Kitchell Memorial Presbyterian Church in East Hanover: Dedicated to Helping Others

BY ELSIE WALKER STAFF WRITER

EAST HANOVER - “Small, but dedicated to helping others,” is how Malcolm Macdonald, of East Hanover, describes Kitchell Memorial Presbyterian Church at 469 Ridgedale Avenue, East Hanover. Macdonald and his wife, JoAnn, have been parishioners at the church for 48 years. When the couple recently talked about the church’s history, Malcolm Macdonald reflected how outreach is part of the church’s heritage. Outreach is also part of the church today. That outreach includes reaching out and inviting young families into the church. To help in that effort, last year, the church welcomed a new pastor, herself a young wife and mother: Hannah Allred. Recently, the Macdonalds, Allred and Carol Corea, of East Hanover, shared about their church: its history, its ministry and its outreach. Kitchell Memorial Presbyterian Church is an offshoot of the First Presbyterian Church of East Hanover. JoAnn Macdonald shared that according to the book on East Hanover in the series, Images of America, what became Kitchell Memorial Presbyterian Church started out in 1883 at the First

Presbyterian Church of East Hanover as the Bethel Society of Hanover. That group met in a one room chapel with a dirt cellar. To give an idea of things back then, its bell tower cost $106. It separated from the First Presbyterian Church of East Hanover in 1887 and then chartered its own church with 36 members. That church, Kitchell Memorial Presbyterian Church, founded in 1898, will be celebrating its 125th anniversary the first Sunday after Labor Day. However, the church’s history is not just about dates and names, it is steeped in helping people. Malcolm Macdonald recalled some of those moments that stood out for him. During the Morris County homeless crisis, Macdonald remembers walking into the church one Saturday and “the church was filled with people helping people.” There were beds laid out for the homeless in the lower part of the church while in other parts, things like AA meetings were being held. Speaking of AA meetings, the church started hosting those in 1982. Also, Macdonald recalled how, when Hurricane Sandy resulted in a Whippany church closing for

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FROM FRONT PAGE cussion and Q&A session with Nietfeld. Kline is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of eight novels, including The Exiles, Orphan Train, and A Piece of the World, and the author and/or editor of five nonfiction books. She is published in more than 40 countries; her books are taught in universities, colleges, and high schools. Hundreds of young adults age out of New Jersey’s foster care each year. Many are not reunited with their families or placed into a permanent home, leaving them vulnerable to homelessness, poverty, unemployment, lack of education and incarceration. You can help. Join us for an afternoon of fine dining, stimulating conversation, and good company while supporting our mission of providing safe housing, emotional support, life skills, and educational opportunities six months, the Kitchell Presbyterian Church hosted that church’s AA meetings. The Kitchell Memorial Presbyterian Church currently holds an open AA meeting every Saturday at 9:30am. (“Open” means alcoholics and those not yet sure they are alcoholics can attend). Another part of the church’s history is Boy Scout Troop 20 which the church has sponsored since the 1940’s; the church has seen over 48 members celebrate becoming Eagle Scouts in its fellowship hall. Also, with joy, Macdonald named past events like a Mad Hatters Tea Party, arts and crafts festivals, apple festivals, and a float for Memorial Day which stood out as vivid memories of the church’s history. Almost a year ago, a new addition to that history was made with the arrival of Allred. Allred will be celebrating her first anniversary at Kitchell Memorial Presbyterian Church on Palm Sunday.

“She is just wonderful; we are incredibly lucky to have her,” said Malcolm Macdonald. “Hannah’s sermons are absolutely brilliant, totally up-to-the-minute and she’s a young woman with an old for youth aging out of foster care; empowering them to rise toward their greatest potential. Roots & Wings is funded almost entirely by individual donations. We rely on the generous support of donors to help change the course of the lives of aged-out foster youth in New Jersey.

To learn more and register to attend please visit www. rootsandwingsnj.org woman inside,” shared Macdonald, in noting that the insights the pastor shares are usually found in those with more life experience.

Allred is a first career pastor. She was raised in another denomination that she never could relate to and in which she didn’t see a reflection of female clergy. However, as she was graduating college, she felt a call to ministry, just not as a preaching minister. (What she’d seen in the denomination she had grown up in was a corporation-like structure with pastors taking different specialized roles.). However, though at first the thought of preaching was scary, that changed: “I think preaching is so fascinating and so exciting because I think it’s an opportunity to put …two worlds and conversations with one another and push people to think beyond just the words

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