History

St. John’s Episcopal Church in New City was incorporated three days after Christmas in 1866. At the time, the Reverend E. Gay, Jr. held services at the Rockland County Courthouse. The following year, the congregation began erecting its own church building a few blocks away on a 1/4 acre corner site on Main Street in New City donated by Charles W. Root. The quaint wood frame structure reflected the rural tenor of the surrounding countryside.

The first “Resident Rector”, Reverend Keane, was called in 1908, when transportation was still mainly by carriage. The Reverend Keane continued to serve as Rector of St. Paul’s, Spring Valley, as well, with his $600 annual salary augmented by a Carriage Hire Fund of ten cents per week contributed by each Warden and Vestryman. St. Stephen’s in Pearl River was later added to his rounds.

It wasn’t until the mid-1950s that St. John’s was finally able to obtain a full-time rector. This was due to the area’s influx of World War II veterans and their families, changing the area into a suburban community. By 1956, a new rectory was added behind the church, and the following year discussions began of raising money for a new church. The opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge across the Hudson River in the late 1950s began a surge of new housing development in Rockland County, and spurred the interest in the need for larger quarters. In 1960, land was donated adjacent to Lake DeForest, and by January 1963, the church was completed, with the rectory built by December of that year. With 155 children attending church school by 1966, the addition of an education wing was contracted in late 1967. Stained glass windows were designed for the church in 1968.

In early 1969 the Reverend Robert E. Morisseau was called as rector. Through the 1970s, the parish continued to grow, but by the 1980s, as witnessed in many denominations throughout the country, the size of the congregation began to level out and eventually decrease. Along with the decreasing size of the parish came increasing expenses. For many years, St. John’s had the benefit of volunteer Associate Clergy, the Reverend Anthony Macombe and the Reverend Allen Attenborough. Father Morisseau retired in 1994.

At the end of the self-study period in 1995, this parish came together to discern a vision for our next eight to fifteen years and as a result, the Reverend Susan Auchincloss was called to be our rector in 1996. She retired in the summer of 2004. Her legacy is the healing ministry which has helped many families through personal crises, outreach into the community, and the rehabilitation of much of the physical plant. 

At the end of the search process the vestry  called The Rev. Frances R. Twiggs as Rector. Pastor Twiggs took up her responsibilities in November of 2005 at the beginning of Advent. In the summer of 2011, Pastor Twiggs left St. John's to devote full-time study in the Doctor of Ministry program at The Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA. During her tenure she welcomed and encouraged lay ministries in the parish.

The Rev. Karen E. J. Henry was called as Priest in Charge at St. John's and began her ministry in October 2014. She retired in December 2017. During Mother Karen's years at St. John's the parish refocused its energies in Outreach and Christian Formation and completed the RenewalWorks program. Renovations of the physical plant were completed and the parish celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1866.

The Rev. Victoria Duncan served as Priest in Charge from October 2019 until December 2023. During her time at St. John’s we grew in God’s grace through the covid pandemic and developed our ability to worship and meet online. Technology upgrades were introduced allowing the parishioners to sign into Sunday morning services via Google Meet. The Rev. Shawn Duncan served as Associate Priest introducing the ministry of Tech Minister and developing a podcast ministry.

We are currently in the search process for our next priest.