| Early Sunday Morning Worship Service | 7:30 a.m. |
| Sunday School | 9:15 a.m. |
| Sunday Morning Worship Service | 10:30 a.m. |
| Prayer Services (Wednesday) | 6:00 p.m. |
| Bible Study (Wednesday) | 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. |
Directions to the Worship Center
- From Brooklyn & Staten Island
Take the Belt Parkway Eastbound to 150th Street. Turn left onto 150th Street. Turn right onto Rockaway Blvd. Next light, turn left on Baisley Blvd.. Turn left onto Smith Street. The Church is at the corner of Smith Street & Baisley Blvd.
- From Long Island
Take the Belt Parkway Westbound to the North Conduit/Farmers Blvd. exit. Take North Conduit to Guy R. Brewer Blvd. Turn right onto Guy R. Brewer Blvd. Turn right onto Baisley Blvd.. Turn left onto Smith Street.
The Church is at the corner of Smith Street & Baisley Blvd.
- From Bronx – Whitestone Bridge
Take the Whitestone Bridge to the Van Wyck Expressway I-678 Southbound. Take the Van Wyck Expressway to the Rockaway Blvd. exit. Turn left on Rockaway Blvd.. Turn left onto Baisley Blvd.. Left on Smith Street. The Church is at the corner of Smith Street & Baisley Blvd.
- From Bronx- Throgsneck Bridge
Take the Throgsneck Bridge to the Cross Island Parkway Southbound. Take the Belt Parkway Westbound to the North Conduit/Farmers Blvd. exit. Take the North Conduit to Guy R. Brewer Blvd.. Turn right onto Guy R. Brewer Blvd.. Turn right onto Baisley Blvd. Turn left onto Smith Street. The Church is at the corner of Smith Street & Baisley Blvd.
- From New Jersey
Take the George Washington Bridge to the Cross Bronx Expressway. Take Cross Bronx Expressway to either the Whitestone or Throgsneck Bridge and follow the Bronx direction.
- From Mid/Upper Manhattan
Take Queens Midtown tunnel to I-495 Eastbound (LIE). Take the Grand Central Parkway Eastbound to Van Wyck Expressway I-678 Southbound. Take Van Wyck Expressway to Rockaway Blvd. exit. Turn left onto Rockaway Blvd.. Turn left onto Baisley Blvd. Turn left onto Smith Street. The Church is at the corner of Smith Street & Baisley Blvd.
It is our desire to be of sound biblical teaching, committed to the authority of Scripture, evangelistic concern, loving fellowship, with emphasis on family and holy living as well as acceptance of people everywhere.
Through the Ministries of the New Jerusalem Worship Center we seek to glorify God by making disciples who know Jesus Christ personally and intimately and who worship Him sincerely, who apply biblical truth to our daily living, who generously share with others, and who are burdened and equipped to reach the world for Jesus Christ.
The church continues to grow as a New Testament church; adhering to the biblical principles of a Five-Fold Ministry — Fellowship, Discipleship, Worship, Evangelism and Ministry.
Rev. James C. Kelly, Sr. established New Jerusalem in 1988. Having no permanent church home at that time, worship service were held each week at Mount Sinai Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Queens Village for approximately 10 years.
A visionary leader, Rev. Kelly inspired the members of the congregation to be faithful to the word of God by tithing. New Jerusalem was able to accomplish the mission of building a new church home at 122-05 Smith Street in Jamaica, NY solely through tithes and offerings.
Rev. Kelly retired in 2004. Rev Dr. Calvin Rice was thereafter called to be the New Jerusalem’s second pastor.
Bishop Calvin Rice
SENIOR PASTOR
Bishop Rice is a “uniquely” gifted preacher and teacher and a highly respected civil, political and religious leader in New York City where he is active in many community organizations. He served as the Executive Director of Staten Island Communities United (SICU), a not-for-profit tasked with distributing State and City funds to five impoverished neighborhoods on Staten Island. He is/or has held leadership positions on the following organizations and boards. Second Vice President of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater NY and Vicinity, The New York Urban League, The American Red Cross, The College of Staten Island Advisory Board, The American Baptist Churches of Metro NY, The Black Leadership Commission on AIDS, Boy Scouts of America, Sisters of Charity Medical Center, Vice Moderator of Eastern Baptist Association, Vice President of New York State Progressive Baptist Convention, Chairman of Finance PNBC Eastern Region, A member of Mayor Bloomberg’s NYC Economic Development Task force and Staten Island Borough Presidents Anti-Bias Task Force.
In 1997 Rev. Bishop Rice received the distinct recognition as the only living African American to have a New York City street in the Borough of Staten Island named in his honor. At the same time, he was inducted into the Staten Island College “Hall of Fame”. Dr. Rice has received nearly 100 plaques and certificates. He has also received proclamation from the Governor of New York, three NYC Mayors, one US Senator and two NYC Councilmen. In addition he is the only Staten Islander to receive recognition from The New York Association of Black and Puerto Rican Legislators for Community and Economic Development for his work, while leading the eminent FCBC, New York from 1985 until December 2004. He along with Father James Dorney were designated Staten Island chairperson of President Bush’s Faith Based Initiative by Congressman Vito Fossella. In 2012, Dr. Rice received the Vernon M. Dougherty Distinction in Ministry Award; the highest award given by New York Theological Seminary to alumni who have distinguished themselves in lay or ordained ministry for at least fifteen years.
Rev. Rice has been featured in more than thirty Newspaper and magazine articles. He has appeared on ABC television and received their coveted “Living the Dream” Award. He was also featured in the Oxford Book of “Who’s Who” registry. He has preached throughout the north and southeastern states of America as well as in the Middle East. In September of 1999 Rev. Rice established the Genesis Bible Institute a school dedicated to the training of ministers and lay people for effective work in ministry. The school is an accredited satellite of Virginia Union Seminary of Richmond, VA via Eastern Baptist Association of Brooklyn, NY. In addition Rev. Ricehas licensed, ordained and mentored 33 ministers, nine of whom are pastoring churches. He also helped to organize and establish two Liberian congregational churches. In addition he has published a booklet entitled “This Is My Story”, excerpts and highlights of a unique and successful ministry spanning twenty three years along with selected sermons.
In 2007, Dr. Rice was one of the original pastoral organizers of Empowered Queens United in Action and Leadership (EQUAL) a citizen’s power organization made up of congregations in South East Queens, Sunnyside and Woodside. Initiated through the IAF (Industrial Areas Foundation), EQUAL is a broad-based, multiracial, non-partisan, grassroots organization whose purpose is to assist people to engage in public decision-making- empowering them to improve the quality of life in their communities and strengthen their member institutions. EQUAL has won important victories in the areas of leadership development, social security service and road safety. EQUAL’s greatest accomplishment has been in the area of education, successfully organizing a charter school for children and families in Southeast Queens.
In September 2010, Dr. Rice opened the doors to and currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Rochdale Early Advantage Charter School (REACS). REACS provides an Early College Preparatory program for students from Kindergarten through Grade 5 and is committed to a balanced multi-literacy approach, educating each student to “stand out from the crowd” intellectually, historically, culturally, digitally, economically, physically, artistically and civically, in an increasingly diverse and fast-changing global society. Driven by the principles of PURPOSE, PASSION and PROFICIENCY, REACS offers each student a challenging, college-bound education that develops character and critical thinking ability infused with family and social values to support life-long learning, leadership and productive citizenship.
Dr. Rice is a highly sought after teacher. In 2011, the New York School of Divinity engaged him as a professor of expository preaching. He served in that capacity for two consecutive semesters.
In 2013, Dr. Rice travelled with a delegation of other distinguished clergy to the Republic of South Africa and Swaziland. The two-week missionary assignment coordinated through the Foreign Mission Board of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc. included theological and pastoral care training for ministers of the gospel hungry for the Word and seeking education and resources to strengthen their ministries.
Pastor Rice’s academic achievements include a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the College of Staten Island and a Master’s in Religion from the New York Theological Seminary. He completed his graduate studies at the Postgraduate Center for Mental Health of NYC in conjunction with Hebrew Union Seminary. He has also attended The Catawba Bible College of Rock Hill, SC, and the National Theological Seminary of Baltimore, MD, and holds a certificate of study from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem Israel.
Dr. Rice is married to Willie Mae Rice and together they have three adult children and five grandchildren.