Reverend Noel Vanek delivers the sermon during the Church In The Garden’s reenactment of its very first service on Sunday, October 21 at Station Square in Forest Hills. The church is celebrating the 100 year anniversary of its reopening. Forum Newsgroup photo by Luis Gronda.
Nestled in a quiet residential neighborhood that is part of Forest Hills, sits a church that has been a part of the community for a century, holding daily services and giving people a place to pray.
The church, which is called The Church in The Gardens, first opened in 1912 at a small borrowed storefront that is currently a realty place on Dartmouth Street in Forest Hills. Since then, it has moved to its current location on Ascan Avenue.
Now, the church has started celebrating 100 years since it has been opened.
As part of their celebration, the church held a special service this past Sunday to celebrate that anniversary. The service was a reenactment of the first worship service held at the church in 1912, which wasn’t in the church itself but outdoors at Station Square, just a few blocks from its headquarters.
How they organized it was that they would sing the same songs as they would have back then, delivered the same sermon from that time period and wore the type of clothing one might’ve worn to church during that era.
According to their website, the suggested garb for men was a long sleeve shirt with a vest or a sweater vest, cuffed trousers, a double breasted jacket and a felt bowler hat or a straw boater hat. For women, it was a skirt that was down to the ankles with a blouse worn under a shawl or a cape. A large-brimmed hat with feathers and a small purse was also recommended wear for the ladies.
The ceremony included songs from that era including The Sun Shines in Splendour, Honor and Blessing, as well as a special prayer dedicated to the church. The reenacted service wasn’t from the exact day that it opened, Reverend Noel Vanek who is the current pastor of the church explained. According to Vanek, they looked through their archives and the oldest order of service that they could find was from 1918. Nonetheless, the service performed served as a blast from the past for those who attended.
Reverend Vanek, who has been pastor of the church since 1992, said that the reenactment is only the beginning of their 100th anniversary celebration, with big events planned for 2013 and 2014. Vanek said that they haven’t yet figured out the specifics for those events.
Reverend David Rowe, who was pastor of the church from 1976 until 1983, returned to Forest Hills to help Vanek out with Sunday service.
Rowe jumped at the chance to return to old stomping grounds when he was asked to help with the reenactment.
“The chance to be back at such a wonderful church and good people was a draw right off the bat,” said Rowe, who originally is from Richmond Hill but currently lives in Fairfield, Connecticut and is a pastor at a church over there. It took him about an hour and a half to get to Forest Hills for the ceremony. “I’ve always had such affection for the Church in the Gardens.”
During the service, Vanek gave a history of the church then urged people at the event to attend their regular service next Sunday.
“There’s nothing left to say except that next Sunday we will be back to business as usual,” he said.
After the service was over, a reception was held at Smith Hall behind the church itself, which served food like meatballs and ham, coffee and a cake for the church’s anniversary.
For more information on The Church In The Gardens, please visit their website at thecitg.org.
By Luis Gronda
