The Church Club of New York

Annual Meeting & Cookout at Epiphany

The Church Club of New York cordially invites you to its Annual Meeting & Cookout honoring our new members:

Thursday, June 11, 2009
6:00 - 8:00 PM

Church of the Epiphany
1393 York Avenue
(at East 74th Street)

The Annual Meeting with reports on the Club’s committees and activities, plus the election of new trustees, will take place from 6:00 to 6:45.  The report of the Nominating Committee and a formal notice of meeting will be sent via post.  There is no charge to attend the Annual Meeting.

The cookout will start at 6:45 after the Annual Meeting.

We will honor the 27 new members who have joined the Club this year.  Please come and enjoy an evening of fellowship, the final event for the 122nd year of the Church Club.

There is a charge of $25 to attend the cookout.  RSVP by phone (212-828-7418) or by email.

Celebratory Concert at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Club members might be interested in the Canterbury Choral Society's final concert for the 2008-2009 season:

Celebratory Concert at the
Cathedral of St. John the Divine
Saturday, May 9, 2009 at 7:30 pm

Music of Thanks, Praise and Prayer
by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Handel, Verdi and others

Chorus of 100 & Symphony Orchestra

In observance of the re-Opening of the Cathedral’s full length and the restoration of the renowned Aeolian-Skinner organ.

For more information, contact Charles Dodsley Walker, founder and conductor, at 212-222-9458.

Listen to the Church Club Lecture Series

The Church Club's annual Lecture Series focused on the leadership of the laity in the Diocese of New York.  See below for the audio files.

Dr. Mary Donovan (shown with Church Club president Bruce Mullin) spoke about "Building Networks of Social Service: Laywomen in the Diocese of New York." (listen)

Ronald Young's talk was called "Amid the Tumult and the Shouting: The Laity, 1950 to the Present." (listen)

The Rev. Canon James Elliott Lindsley talked about "Serving the Church: The Laity in the Story of the Church in New York." (listen)

Organ Concert at St. John the Divine

The Church Club is hosting a special event:

A Private Concert & Demonstration of the New Organ at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

by Bruce Neswick
Director of Cathedral Music & Organist

" Getting to Know the Cathedral’s Organ and its New Director of Music"

March 30, 2009

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street

6:30 Recital   7:30 Reception in the Crossing

The cost is $100.  RSVP by phone (212-828-7418) or email.

The Organ
The Cathedral’s famous eight-second reverberation is also home to one of the world’s most renowned instruments.  Built in 1911 by Earnest M. Skinner, and enlarged and rebuilt in 1954 by G. Donald Harrison of the Aeolian Skinner Organ Company, the Great Organ brings together in one instrument the very best from two of America’s foremost organ builders. When the Cathedral experienced a devastating fire in the unfinished portion of the North Transept on December 18, 2001, the Great Organ and the other two Skinner organs in the side chapels suffered from heavy smoke damage. The Great Organ is now fully restored and playing.

Your Participation
Director of Cathedral Music and Organist Bruce Neswick will perform the Fanfare by Alec Wyton, which he wrote for the Cathedral organ, and then improvise on themes you submit from the hymnal right on the spot.  This is a great opportunity to hear variations on your favorite pieces of music performed on one of the world’s finest instruments.

Lecture by Elliott Lindsley Moved to March 23

Serving the Church: The Laity in the Story of the Church in New York, a talk by the Rev. Canon James Elliott Lindsley will take place on March 23 at Church of the Transfiguration, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM.

The talk had been scheduled for March 9 but was postponed due to snow.

Club members who have signed up for the lecture series are already registered for the March 23 event.  Anyone who did not sign up for the series but who wishes to come should RSVP (212-828-7418, email) .  The cost is $20 for members ($25 for non-members) and includes a light supper and wine reception.

Annual Dinner to Feature Randall Balmer

Please save the date of May 12, 2009 for the Church Club of New York's 122nd Annual Dinner, which will be held at the Harvard Club.  Our guest speaker will be the Rev. Randall Balmer, who is professor of American religious history at Barnard College, Columbia University and a visiting professor at Yale Divinity School, an editor of Christianity Today, and the author of the author of a dozen books, including Thy Kingdom Come: How the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America, God in the White House: How Faith Shaped the Presidency from John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush,  and Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, now in its fourth edition, which was made into a three-part documentary for PBS.

Lecture Series to Focus on Lay Leadership in New York

The Church Club's annual Lecture Series will focus on the leadership of the laity in the Diocese of New York and will be held on three Mondays in March at Church of the Transfiguration (The Little Church Around the Corner), One East 29th Street (between Fifth and Madison).

The event will offer a light supper and wine reception before the lecture.

6:00 supper; 7:00 lecture

$60 for the series (Church Club members).  $75 for the series (non-members)

RSVP by phone (212-828-7418) or by email.

[March 2]
The Rev. Canon James Elliott Lindsley
Serving the Church: The Laity in the Story of the Church in New York

From 1974 to 2008, James Elliott Lindsley served as historiographer of the Diocese of New York, authoring books on the history of the Diocese, St. James Church, and the Church Club of New York -- The First Hundred Years, which was published in 1994.

[March 9]
Mary S. Donovan
Building Networks of Social Service: Laywomen in the Diocese of New York

Mary Donovan is the co-author, with R. William Franklin, of Will the Dust Praise You?: Spiritual Responses to 9/11 and A Different Call: Women’s Ministries in the Episcopal Church, 1850-1920.  She is Adjunct Assistant Professor of History at Hunter College, a member of the editorial board of the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, former trustee of the Church Club, and the wife of the Rt. Rev. Herbert Donovan.

[March 16]
Ronald B. Young
Amid the Tumult and the Shouting: The Laity, 1950 to the Present

Ronald Young is a Doctor of Theology candidate at General Theological Seminary and the author of an update to the Church Club’s history, focusing on the post-war years and picking up where Elliott Lindsley left off.

Church Club at Diocesan Convention

The Church Club was well represented at the annual convention of the Diocese of New York, meeting delegates and handing out information about the Club.  Membership committee members Dana Cole (chair), Steve Storen, Bettina Nelson, and Brad Agry manned the booth and worked the crowd.

Prospective Members Reception

The Church Club's winter Prospective Members Reception will be held on January 20th, from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at 24 Central Park South (between Fifth and Sixth Avenues).  Please RSVP by phone (212-828-7418) or by email.

It's Fruitcake Weather!

Come celebrate at the Church Club of New York’s Annual Christmas Celebration

Sunday, December 7, 2008
Church of the Heavenly Rest
2 East 90 Street at Fifth Avenue

Featuring a staged reading of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales.”

Handbell choir: 4:45 PM
Performance: 5:00 PM

Reception immediately following the performance at approximately 6:15 PM in Darlington Hall

In “A Christmas Memory,” Truman Capote recounts the charming and moving story of his childhood Christmases while living with relatives in the South, and his special friendship with a beloved elderly cousin.

The classic and beloved “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” is Dylan Thomas’s poetic remembrance of the Christmases of his childhood, recounted with humor and affection.

This is a great family event – children are welcome!
Tickets are $40 for adults and $15 for children
RSVP (212) 828-7418 or by email

Enter the church through the main doors on Fifth Avenue. Special seats for Church Club members.