H.F.C.C. exists so we, as believers can:
- Evangelize to the lost and make disciples. Matthew 28:19
- Enhance our walk with God through bible study, prayer, and fellowship. Acts 2:42
- Encourage a lifestyle of worship and service. John 4:24
- Empower our community. Acts 2:45
Vision Statement
We believe that this work is the beginning of something new God desires to do in the Bronx. We are praying that God will lead us to a multipurpose facility in the Bronx that will meet both the spiritual and physical needs of our people. We desire to take this ministry beyond these four walls so we can serve our community. This is the first of many churches that will make an impact and show the awe of God to all in the Harvest Fields.
Core Values
- A church that desires intimacy with God through prayer, worship and daily living.
- A church that allows the Spirit of God to direct and lead us to where God is working.
- A church where we build and edify each other through teaching, preaching, correcting and training.
- A church that sacrifices itself to meet the needs of the community.
- A church that demonstrates the love of God through fellowship and caring for one another.
Church History
Harvest Fields Community Church was established in 2000 in response to the calling God had placed in the hearts of the Reverend Mitchell Torres and his wife Sharlotte to reach the people of the Bronx, by offering them Jesus Christ as their source of hope and eternal life. Having served as Youth Pastor for 11 years at The Church of The Revelation under the mentorship of Reverend Wesley G. Janzen, and as Interim Pastor after the untimely death of Pastor Janzen, Pastor Mitchell understood the needs of the community, not only as a pastor within the community, but also as a resident of the community. Pastor Mitchell a lifelong resident of the Bronx embarked on a God-driven mission to evangelize, offer hope and provide a place of worship for his community when he founded Harvest Fields Community Church.
On Sunday July 9, 2000, Harvest Fields Community Church gathered for the first time. The place was the Catholic chapel at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, NY. Not having a place to gather and worship we were grateful that the hospital administration allowed us to hold our Sunday worship services there. That Sunday morning approximately 40 people gathered to worship. This included some of the hospitals patients and staff. Hospital staff assisted some of the patients, while others were wheeled in stretchers and wheelchairs for worship and fellowship. That chapel became our physical home for the next three months. Week after week, more and more people attended the Sunday worship service at the chapel, to the point that the chapel, which held approximately 50 persons, was filled to capacity and over flowing to the lobbies and hallways of the hospital.
Following God's purpose and the ever-increasing need to gather in a larger room, God led us to 1217 Stratford Avenue, in the Sound View community of the Bronx. It was a sad Sunday when we held our last worship service at the Jacobi Medical Center chapel, but God's purpose and work must be continued. And on Sunday, September 10, 2000, Harvest Fields Community Church held its first service at the leased facilities at 1217 Stratford Avenue.
The Sound View community offered the church a direct link to the community and its needs. An inner city, poverty driven community with a great diversity in its cultural base and an abundance of needs. Harvest Fields Community Church became as "safe harbor" within this community. As the Lord work through us to meet the needs of the community the number of people attending the church grew quickly, and once again we began to look for a new location to help meet the needs of the people.
The Lord lead us to 2626 East Tremont Avenue and for two years we prayed and asked the Lord to move mountains and give us the building He said He would. On November 17, 2006 The Lord granted us the building we needed to better meet the needs of community, To God be the Glory.
Our goal is to strengthen the family base of this community, by reaching the children and their families. It is our desire to continue to live up to our name, a "community church." As we continue to keep our doors open, we open doors of opportunities and hope to the residents of this community.
Statement of Faith
We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 3: 16-17)
We believe that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of God, the second person of the Trinity, sent to the world to redeem the world through his atoning death, burial and resurrection. (Jhn. 3:16)
We believe that the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Triune Godhead. That He is the agent of regeneration and empowers believers for Christian living and service and that He is our seal unto the day of redemption. (Jhn. 14: 16-17; Eph. 1: 13 & 4: 30)
We believe that the Bible is the only inspired and written word of God. That it is infallible and profitable for correction and instruction in righteousness. (2 Pet. 1: 21; 2 Tim. 3: 16)
We believe that, through the disobedience of Adam in the Garden of Eden, humanity is inherently fallen and sinful and utterly bankrupt before God outside of Christ. (Rom. 3: 23)
We believe that man is condemned and can only be saved through faith alone, in Christ alone. That this salvation is contingent solely on the grace of God, not of human works "lest any man should boast". (Eph. 2: 8, 9)
We believe that Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead on the third day in bodily form and ascended to the right hand of God the Father where he "ever liveth to make intercession for us". ( 1 Cor. 15: 3,4; Heb. 7: 25)
We believe that Jesus Christ will soon return to receive his church and to call the world to judgment. (1 Thess. 4: 16-17; 2 Tim. 4: 1)