History of Trinity United Methodist Church
In the mid-1800’s City Island was becoming a prosperous community. The Trinity Church began with a group of people meeting for worship in each other’s homes. In 1851, the first church was built on donated land near its present location. The dedication took place in 1852 and was called The Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church. At the time, the only means of travel between City Island and the mainland was by ferry or private boat. However in 1873 a wooden toll bridge was built connecting City Island and Rodman’s Neck in what is now known as Pelham Bay Park. The present Trinity Church was built in 1878 and incorporated in 1879. A steel bridge was built in 1901. Besides saving souls in the 1890’s Trinity helped save lives and property. Since the church was centrally located n the island and had bells high on top of the steeple, it became the official fire alarm center. The parsonage was bought and in 1932 a building was erected to connect the 2 church buildings enlarging the facilities enlarging the facilities available for church and community activities. In this ecumenical spirit, we welcome you.
A Brief History of UMC
The United Methodist Church has its roots in the lives and ministries of John Wesley and his brother Charles Wesley, in the 1700s in England. In America, Methodism began as a lay movement in the 1760s. Following the American Revolution, Methodism became an organized church, with ordained pastors, and was known as The Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1785 the first Discipline was published, and a quadrennial General Conference was adopted, with the first one held in 1792. Full clergy rights were granted to women in 1956, but it was approximately a decade before the number of women in seminaries and pulpits began to grow significantly. On April 23, 1968 The United Methodist Church was created when The Methodist Church joined with The Evangelical United Brethren Church. At the time, The United Methodist Church had approximately 11 million members, making it one of the largest Protestant churches in the world. Currently there are United Methodist members and conferences in the US, Europe, Africa and Asia. For more detailed information, please visit www.umc.org.
Our Mission Statement
By the Power of the Holy Spirit:
“We Seek, Grow and Share the Love, Joy and Peace of Jesus Christ”
What We Believe
United Methodists share a common heritage and beliefs with all Christians. We believe in God as a Trinity – three persons in one: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that God is transcendent (over and beyond all that is), immanent (present in everything), omnipresent (everywhere at once), omnipotent (all powerful), and omniscient (all knowing). God has many other attributes, including being absolute, infinite, righteous, just, loving, and merciful. We believe that Jesus is the Incarnate Son of God, meaning that God was present in the world in the actual person of Jesus of Nazareth. We also believe that Jesus was fully human, experiencing all aspects of a human life including joy, sorrow, pain and loss. We believe that Jesus is the Christ (God’s Anointed One) and Lord (the one to whom we give our devoted allegiance). We believe in Jesus as Savior, the one through whom God has freed us of our sin and has given us the gift of salvation and eternal life. This was accomplished through Jesus’ self-giving sacrifice on the cross and his victory over sin and death in the Resurrection.
We believe in the Holy Bible (Old and New Testaments) as the Word of God and the true rule and guide for faith and practice. We believe the Christian Church is the community of all true believers under the Lordship of Christ. Through the Holy Spirit the Church exists for the maintenance of worship, the edification of believers, and the redemption of the world. We believe in the two Sacraments in which Jesus himself participated: Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (also known as Holy Communion, the Holy Eucharist) We practice “open communion” in that we do not restrict the receiving of communion according to age or membership status; we welcome to our communion table all who love Christ, repent of their sin, and seek to live in peace with one another. For additional information please visit www.umc.org.
The United Methodist Church has a strong foundation of basic social principles and “believes God’s love for the world is an active and engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty. We cannot just be observers. So we care enough about people’s lives to risk interpreting God’s love, to take a stand, to call each of us into a response, no matter how controversial or complex. The church helps us think and act out a faith perspective, not just responding to all the other ‘mind-makers-up’ that exist in our society” (excerpt from The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church 2012).
David Jolly
Pastor
David came to serve the St. James Church in Kingston in 2007. His predecessor, Rev. Jeff Glassey, was terminally ill and died shortly after the transition. David’s gifts of listening and caring were truly needed. David worked for twenty-two years in furniture stores in Ohio before entering Drew Seminary in 1996. As a student local pastor he served Malden, Palenville, and Quarryville. He also served Rock Hill, Red Hook and Milan. David believes in equipping “the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12 NRSV), and this has always been reflected in his work. At the Annual Conference, he has been especially appreciated for his leadership on the Camps Governing Board, the Bishop’s Convocation Committee, and Parish Development. He has been married to Donna Jolly for over forty-two years. They have two grown children, Matthew and Sarah.