GUILDERLAND — Like Jesus, the Lynnwood Reformed Church began life in a humble stable. This month, it is celebrating its 50th anniversary in a grand, modern building.
"Celebrating God’s hand in our past. Seeking God’s hand in our future," is the theme of Lynnwood’s celebration. Several events are planned for the two-day celebration on March 4 and 5 at its 3417 Carman Rd. location. Organizer Carol Lynch said the focus of the celebration is looking back and looking foward.
"Being a church, you can look back on your history and see the work of God," Lynch said.

While the event’s organizers were modest about being quoted, they shared literature on the church’s history with The Enterprise.

The church began on the lot next to its current location, in an old desolate barn in a growing part of what is now suburban Guilderland. Twenty-six men and women, and five children, trudged through snow and mud on a cold Sunday in December in 1954, in order to worship God in a simple loft above several stables of horses. It was there that a church was born.
In a children’s story written about the church by Jane Davis, it says, "For on this cold raw Sunday in December a long time ago in the chilly upstairs loft of this weather-beaten, horse-smelling ordinary barn, the people sang, and they worshiped and they prayed.
"And they listened to the story of Mary and Joseph who traveled very far to find only room for them in a similar cold ordinary kind of barn. And it occurred to the people in the barn that they weren’t very different from Mary and Joseph at all. And the people felt the presence of God among them just like Mary and Joseph did on that cold winter night in Bethlehem." Davis presented this story to Lynnwood members at worship on Dec. 4, 2005.

The church’s sanctuary, where worship is now held, is an architecturally stunning room with a clerestory at its peak that allows light to beam down to the altar. The sanctuary’s beauty lies in a mix of tinted glass windows and wonderfully intricate woodwork.

A community center

The church in the barn was called the Lynnwood Chapel, but 50 years ago a church was built and it officially became the Lynnwood Reformed Church, a daughter church to the Helderberg Reformed Church in Altamont.
"We will always be grateful to the Helderberg Reformed Church," Lynch said, as she described how the church has become one of the centers of the community.

Many organizations use Lynnwood Reformed’s accommodating location including both Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts; Community Caregivers; the Guilderland food pantry; and the Schenectady Inner-City Mission.

Other events take place there, too, including elections, Hospice dinners, and the occasional Brooks barbecue, where money has been raised to help victims of disasters like last year’s Hurricane Katrina and 2001’s terrorists’ attacks on the World Trade Center. Lynnwood also helps support three missionary families in the Reformed Church of America.

While the Fort Hunter Fire Department was under reconstruction, firefighters used the church for all of their meetings and functions, which is just one example of many, says Lynch, that the Lynnwood church has been an open and willing member of the community.

The church started with 57 charter members, and now boasts a 499-member list.
"We’ve come a long way," Burt Robinson, who with his wife, Marion, became the church’s historians in January of 2004.

The church has gone through four major additions, with the last one being completed in 1995.

The original one-story church was transformed into a two-story building, which is now the education building, by raising the structure and pouring a basement underneath, all within the first five years. That addition was done by contractor Delbert Hallenbeck, and all the electrical, plumbing, and ceiling work was done by church members. The current sanctuary was completed in 1967.
"It’s a huge milestone; a lot has changed and grown since 1956. It’s quite remarkable," Lynch said.

Lynnwood’s members in 50 years have only had three. Starting in 1956, Rev. Gerard J. Van Heest served as pastor until 1968. Rev. Will de Forest started in 1969, and served as pastor until 2000. And Rev. Stanley Craig started in 2002, and is the current pastor of the Lynnwood Reformed Church.

In between the three long-term pastors three interim pastors led Sunday worship service: Rev. Theodore Thielpape, Rev. Sam Vander Schaaf, and Rev. Donald Pangburn,.

All three long-term pastors will be attending a banquet dinner on Saturday night, March 4, in honor of Lynnwood’s golden anniversary, at the Italian-American Community Center on Washington Avenue Extension in Albany.

In a newsletter sent to church members, all three pastors gave glowing praise for Lynnwood’s 50-year commemoration.
"Born in a stable, the Lynnwood Reformed Church, for half a century, has been a community of God’s people for many," wrote Van Heest, the first pastor. "Did we have the faith to dream this dream 50 years ago" I am proud to have been part of Lynnwood’s history."
"I considered it a privilege to be a Christian Minister at Lynnwood," wrote de Forest, the second long-term pastor. "When we moved into the community in 1969 we had a ready-made family there to welcome us, treat us with kindness and accept us as we were"Serving the same congregation for nearly 32 years became an opportunity to share deeply important life changing experiences with many people."
"Congratulations to you, sisters and brothers in Christ at Lynnwood Reformed Church, on the event of your 50th Anniversary," wrote the current pastor, Rev. Craig. As we stop to ponder this milestone, we give thanks for the many blessings of God that empowered your past, and enabled you to prayerfully pause here in the present."

Five active members remain from the founding charter members list in 1955: Robert Sr. and Bertha Hanna, Eugene Stutz, Dorothy Gralow, and Gordon Proskine.

The celebration

Fifty years ago The Enterprise wrote an article on the Lynnwood Reformed Church’s groundbreaking as construction began. On display in the narthex, below two large banners filled with colorfully-decorated patches of family names, are the original photo engravings used for the 1956 article printed in The Altamont Enterprise, given to Lynnwood church, courtesy of Howard Ogsbury, who was the publisher at the time.

On Saturday morning, March 4, the Men’s Brotherhood is having a breakfast at Lynnwood to start the celebration. Then, later that night, a banquet dinner is going to be held and Lynnwood’s three pastors will be the guests of honor. On Sunday morning, a special worship service will be held, marking Lynnwood’s 50th year. The church is planning another function in June to mark the occasion, and in September will hold an open event for the entire community to attend.
"It’s always important," Lynch said, "to remember your history."