ACTS 20:28

 

Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

 

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Directions to the church on bottom 

of page 

Our Mission Statement

To love God, serve our community and care for each other. 

 

Church Pastor, Supply Ministers,

and Lay Ministers  

 

David L. Frost, Pastor

Rev. Peter Surgenor, Supply Minister

Elder Jackie Acampora, Lay Minister

 

Session Members

 

David L. Frost, Pastor and Moderator

William Robinson, Youth Representative

Denise Santalis, Elder

Peter Robinson, Elder

Stacie Spinney, Elder

Bruce Ficinus, Elder

 

Janet Olsen, Elder and Clerk of Session

 

What Do We Believe

We believe in one God, Father of all, begotten not made, of one being with the Father.  Through Him all things we made. For us men and for our salvation He came from heaven, He was born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilot, died, buried and descended into hell, on the third day He rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father.  He will come again in glory to judge the quick and the dead.  We believe in the Holy Spirit, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.  With the Father and Son is worshiped and glorified.  He has spoken through the prophets.  We believe in the communion of saints and the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

 

 

A Brief History of the
  Patterson Community Church, 

Patterson, New York

Please check the Town of Patterson Historic site for more information about our church history and our Town's history.  www.historicpatterson.org

This beautiful church is the third church of the Presbyterian Congregation in Patterson. The first, often referred to as "The Old Meeting House," was located west of here, on the top of the hill, north of the Triangle Inn Corner (intersection of NYS Routes 292 and 311). It was established by tenants on Phillipse land, settlers from Connecticut , and is probably the meetinghouse referred to in the description of the Prendergast Rebellion of 1766 in Pelletreu's History of Putnam County. The second building was begun in 1794 on the land purchased by the trustees of the church from Thomas Townsend in 1793. This purchase included one acre south of the road, where the present Fellowship Hall and the Grange Hall are located, and a quarter acre adjacent to and north of the Episcopal cemetery. Additional land was obtained at that time from Stiles Peet and his wife, Lydia , on which the present building would be located. Matthew Paterson was an Elder of the church and Colonel Henry Ludington was a Trustee. The Colonel and his daughter, Sybil, are buried in the Churchyard.

This second building, which was finally completed in 1808, was demolished in 1838 when the present building was erected in a period of growth and optimism. Reverend Epinetus P. Benedict, the minister of the church at this time, served for forty years during a period of great changes to the town. Born in Connecticut, he worked and married in the South before he became pastor of this congregation in 1827. His influence on the church and his southern sympathies can be seen both in the design of the church building, which is unusual for this area (and more typical of the South), and in that there is no mention in the Session records of anything to do with the Civil War, although his son, Platt Benedict, served as a Union Officer.

Additions have been made to the building since 1838 including one bay and the beautiful and rare hung wooden ceiling. The church bell and yoke was purchased and installed in 1846 and the apse was added on the rear around 1868. The organ pipes, which were installed round 1900, were removed in the 1950's.  Perhaps the best-known pastor of the Church was the Rev. Horace E. Hillery, who was pastor from 1923 until 1951. Hillery also served as chairman of the Putnam County Welfare District during the Great Depression of the early 20th century, and in the early 1950s he was appointed Putnam County Historian.

A few months after Hillery's retirement, the Church congregation welcomed the Rev. Ormond L. Hampton to lead them. Hampton received a salary of $3,500, a $300 car allowance, four weeks vacation, and free use of the Manse. Hampton graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary in June, 1953, and assumed his duties in Patterson shortly thereafter. 

The Rev. Beimler served the Patterson community from 1956 to 1962. Beimler came to Patterson from the First Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon, New York where he had served as Assistant Pastor under the Rev. Mel Joachim. Beimler met his wife during his stay in Mount Vernon and they were married on April 28, 1956. The Beimler family left Patterson in 1962 for Liberty, New York where he served at the First Presbyterian Church of Liberty until 1978. In 1978 Beimler was recruited by the First Presbyterian Church in Plano, Texas. He died in a tragic car accident there on January 14, 1983.

Mrs. Beimler was born in June 1925 in Mount Vernon. During World War II she was a Junior League Volunteer at Mount Vernon Hospital. She also taught Sunday School at the First Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon and was active in the First Presbyterian Churches in Patterson, Liberty, and Plano. She was fond of dachshunds and was said to have raised five generations of them. Ruth Claire Beimler died in October, 2004 in Roscoe, New York at the age of 79.

On June 26, 1960, Robert Buxbaum was ordained at the Patterson Presbyterian Church. Robert was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Buxbaum of Cornwall Hill Road in Patterson, who were the owners of Phil's Service Station, Phil's Appliance Center, and Phil's Auto Sales, which were located on Front Street in Patterson and on NYS Route 22 in Pawling. Robert was the first member of the Patterson parish to be ordained in nearly 100 years. According to Church records, the last Patterson members to be ordained were the Rev. Oliver S. Dean and his brother William. Both served the Westchester Presbytery in Yorktown in 1862. The Rev. William Dean died at an early age in Tuscon, Arizona. The Rev. Oliver S. Dean was born in Patterson in 1835, and graduated from the Princeton Theological Seminary in 1863. He first pastorate was in his mother's hometown of Roxbury, Connecticut. In January, 1893, he returned to Patterson and assumed the pastorate of the Patterson Presbyterian Church. He served there until his retirement on July 1, 1909.


A new manse was built for the pastor and his wife, the Rev. and Mrs. John F. Millar in December, 1963. Land for the home was donated in the memory of Mrs. Carrie W. Van Ness Kelly by her sons and daughters. The property was located on the Towners Road, which is now known as NYS Route 164. Carmel building contractor Carl Paulson was in charge of the construction project. The house contained eight rooms with four bedrooms and two baths. The basement playroom was expected to be used by the Senior High Youth Group and for other church functions. The Millars hosted an open house in January, 1964. The Rev. Millar served the church until 1966.


In 1966, the Rev. James B. M. Frost became pastor, and would serve until his retirement in April, 1990. In 1970, the Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church in Putnam Lake began to use the Presbyterian Church buildings for church services and religious education programs. The Patterson hamlet area was originally part of St. John's parish in Pawling, but an agreement between the pastors of St. John's and Sacred Heart in the 1960s placed all of Patterson within the Sacred Heart parish. In 1970, the growing number of Catholics in the hamlet area created a need for a satellite church in the hamlet. Arrangements were made with the Christ Episcopal Church to use the church for Sunday masses and religious education programs, but more space was needed. Rev. Frost offered the use of the Presbyterian Church buildings, and, for the next twenty years, Catholic masses and religious programs were held in the Presbyterian Church and Fellowship Hall. Programs included a joint, interfaith weekly Bible study class, and joint prayer meetings. A shortage of priests at Sacred Heart eventually brought a halt to the joint programs and the sharing of the buildings.

 

DIRECTIONS TO PATTERSON COMMUNITY CHURCH:

Newburgh Bridge -- From West or North. Take Interstate 84 East to Exit 18 (Rt. 311).  After coming down the exit ramp, turn left and stay on Rt. 311 until you come into town.  Church is on the left.

Via Route 22 -- From North. Shortly after Pawling, turn right onto Route 311 (at the Mobil Station), go over the railroad tracks, less than ¼ mile, church  is on the right.   

Connecticut -- From East. Take Interstate 84 West into New York to Exit  20 (Route 22 and Pawling), Stay on Route 22 north through 4 lights (for approx 7 miles).  At the 5th light  (Mobil on the left), make a left turn onto Route 311.  Go over the railroad tracks, less than ¼ mile, church is on the right.   

New York City . Take the West Side Highway, which becomes the Henry Hudson Parkway , which becomes the Saw Mill River Parkway to the junction with Interstate 684. Continue on Interstate 684 North, which turns into Route 22.  Do not exit.  Continue north on Rt. 22 for approx. 7 miles, through 4 traffic lights, At the 5th light (Mobil on the left, make a left turn onto Route 311.  Go over the railroad tracks, less than ¼ mile, church is on the right.

Long Island . The least confusing route is to cross the Whitestone Bridge and take the Hutchinson River Parkway North to Interstate 684 (towards Brewster). Continue on Interstate 684 North, which turns into Route 22.  Do not exit.  Continue north on Rt. 22 for approx. 7 miles, through 4 traffic lights, At the 5th light (Mobil on the left, make a left turn onto Route 311.  Go over the railroad tracks, less than ¼ mile, church is on the right.

Alternative possibilities include the Sprain Brook Parkway to the Saw Mill Parkway , or the New England Thruway and Interstate 287 (Cross Westchester Expressway) to Interstate 684. Please refer to a road map for these routes or navigator.