Christ Congregation, 50 Walnut Lane, Princeton, is celebrating its 50th anniversary this weekend with a special Saturday dinner and Sunday service featuring presentations by the two top officials of the denominations with which the congregation is affiliated: The American Baptist Churches USA and the United Church of Christ.
On Saturday night, at a dinner being held at the New Jersey Hospital Association Conference Center, the Rev. Dr. Roy Medley, general secretary of the American Baptist Churches, U.S.A., will be the featured speaker. Dr. Medley was the executive minister for American Baptist Churches of New Jersey before being selected for the national post. He also served as an interim minister at Christ Congregation in 1978.
On Sunday, the 10 a.m. worship service will feature a sermon by the Rev. John Thomas, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ. He was elected to this position in 1999. The United Church of Christ has recently been in the news because of its "God is still speaking…" campaign, with television ads that some stations declined to run because of the depiction of congregations that were closed to minorities or others often on the fringe.
Christ Congregation began in 1955 as Calvary Baptist Church, first meeting at the chapel at Westminster Choir College. The current sanctuary was built in less than one year in 1958. It became dually aligned with the United Church of Christ in 1968, and its name subsequently changed to Christ Congregation. The congregation made a decision to become an "open and affirming congregation" in 1997, and also joined the "welcoming and affirming" Baptist network, as well as a third denomination, the Alliance of Baptist.
A number of Princeton-area social, religious and educational groups have also used the church building. The Princeton Junior School and French School both first met at Christ Congregation. The Princeton Folk Music Society has had its concerts there for years, and the building is used on Sunday evenings by the New Jersey Indian Church.
More than 20 former members and clergy are returning for the 50th anniversary celebration. The major anniversary project has been a "50 for our 50th" memorial campaign, which has raised close to $70,000 and paid for the installation of thermal windows throughout the church. Histories of the church building, the community life, pastoral leadership and social action and outreach have been written and will be posted on the church’s Web site, www.ccprinceton.org as well as distributed in booklet form as part of the anniversary celebration.
The Anniversary Celebration Committee has included the current pastor, the Rev. Jeff Mays, Carol McCollough (moderator), Bill Gaventa, Beverly McNally, Audrey Staats, Joanne Hardgrove (organist), Tonie Forbes, Joy Staller and Bethany Hoffman.
For more information, contact the Rev. Mays at Christ Congregation, (609) 921-6253, or Bill Gaventa at (732) 235-9304.