Nestled in the hamlet of Pocantico Hills in Westchester County, the Church of the Magdalene is a country church that draws parishioners from more than fifteen surrounding towns and villages: over forty zip codes. Roads leading to the hamlet pass by rolling fields protected by stone walls. A handful of homes, large and small, a school, two churches, and a firehouse are in the center of the village. The white frame country church stands amid this community of homes, surrounded by the large acreage of the Rockefeller preserves and estates.

"Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." This was the vision Christ gave us in the Gospel of Matthew for church and parish life; this was the vision followed by the Church of the Magdalene.

Begun in 1893, the church was initially a mission church of St. Teresa of Avila parish in North Tarrytown – now Sleepy Hollow. Mass was celebrated in the Lyceum Building in Pocantico, which also hosted religious services for what later became the Union Church.

A year later the pastor of St. Teresa’s, Father Joseph Egan, asked New York’s Archbishop Michael Corrigan to create the Church of the Magdalene as a separate parish to serve the residents of Pocantico and the village of Eastview. The cornerstone of the church was laid in October of 1894 and the Church was dedicated in September of 1895.

At its start, the parish served about forty families, whose contributions left the parish almost debt free by 1906.  A generous donation from James Butler, the owner of a chain of grocery stores and a prominent businessman living in Eastview, retired the remaining debt.

The Butler family was also responsible for most of the exquisite stained-glass windows that shed such a warm light in the church.  The windows are believed to be the work of G. Harry Madigan, a designer for Tiffany Studios in NYC, who also had his own shop in Brooklyn.

The relationship between the church and the Butler family continues to this day through association with, and service to, the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary at Marymount, the community founded by Mother Butler, James Butler’s sister.

Much has changed over the more than 130 years from when Church of the Magdalene began and the Butler grocery store delivered groceries by mule-drawn wagons in mild weather and by bell-ringing, lantern-lighted sleighs in the winter.

The Rockefeller family became good neighbors and purchased more than 3000 acres in Pocantico, ensuring that the area would forever maintain its rural charm. The family built the Union Church next door and often contributed to needed repairs at the Magdalene.

The fortunes of the parish, as well as its parishioners, rose and fell. There was a period of expansion when the Putnam railroad ran a line that included a stop at Pocantico Hills Station, and commuters to NYC moved in.  There were hard times when the railroad re-routed the line and commuters moved elsewhere, when the great Depression of 1930 hit, and then, World War II.

Over the years so many pastors and parishioners have contributed their best to the Church, so many young people have taken their first steps as married couples into an unknown future, babies have cried as the waters of baptism washed over them, and tears have been shed as parishioners said good-bye to loved ones.

Much has changed but what is important remains. People still come to the white frame country church to receive their sacraments, to light candles in prayer for their deepest hopes and dreams, to celebrate the most momentous events in their lives, and to “gather together, with Christ in their midst”.