The Bedford Presbyterian Church is a parish church in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is located in the U.S. state of New York. It is the seventh most populous county in the State of New York and the most populous north of New York City. According to the 2020 United States Census, the county had a population ...

. The current structure was built in 1872 in the Gothic Revival style, as the fourth building for the congregation on the site. The historic building is part of the

Bedford Village Historic District The Bedford Village Historic District is a national historic district in Bedford, Westchester County, New York. The district contains 80 contributing buildings and one contributing site. It encompasses most of the original 1680 hamlet and is lai ...

, and was listed in 1973. It also serves as a venue for performances of sacred music.

History

Bedford Presbyterian Church was founded in 1680. In its first years, the church was either Congregational or Anglican, depending on the minister. The church is the fourth building on the site on the

village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...

in Bedford. The cornerstone was laid and services celebrating the dedication of the then-most-recently-restored building were held in 1872. The first minister, Reverend Thomas Denham, settled in 1684, and a meeting house was built in 1689. When Bedford became part of New York, this house was transferred to

Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...

. Bedford was part of the

Anglican Church Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...

until the Revolution. A second meeting house was burned by order of a British colonel in 1779. A third house was transferred to Westmoreland Sanctuary. The fourth building, the present church, was built in 1872, with a Sunday school in the rear. It was described as It is part of the

, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in northern Westchester County in 1973. The church, which has excellent acoustics, is often used as a venue for sacred music concerts and recitals. The choir The Master Singers of Westchester performed regular concerts such as Britten's '' A Ceremony of Carols'' in 1984, his cantata ''

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

'' in 1986, and Bach's Mass in B minor in March 2003. The Westchester Oratorio Society performed its 20th-anniversary concert there on 6 May 2018, performing Mozart's Requiem, with organist Anthony Newman. In 1998, the congregation contracted with Martin Pasi to design and build a new tracker organ for the church. The organ is a 2-manual organ of 29 stops and is entirely encased in the rear gallery. Bedford Presbyterian is known for its creative worship, outreach ministries, and youth programs. The high school youth program is centered around work trips to Appalachia and Nicaragua. The members of the congregation work wit
Habitat for Humanity
th
Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry
an
Midnight Run
Bedford Presbyterian Church helped to co-found th
Emergency Shelter Partnership
in which local churches and synagogues provide shelter for homeless guests during the winter months. Their present minister is th
Rev. Carol Howard Merritt

References

Sources

* Reverend Heroy: ''A Brief History of the Presbyterian Church at Bedford, N.Y. from the Year 1680''. 1874.

External links

* {{official, https://bedfordpreschurch.org/ Presbyterian churches in New York (state) 19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Churches completed in 1872 Gothic Revival church buildings in New York (state) Churches in Westchester County, New York National Register of Historic Places in Westchester County, New York �
Ruth Graham, "For Christmas, Pastors Offer Comfort and Joy in a Somber Season," ''New York Times.''