50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Reformed Dutch Church of Newton

Posted on by Thor

Reformed Dutch Church of Newton is a historic Reformed church in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City. The neighborhood had been established in 1652 by the Dutch as Middenburgh, a village suburb of New Amsterdam (today it is New York City).

In 1664, the village was renamed New Town, later simplified to Newtown. When Newtown was renamed Elmhurst in the late 1890s, the church retained its original name.

The church was first established by Dutch immigrants in 1731. The original Federal-Greek Revival style building, completed in 1735, had survived the struggles of the colonial days and the disruptions of the American Revolutionary War (during which the British seized it for use as an armory).

It was replaced in 1832 by the present Georgian-style sanctuary. It has been designated a New York City landmark. The cornerstone of the original building can still be seen in the foundation of its present structure. The bell tower contains the bell from the original 1731 church building. Adjoining the Church building to the north is a small cemetery filled with simple tombstones dating from the early years of the church’s history.

The sanctuary and adjoining fellowship hall are, as noted by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, “one of the few all wood church groups remaining in the City.”The Reformed Church of Newtown Complex was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The originally Dutch church now had services in English, Taiwanese, Tamil and Mandarin Chinese.

Uprising: Pulse to Parkland

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Pam Schwartz and I attended two screenings at the Global Peace Film Festival. The screenings were at the Bush Auditorium on the Rollins College Campus. The first film was “Lessons from a School Shooting: Notes from Dunblane“. It was produced by Kim A. Snyder the same documentary film maker that made “Newtown“. Father Bob Weiss was featured in Newtown. In the days following the Sandy Hook Massacre that took the lives of 26 children and teachers on December 12, 2012, he was tasked with burying 8 of those children. Interviewed in this film he broke down as he said that it was an honor to be able to do this for the families. After the tragedy he was still needing to heal himself while having to answer parishioners questions and grief.

He received a letter from Father Basil O’Sullivan from Dunblane, Scotland where in 1996 sixteen school children were gunned down by a gunman. Through a series of letters, the two forged a bond sharing their similar experiences in having to deal with the trauma and recovery. Father Basil agreed to fly to Newtown for the one year remembrance. One year after such a tragedy can be re-traumatizing and he decided to go in solidarity to offer his support. My favorite scene had the Father reading the same sermon he presented in Dunblane after that tragedy. The audio of that sermon from the past cross-dissolved with the present audio. At the Dunblane sermon, Charles Prince of Wales was in the congregation. After Pulse, I’ve seen members of our community reach out when others face the same kind of tragedy.

The second film, “Uprising: Pulse to Parkland“ was about two Florida Communities united by grief and anger from deadly mass shootings. After 49 lives were taken at Pulse, gun legislation was proposed and quickly died in Tallahassee. Part of the problem was that the legislature wasn’t in session at the time. When 17 lives were taken at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School  the movement for sane gun legislation once again ignited. March for Our Lives swept up the peninsula and marched into the Nation’s Capitol. The Stoneman Douglas Students demanded an end to assault weapons and a stop to gun violence in America. The NRA however is a strong force in America with many politicians paid off and in their pockets. The battle for gun legislation is a long and continuing battle. Other countries around the world are shocked by America’s murderous obsession with guns.

Jim Helsinger discusses Angel Action Wings

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In Abraham Lincoln‘s Inauguration speech, he said   “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”This quote inspired Jim Helsinger to create Angel Action Wings after the Pulse tragedy. As he said, “Moises Kaufman wrote ‘The Laramie Project’, about the reaction to the 1998 murder of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, what could I do?” When members of a Baptist hate group said they would protest at funerals of the victims of the Pulse shooting, here in Orlando, Jim had to act.

The Orlando Shakespeare Theater and
the Angel Action Wings Project teamed up to create
massive PVC frame, and white linen angel wings in the hopes of blocking the 40-member
“church” group and their hate-filled signs, the dumbest being “God Hates Fags.” Thanks to donations, the
Orlando Shakespeare Theater built each of the angel ensembles in
their costume shop.  There was much confusion on social media about weather the hate group would actually show up, but Jim went with a gut feeling and had the wings built anyway. At a funeral, singing and the angel wings blocked the protesters who did get a permit to protest.

After that initial success some one suggested that 49 Angel wings should be built. Although he as in Colorado, he spearheaded the effort from there. Volunteers from Disney filled the Shakespeare scenic shop completing the wings with incredible speed. After a Pulse theater community event at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts the 49 Angels marched outside the theater surrounding the large memorial that was in the plaza. A light drizzle accompanied their somber candle light march, but when they stood in silent vigil the rain stopped and a light breeze aired their wings. People exiting the theater where overwhelmed be the sight.

Theater has a way of framing grief. When in a dark theater surrounded by an audience, we realize that we are not alone. If others survive then I can as well. We do not live in a vacuum. 20 years ago Orlando was a conglomerate of corporations. In the last fire years, little theaters and restaurants have found a home here. Orlando’s reaction and response to the Pulse tragedy is something to be proud of. We as a community will embrace gays, Latinos, and immigrants.

Jim grew up in Ohio and has shot guns. He believes in the second amendment, but if an individual is on a watch list, or has been denied a flight license, then why can he buy an assault rifle? In Newtown a young boy could walk into an alimentary school and shoot children. Nothing has changed. People need to accept their differences. There needs to be religious and racial tolerance. We need to change the culture of violence to a culture of love.

The 49 wings were just transferred to the Center which will decide how and when the wings will be used in the future. This will allow Jim to refocus his energies on running the Shakespeare Theater. They were just worn in the recent gay pride parade, where thousands
cheered as the angels glided down Orlando’s downtown streets. The angel wings need to keep flying.

Newtown

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Directed by Kim A. Snyder, this documentary was filmed over the course of nearly three years. It documents the story of the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting. Deeply personal interviews with parents, teachers, siblings, doctors and first responders. Newtown documents a community still traumatized by the senseless killings. The film opens with a surreal slow motion sequence of a small town parade.  A pretty baton twirler keeps three batons in motion, the drummers tap their snare drums and the beauty queen sitting on top of a convertible looks over her should and waves at the camera. This is the small town American ideal that is being lost due to gun violence.

December 14, 2012. 154 shots echoed through the Sandy Hook Elementary school’s PA loud speakers. The PA system had been turned on in a last minute effort to send a warning. In moments 20 first grade school children were dead along with 6 teachers and school staff. This was the most children shot to get in American history. A fire station was around the corner from the school and that is where parents gathered, hoping to find their children alive. When the mayor announced the number of children dead. The collective reaction was heart wrenching. An EMT remembered going to the school and the first child had a non life threatening injury. She thought, this is good, I am making a difference, but then the next child’s body arrived. Most children had been shot 3 to 11 times by large assault rifle bullets that are designed to explode once they enter the body. There is no surviving those kind of wounds. As a doctor described the wounds to a council, a woman behind him broke down in tears. In the interview when the EMT mentioned her second patient, she stopped speaking, her face froze and she fought back tears. There were no words that could describe what she saw. She felt anger at the senselessness of it all, and guilt that there wasn’t more she could do.

Mark and Jackie Barden are parents that lost a child that day. They came to the Orlando screening, partly because they have family here, but also because they know Orlando is going through this same collective trauma. The whole community at Sandy Hook is victimized, where do you go to protect and preserve yourself? The foundation has cracked and everyone is uncertain how wide that crack will get. Mark confided, that at 3 months out from the shooting they didn’t deserve to be out in public.

At a town council meeting a parent spoke up, saying “The right to carry a gun is more important than the life of my child. We need to get our priorities straight,” Everyone in the room including the counsel members stood and clapped. However change remains to be seen. Another father yearns to understand his sons final moments as he is being murdered by another child with an AR-15 assault rifle in his first grade classroom. A mother confessed that she is terrified of forgetting what he son looked like. A room full of boxes had hand drawn portraits and gifts from people from around the country and world. She couldn’t bring herself to open the boxes. “I just can’t do that yet.”

The film points to the power of community, and how people came together. Though devastated and fractured, parents began to find a new sense of purpose in trying to stop this from happening again. About 6,000 parents, siblings and activists marched on Washington DC demanding universal background checks on people who buy guns. Congress dragged their feet and the bill was killed. President Obama made a public plea, saying that government can not bring about sensible gun reform, and hopefully the American People can bring about change. No matter what the setbacks are, these parents and activists keep going. From failure comes success, from tragedy comes triumph.

On avenge, 32,000 Americans die every year from gun violence. That means on average 88 people are shot dead every day. The numbers are staggering. A reporter was interviewing a man in war torn Iraq. Homes were bombed out shells and rubble blocked the street. The reporter suggested that the father’s son might find a better life in America. The man responded, “Are you crazy, if my son went to America he would be shot to death.” The entire world considers America’s obsession with guns to be quite insane. One scene in Newtown showed an aerial shot of the Elementary School being destroyed. It is like we are dropping bombs on ourselves here in America. certainly the same wrecking ball awaits Pulse.  Jabir Bhatia in a blue turban eloquently voiced his frustration that we in America are unable to bring about sensible change towards peace.

Newtown is opening in NYC on October 8th. On November 2, it is opening in 350 theaters across the country with a live streaming conversation after the film. These open forums are a way for members of the community to finally be heard. The interfaith council discussion after this film went on for well over an hour. An overpowering theme of this conversation was the need for love to overpower hate. It is possible to get involved to stop this violence. We need to open up and meet our neighbors. Isolation is not the answer. The shooters were devoured be hate. What if someone had embraced them? Also, vote. Nevada, California and Maine have gun reform on the ballots. Speak up for those who can no longer speak for themselves.