Church restores house for missionaries in transit

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The unoccupied house on the property of the Brookdale Reformed Church on Bellevue Avenue will be used by the church to provide temporary living quarters for missionaries, according to the Rev. Susan Dorward. The house was built as a manse, or the minister’s residence, but Dorward does not live there.

“We’ve recreated the space into a mission house,” she said in a recent telephone interview. There are offices, classrooms and a renovated upstairs with bedrooms, a living room and a bathroom. It’s intended for missionaries on furlough. When they return to the United States, they will have an opportunity to stay somewhere.”

In early July, a family of Canadian missionaries whose work focused on human trafficking resided in the house for several weeks, and it is hoped the house will continue to be a busy place.
“We already had a family,” Doward said. “A lot of churches in the area support missionaries overseas. … It was a woman, her husband and daughter. They always travel together.”

The church opened its door to mission house by contacting the Michigan headquarters of the denomination in June; after a short time, the first family arrived. Dorward is also providing the information to other denominations about the house.

“It could be any denomination,” she said. “But usually a Roman Catholic missionary stays with a priest.”
The Brookdale Reformed Church congregation pitched in by donating furniture, and the church purchased mattresses, sheets and towels.
“We had to paint a little, too,” Dorward said.

The idea to make the vacant manse into a mission house came from church member Sally Thompson.
“It was her vision to do this,” Dorward said. “We were speaking about reinventing what the church could be. And we made it happen in a very short period of time. Eventually, I’d like to get a sign that says ‘Mission House,’ but that’s not in the budget now.”

The mission house and church are separated by a driveway, and the old church cemetery is adjacent to the church. The original settlers in this area of Bloomfield were of Dutch descent from northern New Jersey. Those who settled in the area of the Church on the Green were of English descent, and came from the settlement of Robert Treat at what is now Broad and Market streets in Newark.

In a telephone interview, Thompson said the manse had been vacant since 2013.
“A pipe burst that winter,” she said. “The house was gutted and major repairs were planned.”

Thompson said the church did not have a vision of what to do with the house, but when new windows were installed, she had the idea to invite missionaries on furlough. She keeps in touch with the national mission office for her denomination in order to fulfill this vision and there is the hope that other denominations will also utilize the space. Several weeks ago, the church had a ribbon-cutting ceremony with Thompson doing the honors.

“It’s intended to be temporary housing,” she said of the manse. “We’re working under that presumption.”
But the house is still in need of more furnishings, according to Dorward.

“We still need more stuff, like a futon, a couple of couches and maybe a coffee table. We need other things, but all in all, it’s pretty comfortable,” she said.

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