Our History
On Sunday, April 16, 1961, St. Thomas Episcopal Church of North Syracuse conducted a service of organization for Northminster Presbyterian Church. 150 people signed up as charter members. Sunday worship services were held in the Brown School on Buckley Road.
Our church was built in stages. The classrooms and all-purpose room were built first and completed in 1963. Worship was held in the all-purpose room with adult and children's bible study meetings in various classrooms.
The first service in the new sanctuary happened Christmas Eve of 1967. The architecture of the sanctuary is inspired by the "tent" meetings in biblical times. The pews are arranged in a horseshoe shape around the communion table and pulpit, which puts the focus on "the Word and Sacrament."
In 1963, The Northminster Nursery School began as an outreach to the community. Today, it goes by Northminster Early Childhood Center, which now includes a program for three and four-year-olds, Universal Pre-K, and EPK.
Our pastor, Reverend Karen E. Dimon, grew up in Fayetteville. She graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities.
Pastor Karen served as Associate Executive for the Synod of Lakes and Prairies in the area of Social Justice and Women's Ministries and as the Associate Pastor for Young Adult and New Member Ministries at Central Presbyterian Church in St. Paul, Minnesota.
In 1993, she and her husband, Reverend Peter Shidemantle, moved to New York. There, she served as Pastor at Immanuel United Methodist Church in Camillus, New York, and as Interim Pastor at Onondaga Valley Presbyterian Church in Syracuse.
Today, Karen has entered her 20th year as head of staff at Northminster Presbyterian Church. She and her husband have two grown children.
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