History
The Niskayuna Wesleyan Church can trace its beginning back to February 1938,
when 20 members organized it under the pastorship of the Rev. King David Livingston.
Later in the spring of 1938, the small congregation purchased the residence of
Dr. Staley, located at 797 State Street near what would become the Schenectady
Business District, as the church's first home. The Champlain District Wesleyan Conference
gave the Schenectady church $500 as seed money and loaned them $1000 more allowing them
to make the purchase. With the aid of additional loans, the group set out to renovate the facility.
When the remodeling was completed, the church's facilities consisted of a sanctuary on the
first floor and a pastor's apartment on the second floor with three bedrooms, living room,
dining room, bath and kitchen.
Early in 1940, several members of the original church including Rev. Livingston, left the
congregation and formed a new church nearby. In July 1940, the Lord brought Rev. C. Lawrence
Hill to lead the remaining members in worship.
Rev. Hill's ministry included the World War II years when gasoline was rationed.
The rationing forced him to travel around the City of Schenectady on his bicycle in order
to visit the homes of church members and prospective members. Whatever his mode of
transportation, his ministry proved very successful and the congregation grew.
It was during the ministry of Rev. Aldis Lamos that the church first found itself freed from
the debt of the State Street property purchase. From 1945 to 1948 Rev. Lamos along with his
wife Dorothy, spent four productive years as pastor.
Rev. Lamos' tenure was followed by two pastors who served for only a brief time.
Rev. Jesse Russell and his wife Zelda served from 1948 to 1949 and Rev. Charles McCullum
and his wife Roberta served from 1949 to 1950. While both of these pastors stayed breifly,
their relationship with the church was not over. Rev. McCallum would return to continue his
ministry in Schenectady in 1962 and Rev. Russell became a faithful member of the
congregation following his retirement in 1970.
The ministry of Rev. Clarence Murray and his wife Edith were stabilizing years for the church.
They served from 1951 to 1955 and developed relationships with members of the congregation
which would last a lifetime. Mrs. Murray returned as a member of the congregation following
her husbands death, driving more than one hour each Sunday in order to worship.
In 1955 Rev. Donald Klob followed God's direction and became the church's pastor over a period of growth.
It was during the pastorship of Rev. Klob and his wife Jesse that the church found the
energy and need to almost completely remodel its place of worship. The front of the original
building was completely changed, which resulted in a more 'church-like' appearance.
The sanctuary was enlarged and the basement of the building was dug out to create some
Sunday School rooms and a fellowship room. While the rooms were not completely finished they provided
the room necessary for the expanding congregation and Sunday School recruited by the energetic Rev. Klob.
Work on the new facility was done by volunteers while the outside renovation was mostly
done by the contractor, Delbert Hallenbeck.
In 1966 church members became concerned about the increasing commercialization of the area around the church.
Under the leadership of Rev. McCallum a new location was selected for the church. In 1967 two acres
of land was purchased on Balltown Road in Niskayuna, a suburb of Schenectady. The purchase was made
possible through a sizable donation by Mrs. Elsie Shufeldt in memory of her late husband George.
The lot in Niskayuna was dedicated in March 1968 and on March 12, 1968 the Champlain District gave
permission to the church to proceed with their building plans and incur a maximum indebtedness of $70,000.
In September 1968, then District Superintendent Charles Dayton accepted the deed to the new church.
On June 15, 1969 the new home of the Schenectady Wesleyan Church, renamed the Balltown Wesleyan Church, was dedicated.
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