Dutchess County, NY – Our Community
Grace Bible Church is in the town of Wappinger in Dutchess County, New York. Dutchess County has two small cities (Beacon & Poughkeepsie) with many villages and unincorporated town areas making the county a mix of two urban areas, large suburban areas, and a lot of woods and farmland especially in the northern areas of the county. We are 70 miles north of mid-town Manhattan, NYC resulting in a large and increasing commuting population which presents constant change to our demographics, which can be a challenge, but also a great opportunity for reaching the lost. The town and county are currently still politically conservative, but the demographic changes are beginning to shift toward liberal / progressive. The cost of living (housing & taxes) are low compared to the counties south of us, but high compared to the counties north and west which fuels some of the population shift from NYC to here. The increase in housing expense causes economic strain resulting in families who are already here moving out of state.
There are five colleges in the county: Dutchess Community, Vasser, Marist, Bard and the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) with additional colleges in the surrounding counties which gives lots of opportunity for ministry to college students. We have a close connection with the CIA and a focus of ministry with their students due to one of their popular professors being a member of GBC. Nearly all of our families are involved with our GBC Homeschool Cooperative because the local public school districts have declined to from being bad to being terrible both morally and educationally. There are three Christian schools in the county as well as Catholic and other private schools.
There are three hospitals in the county, and while they are not rated especially high, there are excellent hospitals in areas nearby and especially in New York City for any speciality needs. There are still good doctors in the area though access to them often depends on insurance coverage. Since GBC does not currently have any employee in need of a medical policy, insurance would be arranged as part of the pay package with the new pastor. (My wife and I used Christian Health Ministries very successfully with full access to doctors and excellent coverage until our age forced us onto Medicare).
The following links will be helpful in exploring the community on a variety of topics
Link to the Wappinger Town website: https://townofwappingerny.gov/ The drop down list under Community may be especially helpful.
Link to Dutchess County website: https://dutchessny.gov/ The drop down list under Culture may be especially helpful
The Dutchess Tourism site also gives a good overview of the area: https://destinationdutchess.com/go/explore