OUR HISTORY

   The Valley Stream Baptist Church was started when an arm of the American Baptist, established and dedicated Alden Terrace Baptist Church in June of 1950. After serving the community, the society realized that a Baptist Church was needed in the area. At the time when the original building was dedicated the church membership was only twenty-eight members.

 In June of 1967, Alden Terrace Church merged with the Second German Baptist Church of NY. The Second German Baptist Church, founded in 1895 as French German Bethlehem Church, was noted because its first pastor was Walter Rauschenbusch. He was a seminary professor as well as a Baptist minister, but is best known as the author of the Social Gospel movement. Upon merging, the two became known as Valley Stream Baptist Church.

   The extension to the building was added about ten years after the two churches merged. It was about that time the church began its association with the North American Baptist Conference.

   The NABC is a network of 400 or more churches in Canada and the US. The purpose of the NABC is to make disciples for Christ at  home and internationally.

   Immigrants from Germany began the NABC. The first church was organized in Philadelphia in 1843. In 1865, delegates of the churches met in Wilmot, and organized the North American Conference. The conference meets in general every three years to conduct business  through elected delegates from local churches. The General Council is composed of representatives of various Conferences including our own Atlantic Association.