Location: Rome, N.Y.

Presbytery: St. Lawrence

Organization: Feb. 1, 1997

Membership: 46 communicant; 17 baptized

Pastor: Aaron Goerner

Website: christchurchreformed.com

In 1989 God had a big plan for one New York town, but no one knew it. Aaron Goerner graduated high school and went to college. He had grown up in a liberal Episcopalian church, had been converted in high school, and so went hunting for a church to attend while at college. The Lord led him and his girlfriend, Heidi Kesler, to the Oswego, N.Y., RPC. There, fed by sound teaching supplemented by radical hospitality, Aaron and Heidi’s lives were forever changed. So were the lives of all Aaron’s immediate family members. He—like Andrew who told Peter—told his brothers, his sister, and his parents. They traveled an hour and a half to Oswego from New Hartford, N.Y., to hear the truth preached. Then they organized a Bible study under the direction of the Oswego church. Aaron and Heidi were married, Aaron went to seminary, and, on Feb. 1, 1997, Christ Church was organized in New Hartford, N.Y., with Aaron as pastor.

Christ Church, now in Rome, N.Y., has seen many blessings in her 21 years. She has transitioned from one family to 21 households of members and adherents, from a mission church of the Oswego congregation to an independent congregation, and from a succession of rented venues to having her own church building on eight acres with a house. We have much for which to be grateful! God indeed had quite a plan.

Our church building was freely given to us by a Baptist congregation that was closing. However, the church was in terrible repair. It took months of work by members of the congregation, the presbytery, and other churches, as well as other hired help, to make it fit to use.

In October 2015, we finally moved in. There is still work to be done. The basement needs to be finished for classrooms and fellowship space. In spite of having no kitchen facilities, not even a microwave, the women of the church have managed a monthly fellowship meal and even a large celebration to thank God and all the churches and people who made it possible for us to have this building.

Several years ago the Lord opened a door to a special ministry for us at a local nursing home. We hold a worship service there each Lord’s Day afternoon and a weekday Bible study. This has given us the opportunity to minister to many people the world has been glad to ignore. Some of the folks from the nursing home have expressed interest in joining us for morning worship and are given rides to church by members of the congregation.

Our emphasis on biblical preaching, regulative worship, and lively congregational fellowship sets us apart from not only the culture but most other churches. One or all of these characteristics have drawn people to us. In addition to the weekly worship service and the service and study at the nursing home, we have Sabbath school before worship each Lord’s Day and a Bible study each Thursday, plus a women’s monthly book study, weekly women’s prayer meeting, and a monthly fellowship meal. Many of our families homeschool their children and are part of a classical Christian academy where Pastor Aaron teaches Bible classes. Some members of the congregation are involved with CareNet, a national crisis pregnancy organization. Chris and Megan Goerner serve tirelessly as the presbytery’s representatives to the youth ministries committee of the RPCNA.

Our community is in the area where Charles Finney preached a false gospel, and the results of it can still be seen. In 1843 a congregation of the RPCNA in New Hartford closed. One hundred fifty-four years later, this congregation was organized there, and many members still live here. There is very little of the true gospel to be had these days in central New York. We have a friendly relationship with one Reformed Baptist congregation near us, but there is no other sound Reformed church in the area. It is a field rich with possibility. Pray for us that we may be able to make Christ known in this dry area.

Fun Facts

• The farthest anyone drives to church is two and a half hours.

• One couple and their three children are related to 32 other members of the congregation.