The Church Club of New York

Church Club Pilgrimage to Staten Island in Pictures

Mouse over the images for captions.

An Evening with Bishop Sisk

The Church Club cordially invites you to an evening with the Rt. Rev. Mark Sisk, bishop of New York, to discuss General Convention 2009.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009
 St. Thomas Church
 1 W 53rd Street at Fifth Avenue

6:30 Reception
 7:15 Bishop Sisk’s Remarks

Please join the Church Club for a special briefing from Bishop Sisk about the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, held in July in Anaheim, California.  

The Convention lifted its moratorium on the election of openly gay bishops, and the archbishop of Canterbury in a statement after Convention suggested that a “two-track model” might yield “two styles of being Anglican” around the world.

Bishop Sisk will offer his insights into the events of Convention, with an eye toward their effect on the Diocese of New York, the national Church, and the Anglican Communion.

Club members will have the opportunity to ask questions and to respond to Bishop Sisk’s remarks.

We will also have a special guest this evening.  The Rt. Rev. Suheil S. Dawani, Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, who is visiting the Diocese of New York, will join us.

Note also that the event will begin at 6:30 PM, which is a half-hour later than the Club’s usual start time.  St. Thomas celebrates Choral Evensong and Eucharist at 5:30.  Club members are welcome to attend the service before the reception and talk by Bishop Sisk.

Please contact the Church Club for more information (212-828-7418, email).

Day Trip to Episcopal Staten Island

The Church Club of New York is pleased announce a One-day Overseas Pilgrimage, No Passport Required, to Staten Island

Saturday, October 31, 2009
8:30 AM - 6:30 PM

St. Alban's, Staten Island

Explore Episcopal Staten Island with the Church Club of New York, with a visit to five historic churches. The Church Club will provide coach service for a day of fellowship and immersion in the rich history of St. Alban’s, St. Andrew’s, St. Mary’s, Christ Church, and St. John’s. We will depart from two Manhattan locations and enjoy coffee, lunch, and cocktails with our hosts.

Itinerary

8:30 AM DEPARTURE from St. James (865 Madison Avue at 72nd Street)
9:00 AM DEPARTURE from Ascension (Fifth Avenue at 10th Street)

1. St. Alban’s Church - Eltingville
Coffee with the rector, the Rev. Frederick W. Schraplau
Demonstration of the restored tracker organ with organist Kenneth Hamrick

2. St. Andrew’s Church - Richmond Town
Enjoy the parish’s 300th anniversary with a tour of the church and cemetery, along with a peek at the collection of Queen Anne silver with the Rev. Michael Delaney

3. St. Mary’s Church - Castleton
A tour of the church, cloister, and rose garden with the Rev. Canon Dr. John Derek Stubbs and lunch in the parish hall

4. Christ Church - New Brighton
A tour of the church and its prized Tiffany windows with the Rev. Charles H. Howell

5. St. John’s Church - Rosebank
A tour of this Vanderbilt family church with the Rev. Roy Cole and a cocktail reception in the restored rectory

5:30 DEPARTURE to Manhattan
6:30 ARRIVAL at GRAND CENTRAL

The cost of the one-day pilgrimage is $60 per person and includes transportation, coffee, lunch and the cocktail reception. RSVP to the Church Club by phone (212-828-7418) or email.

At the Seamen's Church Institute -- "The Church and Piracy: Justice and Reconciliation on the High Seas"

Director of the Center for Seafarers' Rights at the Seamen's Church Institute Douglas B. Stevenson (above), lawyer and former Coast Guard commander, speaks to members of the Church Club of New York about SCI's global ministry to seafarers affected by piracy.  With the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, SCI has undertaken a major study of the psychological effects of piracy on seafarers and their families.  Stevenson spoke about the legal and logistical challenges piracy presents to the maritime community and the fact that seafarers -- the crews of merchant vessels -- remain vulnerable with few resources for dealing with the stress of transiting pirate corridors and, in some cases, having been attacked or held as hostages for ransom.

See coverage in Episcopal Life.

SCI's Executive Director the Rev. David Rider greets members of the Church Club of New York

David Rider with Church Club Treasurer John H. Andren, Jr. and the Rev. Deacon Robert Zito

The Brooklyn Bridge, seen from SCI's Top Deck

See more pictures here.

The Church and Piracy: Justice and Reconciliation on the High Seas

The Church Club of New York and the Seamen’s Church Institute present "The Church and Piracy: Justice and Reconciliation on the High Seas," a presentation by Douglas B. Stevenson, Director of the Center for Seafarers’ Rights at the Seamen’s Church Institute.

September 17, 2009
6:00 - 8:00 PM
presentation & reception

The Seamen’s Church Institute
241 Water Street (between Beekman and Peck Slip at the South Street Seaport)
Directions

$35, RSVP to the Church Club at (212) 828-7418 or by email.

Piracy -- the armed takeover of merchant ships in international waters -- burst into the headlines this past spring, with several high-profile attacks near the Horn of Africa.  In the most notorious, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, a container ship carrying United Nations relief supplies to a port in Kenya, was taken hostage by Somali pirates before being rescued by the US Navy.  Piracy has been a feature of the maritime trade for centuries, but the past decade has seen an increase in the frequency and violence of the incidents, especially in lawless, ungovernable reaches like the Somali coast.  But the global economy depends heavily on maritime trade and on the seafarers whose vessels are vulnerable to attack.

The Seamen’s Church Institute, which has provided support services to seafarers for 175 years, has partnered with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the New York Pyschoanalytic Institute to study to the stresses crews face under the threat of piracy and to provide services to crews that have been victimized or held hostage in pirate attacks.  The Post-Piracy Trauma Assessment and Treatment Program helps SCI fulfill its mission, under the auspices of the Episcopal Church, of caring for seafarers by adapting to the changing realities of the maritime environment.

Douglas B. Stevenson, maritime lawyer and former Coast Guard commander, directs SCI’s Center for Seafarers’ Rights and has recently spent time aboard a ship transiting “Pirate Alley” off the Somali coast (you can follow Doug's journey on Twitter).  He spoke at General Convention in Anaheim and will make a special presentation to the Church Club of New York about the Church’s mission to the merchant seafarers victimized by piracy.

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.

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.