Our History

​

In the providence of God, Emmanuel Church of Somerville has its beginning in two different places.  In Newark, Emmanuel Reformed Episcopal Church was organized in the year 1874.  For many years, the Newark church prospered and grew, however as the city and the neighborhood changed, the church found itself declining in membership.  By the early 1940’s the vestry of the church was compelled to sell the property and began searching for a place to plant a new church.

​

At about the same time, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Starner of Somerville had organized a group of Christians committed to prayer and fellowship around the Word of God.  The "Somerville Prayer Fellowship" met weekly on Main Street in Somerville.  As the year 1942 neared its end, the group leaders realized that the Lord expected a continuing development, perhaps as a congregation for the establishment of a church. When Mr. Charles Furness, a student from the Reformed Episcopal Seminary, learned of the plans of the Somerville Prayer Fellowship, he informed them of the Newark church. 

​

Taking the name of Emmanuel Church in 1943, the congregation purchased a home on East Main Street in Somerville with funds from the old Emmanuel Church of Newark. In 1957, the present building was dedicated to the Lord’s Service and in 1963, a new Sunday School wing was added to our Somerville church.

​

Emmanuel Church continues as a fellowship of Christians committed to prayer, to the Word of God, and to the work Christ has called us to do.