Community Church of Douglaston

Joseph Hellmann

On Saturday afternoon, April 25, 1915, 30 Douglaston residents gathered at the Douglaston Club to form a new church society. The first service was held at the Club on May 2, 1916, with the Rev. Ulysses Grant Warren of Brooklyn preaching. By the end of the month, a store near the train station was leased as a temporary church. In November of that year, the Rev. Cyrus I. Scofield, the compiler of the Scofield Reference Bible, volunteered to preach. During the next year, the society was formalized and the property upon which the church now stands was purchased for $6,000. In 1919, a portable church building was erected on the property and the membership voted to affiliate with the Reformed Church of America. Two years later, the Rev. Dr. M. Eugene Filipse was called to serve as the minister. Members pledged to a building fund for a permanent church building whose cornerstone was laid on January 27, 1924. The church was designed by William Neil Smith, won three competitions for colonial architecture, and was described as “the church in the heart of the community with the community in its heart.”

Rev. Filipse served the church for almost 40 years, during which time the congregation grew along with the Douglaston community. Activities increased and an educational building was added in 1952. Rev. Filipse dedicated the building addition “for the Christian education of our people through childhood, youth, and maturity, and for their equipment as Christian servants of mankinds.”

To this day, the Community Church of Douglaston continues to provide for the spiritual nourishment of its congregation. The church sponsors nursery and youth group programs, as well as a summer camp. It is also an active supporter of the community by providing a convenient location for a variety of groups to meet. Douglaston is a desirable, stable, cohesive community in large part because of the Community Church of Douglaston.