Initially, Church services were conducted only during the summer, to serve people escaping Manhattan's heat in riverside cottages. The pastors, each of whom served for just a couple of years, were Seminary Students seeking to gain some ministerial experience before going on to a fulltime position. At that time, the Hudson River ferry that stopped at Sneden's Landing, a half-mile from the Church, was the main form of transportation. By the 1950's, and especially after the building of the Palisades Parkway, the population of Rockland County swelled and the Church began to serve the community on a year-round basis.