking on a yearlong fund-raising campaign. The pastor at the time, Rev. Janet Rhodes, suggested giving 10 percent of the funds raised back to the local community. This yearthe church's elders are fulfilling that promise.”When she left, the plan got put on the back burner,” said Rev. Matthew Mardis, the current minister. “But this was on our to-do list. We finally resolved that we needed to do it.”On Jan. 23, the church will present checks of $850 each to the Ronald McDonald House at LIJ-North Shore's Schneider Children's Hospital and the Little Neck-Douglaston Lions Club. The presentation will be after services at noon and is open to the public at the church at 46-16 Little Neck Parkway.Mardis said in deciding how to distribute the funds, the church's leadership thought local organizations should benefit.”Because the church has always had a special identification with the Little Neck community, we decided to give locally,” Mardis said.”Donations of this type are most welcome,” said Kathy Bihn, program manager of the Ronald McDonald House. She noted the house was mostly funded by individual and small donations, and contributions were greatly welcomed as the charity expands its facilities to accommodate more families. “These donations will help us facilitate supporting additional families that we currently have to turn away,” she said.The Lions Club was not available for comment.”This is the cap, the final piece of unfinished business of the 75th anniversary,” Mardis said.The rest of the anniversary fund-raising money has been earmarked for the church's own plans, including possible capital improvements, Mardis said.Though it was formally chartered in 1925, the church's history stretches back to the Civil War era. A Bible school was founded first in 1878 in a hall that had been constructed to house a Methodist church which now serves as the church's chapel hall. After the establishment of the school, the church grew.”Out of the Bible school, in 1925 there was a feeling a community church should be organized,” Mardis said. And because the congregation would draw people from a broad range of backgrounds, the church founders deliberately specified an interdenominational ministry.”Our relationship to the community is evolving,” Mardis said. “We were founded in order to provide a worshipping space for the Little Neck community.”To that end, Mardis said the church hopes to continue strengthening its ties to the neighborhood through further outreach.”My sense is that most churches don't have the same connection to the community as we do,” he said. “We're the Community Church of Little Neck, so we feel very close.”Reach reporter Sophia Chang by e-mail at news@timesledger.com, or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
