Flushing First Church of the Nazarene Update
Rev. Andrew R. Bennett
It is hard to believe that one year ago, I was asked by the district to give pastoral oversight to the Flushing First Church of the Nazarene. A 102-year-old congregation, FFCN was one of the churches adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, resulting in much of the congregation not returning. Although the FFCN congregation did not fully return, it hosts five other Nazarene Asian congregations.
While 67.1% of the population living within a 1.5 miles radius of the church is Asian, FFCN remains a multiethnic community. Percept Group research indicates that among the challenges within this population, neighborhood crime and safety, finding/providing good schools, dealing with problems in schools, dealing with racial/ethnic prejudice, dealing with neighborhood gangs, and dealing with social injustice looms largest. At the same time, however, from a spiritual/personal perspective, much of the population indicated that they are also having challenges dealing with stress, finding companionship, finding a good church finding spiritual teaching, and finding life direction.
Strategy
As we continue to exegete our community to learn how God will have us join Him in what He is doing here, we embarked on a three-year strategic plan process, which began in 2023. So far, we have developed a clear vision and mission and are now outlining our key performance indicators for each year. Our vision is to be a growing multi-ethnic community of devoted Christ-Followers proclaiming the hope and love of Jesus. In addition, we exist to lead people to Jesus and into the fellowship of His Church, build them up to be Christlike through discipleship, and equip them to serve within the community and the world, all to the glory of God.
Development
So far, after the aftermath of the pandemic, our membership has reduced to thirty persons, and we have an average of approximately 15 in attendance for worship.
Over the past year, much time, effort, and resources have been spent overhauling the organizational structure, upgrading the physical structure, improving the worship delivery, training members on sharing their faith, and doing evangelistic outreach to the community. This summer, we are embarking on an initiative to proclaim the gospel, serve the community and announce to the community that the church is still “open for business.” The initiative is dubbed “HopeFest 2023”. It will constitute a time of ministry to children, distribution of bookbags and school supplies, the preaching of the Gospel, and the presentation of the Gospel message through the arts.
Partnership Opportunity
Flushing First Church of the Nazarene is in a unique, challenging, and at the same time, highly potentialized ministry context. While the congregation is in revitalization mode, it has adequate physical space for ministry. The sanctuary holds up to 300 persons, and several classroom spaces can be used for outreach. As we execute the strategic plan, we continue to seek an opportunity to leverage this resource to minister to families, focusing on the youth population. As we execute the various initiatives, we look forward to continuing to partner with Bronx Bethany to make this mission a success.
UPCOMING
