The stillness in Garden City Community Church



The solitary turtle at Garden City Community Church

The solitary turtle at Garden City Community Church

There is a stillness in Garden City Community Church (GCCC) that speaks louder than any ears have ever heard.

The quiet hallways, the silent gazebo, the solitary turtle, the unmoving wheel, the blooming garden; all denote that GCCC is at a standstill. There is a calmness and a hush that lulls anybody who might walk in to our physical building, but like a swan, serenely gliding on the water, we have not stopped doing our ministries. COVID 19 only rearranged our way of reaching out to our members, friends, families and the community.

Consider this, GCCC is the church that, is “Faithfully reaching out, inclusively drawing in.” All that has happened in the past weeks, months, didn’t leave us obsessing about understanding what lessons we might have learned before the lesson became clear. The purpose of GCCC is, Building a community where all are enriched through Christian Love, Service, and Spiritual Renewal.” It is still the place where all are welcome no matter where you are in your life’s journey, and there are many ways to welcome all. For the info contact the church office. As an abundance of caution we no longer put the links on the websites to all our services, programs, events, meetings, and even a virtual bingo game, and yoga classes via Zoom, Facebook, Conference Calls, and Live-streaming.

Rev. Lynn Sullivan, the Senior Pastor, meets Monday Chat at noon, Tuesday Time at Nine (Young Adults, 22 – 35), Wednesday Women’s Noon Reflections, Wednesday Service at 8:00 p.m., and preaches at 10:30 a.m. Sunday Worship. George Bashian, Licensed Minister, leads the Tuesday Intercessory Prayer Service at 9:30 a.m. and the Saturday Men’s Virtual Breakfast at 9:00 a.m. Margie Price, Licensed Minister, gathers the children for Sunday Noon Adventure Bible Study (ABS), the Friday Virtual Bingo night at 7:00 p.m.

Chris Dieguez, Licensed Minister, and Christine Hanson lead the Sunday zoom with the Middle School Youth at 1:00 p.m. He and Sarena Appelgren meet the High School/College Youth at 7:00 p.m. Confirmation 1 zooms on Mondays at 7:00 p.m. with Rev. Lynn, Chris, Christine Hanson, Maria Campese, and Laura Baymack. Confirmation 2 is on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. with Rev. Lynn, Chris, Christine Hanson, Paul and Francie Cohn. Confirmation classes are by invitation only.

These are some of the opportunities GCCC are offering to everyone. Let not the stillness in GCCC mislead you into thinking that nothing is happening in our church. The stillness is serenity in motion as we virtually continue our commitment to be a dynamic and courageous church serving all people.

Come and join us all week long. Visit our website atwww.gardencitycommunitychurch.org

 GCCC is increasing security with our online services. For our services via zoom, please be advised that you will be directed to a waiting room and “zoom ushers” (people designated by Council of Trustees) will screen to make sure participants are known to us. There may be a slight delay in starting, please be patient. Participants will not be permitted to share screens, video, or audio without hosts’ approval.

The Garden City Community Church is part of the United Church of Christ and is an Open and Affirming congregation that welcomes people of all ages, races, gender identities, and sexual orientations to participate in the life of its community.

The physical church of Garden City Community Church is located at 245 Stewart Avenue between Whitehall Blvd. and Kensington Road. For more information, email churchoffice@thegccc.org or call (516) 746-1700. And as previously mentioned, you may also visit our website at  www.gardencitycommunitychurch.org

 

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