By June Margolin and Diane Schaber
HUNTINGTON STATION, NY – May 12, 2026
As Huntington Assembly prepares to celebrate its 100th anniversary, the church is reflecting on a century of faith, outreach, and community service while also looking toward an ambitious future focused on expanding its impact in Huntington Station.
Founded in 1926, Huntington Assembly of God at 1700 New York Avenue has grown from humble beginnings into a major community hub serving local families through worship services, youth programming, food outreach, mentorship, and educational support. The church’s Centennial Celebration Weekend from May 22 through May 24 will honor that history while helping raise support for its next chapter.
A Weekend Celebrating the Past and Future
The festivities begin Friday, May 22, with the Centennial Celebration Banquet at 6:30 p.m., a fundraising and celebration event focused on honoring the church’s history while helping support its future vision. The evening will honor New York State Assemblyman Steve Stern and Xavier and Laura Palacios, whose support has played a major role in many of the church’s outreach efforts over the years.
Rivera said the banquet is not only a celebration of the church’s past, but an opportunity for the community to help support Huntington Assembly’s future outreach and expansion plans. The church has already raised approximately $500,000 internally toward its first fundraising goal of $1 million, and proceeds from the Centennial Gala and additional donations will help move the project closer to that goal.
Saturday’s gathering will take on a more nostalgic tone with a “memory lane” brunch, where former members and longtime friends from across the country are expected to return to share stories, hymns, and memories from generations of church life.
“The 23rd will be our brunch where we’re celebrating all that God has done,” Rivera said.
The weekend concludes Sunday with a special worship service and several building dedications honoring longtime leaders whose contributions helped shape the church. One building will be dedicated to the late Pastor Charles Shaffer, who served Huntington Assembly for 27 years.
Another will honor longtime deacon Bob Hollweg, affectionately remembered as “Bob the Builder” for overseeing countless construction and improvement projects throughout the property. Hollweg served as a deacon for over 45 years and remained deeply devoted to the church until his passing two years ago. Rivera noted that Hollweg’s wife remains the church’s longest-standing member, attending since she was 13 years old.
The church will also dedicate a memorial bench and cherry blossom tree to another former pastor who served the congregation for 18 years.
“This is all about celebrating 100 years,” Rivera said. “We’ve been planning this since September.”
From Tent Revivals to Huntington Station
Rivera explained that Huntington Assembly’s roots trace back to tent revivals held in Bethpage State Park during the early Pentecostal movement.
“They met in Bethpage State Park, and that’s where church revivals were happening,” Rivera said. “People from this area started attending and then gathering in homes locally.”
By 1926, the church formally established itself in Huntington Station and members constructed the congregation’s first building on North Street themselves.
“If you go to North Street, the steeple is still there,” Rivera explained. “The church members themselves built it.”
The church remained there until 1954 before relocating to its current New York Avenue property. In 2012, Huntington Assembly expanded again with the construction of its larger community-centered building.
The church became part of the Assemblies of God movement while remaining autonomous as a congregation. “Here the people run the church,” Rivera explained. “We report to the people.”
Outreach Beyond Sunday Morning
For Rivera, church life extends far beyond weekly worship services.
“If it just lives on a Sunday, I feel like there’s more we should be doing,” he said. “We need to lead into every day of the week.”
That vision has transformed Huntington Assembly into a busy community hub operating six days a week. Today the church hosts English and Spanish worship services, weekly prayer gatherings, family programming, youth ministries, food distributions, educational support programs, and community-centered events.
One of the church’s biggest focuses is its after-school outreach program for local youth. “This past Thursday we broke our record,” Rivera said. “We had 55 young people from the community here.”
The program provides homework help, meals, mentorship, sports training, and a safe place for children and teens to gather. “One of the big things in Suffolk County is sports is pay to play,” Rivera said. “If you don’t have the money, you can’t play. We don’t believe that should be the case.” The church partners with volunteer coaches and trainers to provide free sports instruction and opportunities for local children who otherwise might not have access.
“We believe in accessibility,” Rivera said. “Accessibility to food, accessibility to safe places, accessibility to things people normally wouldn’t have access to. Accessibility to love. Accessibility to forgiveness. Accessibility to Jesus.”
Rivera said the church’s mission is not simply to hold services on Sundays, but to create a place where people feel supported, welcomed, and connected throughout the week.
A Growing Food Pantry Serving Hundreds
At the heart of Huntington Assembly’s outreach is its emergency food pantry, which has seen a dramatic increase in demand. According to volunteers, the pantry has grown from serving approximately 50 families per month to more than 432 families over the last two months alone.
The pantry operates four days a week and provides food with very few barriers for families seeking help. “We don’t want to know about your budget,” explained Building Manager Joann Mercado-Ramos. “That’s not our concern. We just want to make sure their kids are being fed and that families go to sleep with full stomachs.”
The pantry receives support from numerous community partners and donors, including Island Harvest, and distributes fresh produce, meats, sauces, pantry staples, and frozen foods. Volunteers also deliver food directly to residents who lack transportation.
“We are truly blessed that we are able to open up our doors,” volunteers said.
Serving the Community During COVID-19
The church’s commitment to the community became especially visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Partnering with the Palacios family, Helping Hand Rescue Mission, local restaurants like Pancho Villa’s, and community volunteers, Huntington Assembly transformed its kitchen into a large-scale meal distribution center.
During 2020 and 2021, the church distributed approximately 27,000 meals. “At our peak there were lines down to Depot Road,” Rivera recalled. Volunteers packaged restaurant-prepared trays of food into family-sized meals and distributed them with no questions asked.
“How many in your family?” Rivera recalled asking struggling residents. “Boom, here’s some meals. God bless you.”
Rivera said many families seeking assistance had never needed help before. “People would come in with tears in their eyes,” he said.
A Vision for the Future
As Huntington Assembly celebrates its first century, church leaders are also planning for the future with a proposed $3 million sanctuary expansion project.
The vision includes a new sanctuary along New York Avenue that would connect the church’s existing buildings while expanding gathering spaces, classrooms, parking, and outreach capacity. Rivera said the future sanctuary is expected to hold approximately 300 to 350 people and will allow the church to continue growing both its English and Spanish congregations.
“The sanctuary is to honor God where we can have a place of worship,” Rivera said. “But the real thing is to multiply, duplicate, quadruple the outreach that we’re doing in the main building. And that is the vision.”
Rivera explained that the project will happen in phases, beginning with expanded parking areas designed to reduce impact on neighboring properties. Once the area sewer project is completed, the church plans to connect to the sewer system and begin construction on the sanctuary itself. If necessary, the sanctuary and connecting structures can also be built in separate phases depending on fundraising progress.
The future sanctuary would create a dedicated worship space while freeing the church’s existing gym and classrooms for expanded community programming throughout the week.
“This space is not just a sanctuary,” Rivera said. “It’s an outreach location.”
A Church in the Community and for the Community
Rivera said Huntington Assembly’s mission has always centered on serving its neighbors. “We believe that we’re a church in the community and for the community,” he said. That philosophy can be seen throughout the church’s programming, volunteer work, and relationships built across Huntington Station over the years.
“We’re not better than anybody,” Rivera said. “We’re just growing together in our faith, and that’s what we want to invite people into.” Rivera encouraged neighbors to visit Huntington Assembly either in person or online.
“Come to church one time,” Rivera said. “If you don’t like it, you never have to come back again.”
The church offers Sunday services in English at 10:30 a.m. and Spanish at 1 p.m., along with Wednesday evening prayer services, Friday family programming, youth activities, and community outreach throughout the week. Services are also streamed online through Huntington Assembly’s Facebook and YouTube channels.
At the conclusion of the interview, Huntington Matters President June Margolin reflected on the church’s impact on Huntington Station over the years and the growth that has taken place during the eight years Pastor Danny and Damaris Rivera have led the church.
“Since I came to Huntington Station in 1997, your presence here and your leadership and dedication to our community has transformed Huntington Station into a magical place connected by families supporting and loving each other,” Margolin told Rivera. “That is purely by example.”
Margolin thanked Rivera and his wife for dedicating themselves fully to serving the community and demonstrating the kind of compassion and connection Huntington Station is capable of.
The Huntington Assembly Centennial Celebration Banquet will take place May 22, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $150 each. Community members can purchase tickets or make donations at www.haog100.org.
Photography by Dana E. Richter, Videography by June Margolin.
