Messiah Lutheran Church, a Spirit-filled congregation grounded in Jesus Christ, has anchored the Guilderland Avenue corridor in Rotterdam for nearly a century. Since a faithful few gathered for worship for the first time in 1927, the parish has lived out a simple but ambitious calling: to nourish its local community in body, mind, and soul. Today, Messiah is one of the fastest-growing congregations in the Upstate New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, recognized across the region for its groundbreaking partnership with the wider neighborhood through the Rotterdam Community Center and for its open welcome to people of every background.
Sunday Worship at the Messiah Faith Center
The Messiah Faith Center, the original church building at 2850 Guilderland Avenue, is the setting for Sunday worship. The principal Sunday Mass begins at 10:00 a.m. and follows the ancient Christian pattern of gathering, word, meal, and sending. Pastor Dustin G. Wright presides and preaches most Sundays, and the assembly celebrates Holy Communion every week. Home-baked bread, wine, grape juice, gluten-free wafers, and pre-packaged communion sets for those with health concerns are all available. Children and youth serve as acolytes, crucifers, lectors, greeters, and choir members; a brief children's sermon and age-appropriate activity bulletins invite young worshipers into the flow of the liturgy. A fifteen-minute musical meditation opens each Mass.
The liturgies come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship and the newer All Creation Sings hymnal, and Parish Musician Douglas J. Chilton directs music from the piano and organ. The order of worship is traditional and liturgical, but the tone is intentionally casual and contemporary enough that newcomers from any background can follow the flow. People are encouraged to sing, kneel, stand, or simply be present as they feel comfortable.
Most Sunday services are live-streamed on the Messiah Facebook page and the Messiah YouTube channel, and a multi-camera setup allows remote viewers to take in the music, the sermon, and the celebration of Holy Communion. Pastor Dustin is also glad to hear from anyone who would like to talk before visiting and can be reached at 518.253.9978.
Coming Up on a Hundred Years
Messiah's Centennial falls on Palm Sunday, March 21, 2027, marking one hundred years of ministry since the congregation's founding in 1927. That history began in the late 1920s, just nine years after the end of the First World War and after its own pandemic season, when a small group of faithful families came together to begin a Lutheran congregation in what was then a quiet stretch of Guilderland Avenue. In the century since, the parish has weathered the Great Depression, the Second World War, the decline and renewal of Rotterdam, and the COVID-19 pandemic. It opened a Preschool in the early 1970s and ran it for many years. In 2021, in the darkest stretches of the pandemic, Messiah took two bold steps at once: completing a $570,000 accessibility campaign and absorbing the nearby Trinity Reformed Church into a new ministry called the Rotterdam Community Center.
That accessibility work, named "A Place at the Table for Everyone," just finished. It added two all-gender accessible restrooms adjacent to the narthex, a lift between floors, widened stairs, a new front entry and portico facing Guilderland Avenue, an enlarged narthex, a relocated office, a new library and adult-education space, infrastructure for storm water and parking, and exterior lighting and signage. The whole Faith Center is now ADA compliant.
The next chapter of stewardship is the "Messiah at 100" Centennial Appeal. Three projects move in phased order: replacing the failing flat roof (already funded and about to begin), replacing the aging boiler and adding air conditioning to the rest of the building including the Fellowship Hall, and renovating the basement rooms that house Sunday School, the nursery, and youth groups. Roof work is largely covered by two early gifts; the HVAC work will need additional gifts, followed by gifts of about twenty thousand dollars to complete the youth room. Any surplus flows first to the next phase, then to further reduction of the existing mortgage.
Reconciling in Christ: A Welcome Without Exceptions
Messiah voted to enter ReconcilingWorks' Reconciling in Christ program on October 15, 2017, and on June 6, 2021, the congregation unanimously adopted a comprehensive welcome statement as one of its five core values. Grounded in Ephesians 2:14, that statement names "all ages, races, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, relationship statuses, socioeconomic statuses, disabilities, and mental and physical conditions" as full participants in the body of Christ. It commits Messiah to the work of anti-racism, internally and in the wider community, and to becoming ever more affirming and celebrating of every person.
Living out that commitment takes many forms. Permanent Progressive Pride flags fly outside both the Faith Center and the Community Center. An annual Pride Mass is held in June, and a special Reconciling in Christ Sunday is observed each January. The parish supports ReconcilingWorks financially every year and walks in Schenectady Pride and Capital Pride alongside the interfaith Schenectady Clergy Against Hate coalition. A Free Little Library outside the Faith Center shares children's books about diversity. Coming improvements include an upgraded t-coil hearing loop and other supports for people with disabilities, a Peace Pole outside the Faith Center, and a fuller Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice policy for Messiah itself.
Faith Formation for Every Age
Faith formation at Messiah begins with Cradle Roll. The program, chaired by Meredith Colacino, sends free monthly Frolic materials from Sparkhouse to families with infants and toddlers and provides a welcoming Family Room in the building. Cradle Roll pairs that work with regular group baptism classes for parents.
Children's Sunday School, chaired by Cheryl Borski, meets during the school year for kids from preschool through sixth grade using the lectionary-based Whirl curriculum. After the Children's Message, students head down to the Youth Wing with trained local schoolteachers for about forty-five minutes of video, song, and hands-on activity, then return to Mass to share Holy Communion with their families. Children stay registered through a brief online form, and the curriculum intentionally follows the same Bible passages the Pastor preaches on each Sunday.
Once young people reach roughly seventh grade, they enter an Affirmation of Baptism class that runs two and a half years, meeting most Sunday evenings at 5:30 p.m. during the school year. The class is intentionally intergenerational: parents, guardians, and other adults from the congregation regularly join the conversation. Following Affirmation, students move into a Youth Group that hosts at least one event every month, often in collaboration with interfaith partners at Congregation Gates of Heaven. Recent events have included a Haunted Hayride, Thanksgiving Basket Packing with Concerned for the Hungry, Help-Portrait Schenectady, and preparation for the 2027 ELCA Youth Gathering in Minneapolis.
Adults have two main faith-formation paths. Sunday Forum meets at 8:45 a.m. on program-year Sundays and is taught by Dr. Merle Longwood, Professor of Religion Emeritus at Siena College. The class meets on Zoom until Messiah's new, fully accessible library space is finished. Bible Study with Pastor Dustin and seasonal Lenten midweek series fill out the rhythm. Past guest speakers at Messiah have included Dr. Cynthia Moe-Lobeda of Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary on climate and race, storyteller Dr. Joseph Bruchac on American Indian culture, and Dr. Sarah Rogerson of Albany Law School on the immigration crisis. Recordings of recent forums are kept on the parish's YouTube channel.
The Rotterdam Community Center
The Rotterdam Community Center (RCC) at 705 Curry Road grew out of Messiah's 2021 merger with Trinity Reformed Church and now operates as a nonprofit open to the entire neighborhood. Its three program areas, all crosscut by a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion, are nutrition security, arts/culture/leisure, and community hub. The RCC welcomes neighbors of every religious background or none.
The building itself houses a performing-arts hall with surround sound and ADA-accessible seating, a Friendship Hall for classes and gatherings, a conference room, a recording studio, and a one-thousand-square-foot food-pantry suite. Ample off-street parking is available at the corner of Curry and Westcott roads.
Inside the Center, Community Crafting Mondays bring together knitters, crocheters, painters, and hand-sewers from 1 to 3 p.m., often with babysitting offered. Zumba with Annie G. runs twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays from 5 to 6 p.m., with drop-in and punch-card pricing. Gentle Yoga with Jean Marie Sefcovic gathers Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m., and Mindfulness Coaching with Nicholas Clay fills Mondays from 6 to 7 p.m. A Quilting Group works Wednesdays from 1 to 4 p.m. for adults eighteen and over who bring their own working sewing machine. Ceramics classes meet the second and fourth Wednesdays at 7 p.m. An LGBTQIA+ Support Group, facilitated by Drew Jones, gathers on the first and third Wednesdays at 7 p.m. and is open to all ages, with minors accompanied by a parent or guardian. Monthly Game Nights, a Book Club on the third Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., and Saturday Movie Nights in the Performance Hall round out the rhythm of the week.
The Community Center also hosts traveling concerts, the annual WELCA Craft Fair, free Schenectady Help-Portrait photography days, the Empty Bowls Gala, and one-off community roundtables. Anyone interested in the Center can call 518.364.3205 or stop by.
Bread of Life and the Produce Pantry
Messiah's Nutrition Security Committee runs two neighborhood food programs out of the Community Center. The Bread of Life Food Pantry opened in October 2015 and expanded into its current thousand-square-foot facility in May 2022. It supplies three days' worth of meals for every member of a household and now operates four regular sessions each month: the second Monday from 3 to 8 p.m., the third Monday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the fourth Monday from 3 to 8 p.m., and the fourth Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Pantry also packs weekly meals for delivery through the Food Pantries of the Capital District.
To set up an appointment, neighbors call 518.364.3205 and leave a name and contact number. On arrival, guests fill out a short form listing the food their household would like, and friendly volunteers bring the order out to the vehicle.
The Produce Pantry, by contrast, is first-come, first-served. Every Friday at 4:30 p.m., fresh produce from the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York is distributed until supplies run low. Roughly 130 families a week stop in for fresh fruits and vegetables that supplement other meals. Together, the two pantries have provided more than 37,000 meals worth of groceries in a single recent year.
A good share of that produce begins in the Rev. Richard Rieger Memorial Harvest Garden, an experimental urban farm on the Messiah campus. The Messiah Happy Gardeners meet every Friday at 9 a.m. to plant, tend, and harvest herbs, flowers, and vegetables for the Community Center. The Creation Care Committee, chaired by Nancy Stuebner, has also moved all Messiah buildings to 100 percent community solar power, installed smart thermostats, started a composting program, and marks the Season of Creation each September.
Faith, Justice, and the Wider World
Social action at Messiah flows through the Social Action Ministry Team, currently chaired by Karen Keenan, which gathers quarterly on the second Tuesday of January, April, July, and October. Day-to-day, three committees carry the work. The Social Justice Committee connects members to the broader witness of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's social teachings, to nonviolent direct action through the Black Lives Matter movement, to the Poor People's Campaign, to Ecumenical Advocacy Day with the New York State Council of Churches, and to Schenectady Clergy Against Hate. The Community Service Committee staffs the Schenectady Community Ministries Summer Lunch Program, packs Thanksgiving baskets with Concerned for the Hungry, and organizes Help-Portrait and the Community Egg Hunt. The Nutrition Security Committee oversees the Bread of Life Food Pantry and Produce Pantry.
Messiah is one of more than fifty faith groups working together through the Sycamore Collaborative, an interfaith body that delivers social services across Schenectady County. Messiah led the Collaborative's 2020 transformation from a Christian organization to an explicitly interfaith one, hosts the annual Phil Grigsby Memorial CROP Walk at the Community Center, and places young people in Sycamore Summer Internships. The Schenectady Community Advocates Program holds four organizing sessions each fall in the Fellowship Hall to prepare for the New York State legislative session and to respond to pending cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. Pastor Dustin has served as Co-Chair of the Schenectady County Food Council Advocacy & Empowerment Working Group, past Chair of the Sycamore Collaborative Interfaith Task Force, past President of the New York State Council of Churches, and past Chair of the Schenectady Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club. He is also a member of the Schenectady Rotary Club.
Fellowship Across the Generations
Four peer groups provide a rhythm for different seasons of life. Women of the ELCA, chaired by Jill Becker, gathers for craft fairs, pie-baking fundraisers, receptions for baptisms and first communions, a Summer Picnic, and a Christmas Party. Lutheran Men in Mission meets quarterly for service projects and fellowship, including the Men's Christmas Party in winter, Axe Throwing Night in summer, monthly Men's Breakfasts at Tops American Grill on the first Wednesday at 10 a.m., and past projects like painting Sunday School rooms. The Over 55 Gang, co-chaired by Wendy Tilison and Gloria Maki, gathers roughly monthly for bingo, potlucks, costume parties, Thanksgiving dinners, and holiday celebrations. The Young Parents group, for adults roughly twenty-five to forty, hosts brewery outings, a Christmas Potluck, and babysitting during most gatherings.
Coffee Hour follows Mass nearly every Sunday in the Fellowship Hall, and the Hospitality Committee, co-chaired by Meredith Colacino and Michael Jegabbi, keeps the kitchen and the reception calendar running. The Arts & Culture Committee brings touring bands, paint nights, open-mic concerts, and the annual Community Christmas Benefit Concert, and now curates a Narthex Art Gallery at the Faith Center to showcase local artists. The Care & Concern Committee visits the homebound, brings communion to shut-ins, organizes mental-health forums and NARCAN trainings, sends get-well cards, and ships care packages to college students and active service members. The Welcome Committee runs two New Member Classes each year, generally four one-hour sessions built around Daniel Erlander's short work Baptized We Live, followed by a New Member Welcome Dinner and an official welcome the following Sunday.
Music and Prayer
Music is woven through everything. The Sanctuary Choir, directed by Douglas J. Chilton, rehearses Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. and sings an anthem the following Sunday during the warmer months, when Mr. Doug is in residence. Several choir members also serve as cantors, leading the congregational hymns and liturgical pieces. Open-mic evenings in the Fellowship Hall, themed events like the Spooky Season Open Mic Concert, and the annual Christmas Benefit Concert bring local musicians into the life of the parish.
Intercessory prayer is a ministry of its own. The Prayer at Messiah Facebook group lifts up prayer requests, and Messiah distributes copies of Bread for the Day to anyone who would like a daily devotional. Sunday intercessions include prayers offered both in person and online, and the congregation follows the World Council of Churches' Ecumenical Prayer Cycle to lift up a different region of the world each week.
What to Expect When You Visit
The Messiah Faith Center's primary parking lot is on Guilderland Avenue, with additional accessible parking along Oak Street near the main entrance. Overflow parking on Sunday mornings is in the unpaved portion behind the lot of the neighboring John Fitzner Canvas and Auto at the corner of Curry Road and Floral Avenue. Once inside, greeters and a children's sermon make the morning easy to follow. Families with infants and toddlers can step into the Family Room off the sanctuary at any point.
Messiah at 100 chooses what to wear and how to behave; the parish describes worship as "family friendly, traditional but informal." Children are always welcome in the sanctuary and have their own bulletins and a Children's Message each week. After Mass, Coffee Hour in the Fellowship Hall is the easiest place to meet the pastors and members; several Sundays also feature guest speakers in an informal "Coffee and Conversation" series.
Getting Involved
Anyone interested in joining Messiah is warmly invited to attend a New Member Class, two of which are offered each year, one in autumn and one in spring. Each class consists of four one-hour hybrid sessions based on Daniel Erlander's short work Baptized We Live, followed by a Welcome Dinner and an official welcome at Mass.
Members can give of their time, talent, or treasure. Online giving is available through Tithe.ly, and mailed checks made payable to "Messiah Lutheran Church" can be sent to 2850 Guilderland Avenue, Schenectady, NY 12306. Messiah holds the Platinum Seal of Transparency from Candid. The parish uses twenty-three committees and six volunteer lists to carry out its ministry; openings always exist in everything from Archives to Property & Grounds. Sign up for the Weekly Update email through the parish's signup form, or reach Pastor Dustin at 518.253.9978.
Leadership
Pastor Dustin G. Wright has served Messiah since August 2014, after graduating from United Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Religion (with a focus on Islam) from the George Washington University, completed clinical pastoral education at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, spent a year in faith-based advocacy with Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Pennsylvania, interned with the Lutheran Office for World Community at the United Nations, and served as Vicar of Saint Peter's Church in Midtown Manhattan. His proudest professional achievements include leading the Sycamore Collaborative to become interfaith in January 2020, shepherding Messiah through COVID-19, and opening the Rotterdam Community Center in September 2023.
Heather Zimmer serves as Messiah's Director of Operations. A lifelong Messiah member and fourth-generation member of her family in the congregation, she chairs the Worship & Music Ministry Team, coordinates pastoral communications, and volunteers as a Sunday School teacher. Douglas J. Chilton, who holds a Bachelor of Music from the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam and a master's from The College of Saint Rose in Special Education, has been Parish Musician since 1991. The rest of the team includes bookkeeper Vicky Hayner and custodian Kristen Olochnowicz, who follows in the footsteps of her grandfather, father, and uncle at Messiah. Twenty-three committees and a Council share the governance work, all under the latest model constitution adopted at the February 2024 Annual Meeting.