Program

NYS Historic

Subject

Religion

Location

1022 Co Rd 9, Ghent, NY 12075, USA

Lat/Long

42.312464, -73.627949

Grant Recipient

Town of Ghent

The site of an old church, sometimes referred to as a meeting house, is found here in the small community of Ghent. Built in 1816, the meeting house was significant because the Dutch Reformed and Lutheran congregations, too small individually to build their own churches, built one church to share. In “Records and Proceedings of the Dutch Reformed Congregation”, the first service in the church was described as follows:

The Church was dedicated to the service of God-opening prayer by the Rev.[?] Wackerhagen a German Lutheran Minister. Sermon preached by Rev. [?] Quitman from 133 Psalm 1st verse “Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”

Gradually, as the local population and size of the congregations increased, it became clear that both congregations could not fit in one building.  After worshipping together for nearly 30 years, the members of the Dutch Reformed and Lutheran congregations separated, each establishing their own church building.