About Us
Christ United Methodist Church is a member of the Metropolitan District of the New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Christ Church has a long history as a welcoming and caring community of faith. On November 1, 1919, Rev. Dr. Sante Buzzalini under the direction of the City Evangelical Union and the Board of Home Missions and Church, began the first work among the 25,000 Italians on Staten Island to establish an English-speaking congregation. The parsonage at 12 Eunice Place was purchased and new converts became members of a nearby Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. Buzzalini raised support for a new church building for the English-speaking congregation by going house-to-house knocking on doors. His efforts came to fruition in 1932 with the construction of the present sanctuary, opening the doors of Holy Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church as its founding pastor. The church was built directly on the bedrock which gives Graniteville its name, and made of blocks from the quarry which was only a few hundred yards away. The Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South and the Methodist Protestant Church merged to form The Methodist Church in 1939, making this church Holy Trinity Methodist Church. Almost 30 years after the construction of the rock solid sanctuary, the large social hall was built and dedicated in 1961 in memory of Rev. Dr. Buzzalini.
Christ United Methodist Church is the synthesis of four Methodist churches that came together over three separate mergers. Holy Trinity (Forest Avenue) merged with Graniteville (Willowbrook Avenue) to form Holy Trinity-Graniteville Methodist Church with official incorporation on March 2, 1959, worshipping in the current edifice. The name was changed to Christ Methodist Church on April 1, 1960. In 1968, all Methodist churches became United Methodist to reflect the merger with Evangelical United Brethren Church. Asbury United Methodist (Richmond Avenue) and Dickenson United Methodist (Victory Boulevard) merged in April 1972. Asbury-Dickinson merged with Christ in 1974 under the leadership of Rev. Howard Newton and the congregations maintained the name, Christ United Methodist Church.
Today, the congregation is multi-ethnic with approximately 200 members from Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America. Ministries include: Sunday Worship, Sunday School, Fellowship, Bible Study, United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women, Youth, Young Adult and Community involvement.
NAME |
YEARS of SERVICE |
Rev. Gordon Baum | 1958 - 1962 |
Rev. Harold Moser | 1962 - 1965 |
Rev. George Zimmerman | 1965 - 1967 |
Rev. John Swords | 1967 - 1971 |
Rev. Howard Newton | 1971 - 1978 |
Rev. William Mowat | 1978 - 1987 |
Rev. Jeffrey Oak | 1987 - 1990 |
Rev. Kate Parker-Burgard | 1990 - 1994 |
Rev. Kenny Yi | 1994 - 1999 |
Rev. Emily Hall | 1999 - 2000 |
Rev. Josephat O.A. Rungu | 2000 - 2005 |
Rev. Dai Hoon Lee | 2005 - 2013 |
Rev. Moonsook Kim |
2013 - 2016 |
Rev. Rafael Garcia | 2016 - present |
*Rev. Dr. Sante Buzzalini, founding pastor of Holy Trinity, served from 1919 - 1957