A Journey to the Promised Land: The Struggle of a Suburban Church to Build an Edifice

By J. Mastine Nisbett

Dean Nisbett has crafted an excellent book that is carefully researched. He is a masterful storyteller, combining theology, sociology, history, scripture and church architecture into a masterpiece. Writing about the struggle of a suburban parish to build an edifice, the author cites numerous parallels between the Israelites history and that of the parish. He recasts the Israelites story into the contemporary, making the Bible relevant in demonstrating the ongoing work of God.

Nisbett explores the struggle of African Americans to be integrated into the United States of America. He addresses the tension between West Indians and black Americans and notes the latters significant contribution to the Episcopal Church. He recognizes the indelible contribution of the first African Americans who penetrated the white enclave of Cambria Heights. Recognition is also made of black Episcopalians for their valuable contribution to the society and for challenging the church to be honest to its Catholicity, insisting that they (black Episcopalians) be included into the Body of Christ.The author explicates the concept of vocation, the call to serve God in His church. He shares his personal experience. Very inspiring! A must read for those contemplating the ordained ministry.

The book integrates the Church into the life of the community. It is an excellent tool for congregational development, and could serve as a model for congregations to chronicle their history from a theological perspective. In addition, the book will be useful to those researching the history of the ordination of black Episcopalians and the birth of the black Episcopal congregation in the United States. It is a wonderful resource for those considering church construction. Finally, the author theologizes the building and provides a helpful manual for every worshiper whom the author (in reference to 1st Peter) describes as living stones built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, The chief Corner Stone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 11, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452092348

J. Mastine Nisbett

The Very Rev. Joshua Mastine Nisbett D. Min. was ordained to the priesthood in 1975. During his forty-four years of ordained ministry, he has served in only two parishes. His second pastorate lasted thirty-four years despite tumultuous challenges at the outset. His long tenure is largely due to his sense of vocational "calling", his radical trust in God, his patience, his deep spiritual life, and his courage, like that of his name-sake, Joshua. These virtues, along with his professional training, enhanced the growth and stability of the parish. With much team effort, the congregation built and dedicated a new House of Worship during the seventh year of his rectorship. With his leadership, the congregation adopted the principles of the 5-Star Church. Dean Nisbett is very talented and has authored the book, "A Journey to the Promised Land." Additionally, he has composed the words for several hymns and has written a passion play, "Who's on Trial" in which he played the role of the main character, Jesus. The author has done much research work on the town of Cambria Heights and has published the early history of the town in his book. He has a Doctorate in Ministry from The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. He earned a Master of Arts from Fordham University and Bachelor of Arts from the United Theological College of the West Indies.

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© 2011 J. Mastine Nisbett. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 3/08/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9232-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9233-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-9234-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010915663

Printed in the United States of America

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Dedicated

to the former, current and

future members of St. David’s,

friends of St. David’s, and all

who will read this manuscript.

I hope you will find it enlightening,

as much as it has been rewarding

to me, the scribe.

Table of Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Patriarchs

The Call

The Promises

The Response

A New Identity

The Nomadic Period

Sojourn in Egypt

Chapter 2 The Exile

The Admission of Slaves into

the Anglican Episcopal Church

Slaves in Other Religious Denominations

The Emergence of Black Congregations

The Exodus of Blacks from the Episcopal Church

The Struggle of the Remnant to be accepted

Suffragan Bishops

A Litany of Cries Let My People Go

Changes in the Housing Industry

The Contributions of Black Episcopalians

West Indian Americans

Chapter 3 The Exodus

Our First Adventurers

The Influx of Blacks into the Neighborhood

Pockets of Resistance

Attempts to Integrate the Community

Business Firms Abandon the Community

A New Wave of Interest to Return

to the Neighborhood

St. David’s in Transition

Chapter 4 The Conquest

The Call

Discerning the Call

The Ordained Ministry

The Calling of the Rector

The Corporate Call

Electing the Architect and Attorney

Murmuring In the Wilderness

Manna from Above

Rebellion in the Wilderness

The Eclipse

The Crossing of the River Jordan

Entrance into the Promised Land

Chapter 5 The Living Stones

Christ, the Head and Cornerstone

Are We Stumbling over the Cornerstone?

We Are the Living Stones

The Living Temple

Giving Meaning to the Structure

Bridge Builders

We Are a Holy Nation

We are God’s Chosen People

The Spiritual Journey to the Promised Land

Chapter 6 The Epilogue

The Significance of the Church Building

A Divine Mission

Effective Leadership

Site Planning and Location

Choosing the Architect

How Large Should You Build

What Style of Architecture

The Importance of the Exterior Design

The Design of the Interior

The Heating and Cooling System

Windows and Art

The Acoustics

Lighting the Church

Conclusion

Personal Interviews

Books

Articles and Pamphlets

Church Proceedings and Letters

End Notes

Preface

No place is a place until things that have happened in it are remembered in history, ballad, yarns, legends or monuments…no place is a place until it has had a poet.

(Wallace Stegner. The Soul of the Congregation)

The fullest and most satisfying way to study the culture of a congregation is to live within its fellowship and learn directly how it interprets its experience and generates its behavior.

(James Hopewell,

Congregation: Stories and Structures)

I welcome this opportunity to write about the wonderful experience that my congregation had in constructing an edifice as our place of worship. Although the building was dedicated in 1992, it was never chronicled. Writing about it at this time affords me the opportunity to reflect and put this experience in a theological perspective.

It is my thesis that the history of St. David’s Episcopal Church, Cambria Heights, New York has some similarities to the history of the Israelites, which will be explored in this narrative.

There are several key points to keep in mind to fully understand this narrative:

While the primary biblical analogies come from the patriarchal period - through the conquest of Canaan, they are not limited to these periods.

The Old Testament patriarch Abraham was previously called Abram. In the manuscript the two names are used interchangeably. However, Abram is only used in direct quotes from the scripture.

This is not another biblical commentary of Israel’s experience. It is an account of St. David’s history, punctuated with parallels from Israel’s history.

• The Church is an integral part of the community; much of the community’s history is chronicled in this document.

• The chronology of events of St. David’s history does not always coincide with that of the Israelites.

• The concept of Journey should not be limited to physical travel, but mental and spiritual as well.

• The primary understanding of the Promised Land is the new edifice that was built in 1992. However, the term is used on a secondary level in reference to a Land of Hope. For example, the blacks migrated from the South to the North to better their condition. The North therefore was considered the Promised Land for them. The term is also used in a spiritual sense to describe our ultimate destination, the heavenly Jerusalem.

• There is an overlapping of the roles of Moses and Joshua as it pertains to St. David’s history.

• In the biblical account, Moses was the individual who made appeals to Pharaoh to liberate the Israelites.

• In this narrative, several individuals are characterized as Moses, who fought for the freedom of blacks.

• The list culminates with the Rev. Leo Malania, with specific references to St. David’s history.

• In this writing, I shall share some personal experiences and events I have never spoken about publicly.

• Let me be very clear that the aim is not to re-open old wounds. Much healing has already taken place, but as someone once said, True healing only takes place when one can speak about one’s hurt openly and without animosity. This reflection is very similar to Richard Lischer,[1] who in his book Open Secrets shares the growing pains he experienced in his parish.

Chapters One through Four record the history of St. David’s Episcopal Church, the community of Cambria Heights, and the struggle of African-Americans to be integrated into the United States of America. As such, it should be an asset to both the community and the church. These chapters also bring the biblical stories alive and validate the Church’s history.

Chapter Five deals with the ongoing life of the church and is not limited to St. David’s. In fact, it could be used as a guide by any congregation to keep it focused on the centrality of Christ. The final chapter, I hope, will be helpful to congregations who are embarking on building projects.

Acknowledgements

First, I am indeed grateful to the Reverend Dr. Michael Battle, former Professor at Virginia Theological Seminary, and the Reverend Dr. Kortright Davis of Howard University for encouraging me to pursue the doctoral program.

I am also indebted to the School of Theology of the University of the South for admitting me into the Advanced Degree Program and for its scholarship assistance, thus enabling me to organize my thoughts to write this document.

I could not have done this work without the support of my parish, which provided me with a sabbatical to do the extensive research. Let me also thank the vestry for its kind gesture of pre-sabbatical dinners that they graciously provided for Enid and me.

Many thanks to the Right Reverend Orris G. Walker, Jr., retired Bishop of Long Island, for his words of encouragement and scholarship assistance.

A word of appreciation is in order for Euclid Jordan, William H. Durham, and the many interviewees who were extremely helpful in providing resource materials for this research.

My gratitude goes out to my typists, Kerry-Ann Spencer, Duane Rodney, Dorothy Lundy, Jason Nisbett, Jereme Nisbett, Jevon Nisbett and Oswald Greene, print artist. Thanks also to Dr. Betty Carrington, Bernadine Clay, Rev. Maxine Cleghorn, Dr. Marlene Cox and Vernese Smith for their invaluable skills in proofreading this manuscript.

Special thanks to my siblings, Mavis, William, Harold, Annette, and their families for the fine hospitality they gave me as I traveled to do my writing.

Finally, my loving appreciation is expressed to my wife, Enid, and our three sons, Jason, Jevon, and Jereme, for their support, patience, and understanding during the period of research and writing.

Introduction

Every congregation continues the biblical story through its own stories. These contemporary extensions of the biblical style and plot in the congregation’s own history become the carriers of the faith of the community’s identity. Such continuations of the biblical story highlight significant events, which have had a certain transforming and binding power for those who participated in them…Above all, such narratives recount stories of faith.[2]

Theologian Lewis Mudge

The Old Testament records the story of Abraham who was called to go on an adventure with God into the Promised Land of Canaan. The journey was long and overwhelming with problems at times. Centuries later, Joshua was successful in leading the Israelites into the Land of Canaan. Much transpired between the call of Abraham and the conquest of Canaan. For example, there was the exile in Egypt followed by the exodus led by Moses.

Similarly, St. David’s history began in 1940 with the call of fourteen families to leave their mother church, St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church in Queens Village, to establish a place of worship in their own community of Cambria Heights. Like the Israelites, their journey was long and overwhelming at times. The pilgrimage began with the patriarchs (fourteen families) who started an Episcopal Mission in Cambria Heights in 1940. Initially, they were like nomads, wandering from place to place until their sojourn in Egypt, where they built a Parish Hall as a temporary place of worship.

The patriarchs were Caucasians. Blacks were kept in exile through racism, segregation and bigotry. In time, they were delivered from their bondage and made their exodus from their exile. This marked the beginning of the blacks’ migration into the community of Cambria Heights and the exodus of whites from the neighborhood, including St. David’s Church.

However, with the advent of middle-class blacks, the neighborhood was improved and a new edifice was built in 1992 to replace the Parish Hall, the temporary place of worship. Thus, the mission which started with the patriarchs was completed several years later. The church’s history is very similar to the Old Testament story of the call of Abraham and the promise made to him, which was eventually fulfilled with the conquest of Canaan by Joshua.

The new edifice is only a means to an end, and not an end in itself. We have to guard ourselves from idolizing it, but use it as one of our strengths in a positive way, capturing the image of the living stones that 1st Peter writes about. In doing so, we shall not allow the edifice to become a stumbling block in our spiritual journey. Ultimately, the journey to the Promised Land culminates when we have passed from life through death to life in all its fullness.

Finally, in the Epilogue, I will make some suggestions about building a house of worship. Hopefully, these suggestions will be helpful to those who are courageous enough to embark on such a noble mission.

Chapter 1

The Patriarchs

Biblical scholars have described the period of Israel’s history recorded in Genesis, Chapters 12 to 50 as the Patriarchal period. This era covers the call of Abraham and the blessings promised to him, as well as his descendants, by God. Abraham was promised the land of Canaan and consequently embarked on a long journey, a journey in which he and his offspring camped at different sites before their exile in Egypt. This phase of Israel’s history has some similarities with St. David’s early history.

According to Genesis 11:31 (NRSV), Terah took his son, Abram, and his grandson, Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law, Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.

Abraham, following the example of his father, continued the practice of migration. Genesis 12:1-4 (NRSV) states, Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ So Abram went, as the Lord told him; and Lot went with him.

Here we note the call of Abraham, God’s promise made to him and Abraham’s response. Abraham and his clan were herdsmen by trade. (Genesis 13:5-6 (NRSV) informs us, Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and there was strife between the herders of Abram’s livestock and the herders of Lot’s livestock. This trade caused them to adapt the lifestyle of nomads wandering from place to place but wherever they camped, they built an altar as substantiated in Genesis 13:18: So Abram moved his tent, and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron; and there he built an altar to the Lord.

Though the initial appearance of the Deity to the clan ancestor took place at a particular location, God was not confined to any specific geographical area. Indeed, God spoke to Abraham at Hebron in Mesopotamia, at Shechem and at Mamre on the mountain in the land of Moriah. In today’s world, we would say that they migrated in search of economic stability. However, Abraham and his followers interpreted their history from a theological perspective. They were convinced that God was directing their history. It was God who called them and invited them on an adventure to the land of Canaan which was promised to them. What they merely did was to respond to God’s call.

The community of Cambria Heights is bound to the west by Francis Lewis Boulevard, to the north by Murdock Avenue, to the east by the Queens – Nassau line, (now named the Cross Island Parkway) and to the south by 121st Avenue. The main street that runs through the town is Linden Boulevard, previously called Foch Boulevard and prior to that, Central Avenue. Originally, the area was part of St. Albans and was part of the Jamaica town grant that the New Netherlands Governor, Peter Stuyvesant, offered to English settlers in 1656.[3] Prior to the 1930s, the area now known as Cambria Heights was a bountiful farm and forest. Livestock such as pigs, cows and horses were raised on the farm. Vegetables such as cucumbers, beans, spinach, cabbage, carrots and sweet corn were cultivated.[4] This notation in Cambria Heights’ history reminds us of the fertile land of Canaan that the Hebrew people were about to enter as stated in the book of Deuteronomy:

For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land with flowing streams, with springs and underground waters welling up in valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, land where you may eat bread without scarcity, where you will lack nothing…[5]

Commenting on the name, Cambria Heights, some historians say that Cambria was the name of a local family. Others believe that the name was based on a coal company from Cambria County, Pennsylvania. In either case, there is no doubt from where the Heights portion came. The area is the third highest elevation on Long Island, rising roughly 50 feet above sea level. At one time, it was called Kerosene Hill because the community did not have piped-in gas. The turning point of the community began in