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Special Worship Celebration | December 5 | 11:45 a.m. ET
December 5, 2021 @ 11:45 am - 12:45 pm
If you plan to worship in-person, please read these policies to learn how we’re trying to keep everyone healthy and safe!
Click here to see the worship bulletin!
Scripture:
Luke 3:1-6
Sermon:
“Found in the Fire,” by Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis
Our worship is a celebration that encourages a more-than-Sunday-morning faith! And we’re so overjoyed to again offer both in-person and virtual celebrations. You can worship with us in person at our temporary home at Calvary Church (277 Park Avenue South at 21st St., New York, NY). Or you can join the virtual celebration on the homepage here, or on our Facebook and YouTube accounts.
This worship will be a special commemoration on the one-year anniversary of the fire that destroyed our sanctuary. We will begin at Calvary with the sermon, music, and an invitation to make a pilgrimage to the ashes on 2nd Avenue. Then, we will walk from Calvary to the Middle sanctuary (For folks who are unable or do not with to walk, travel by bus will be provided). Along the way, we’ll sing songs and reflect on our memories in that sacred space. People attending worship virtually will participate in a special worship experience that will move between live moments on this pilgrimage, personal reflections on the grief people are carrying, and recorded hymns. Once the pilgrimage reaches 2nd Avenue and 7th St., we will all join together for a closing prayer, hymn and benediction. If you plan to come in-person, please bring flowers or other objects to lay along the construction fence, to build a memorial to the sanctuary. Directly following worship, we will provide hot chocolate at the site—creating space to sit and talk about the grief we carry—and online participants will be invited to share their reflections with Rev. Chad Tanaka Pack and Elise Tiralli in our virtual chat and chew.
As we return to in-person and virtual hybrid worship, we are doing everything we can to keep us all as safe as possible. To minimize the risk of COVID exposure, we are restricting in-person participation to vaccinated people (except for children under 12), and requiring everyone to wear masks. Please read this full list of our worship policies, to answer questions you may have. If, for whatever reason, you’re in NYC but don’t feel comfortable joining us in person, know that we have a vibrant virtual community from more than 40 states and 20 countries ready to welcome you in revolutionary love. Virtual community is for everyone!
Our liturgy and worship will feel familiar in form, but you will be surprised by creative sermons that will provoke your mind and stir your soul. You will also be surprised by the extensive use of the arts in worship. Our music—gospel, spirituals, stunning choral singing and classical music, and everything from Bach to Broadway to the Beatles—will encourage your toes to tap and your heart to soar. Our virtual sanctuary holds not only our incredible cultural and ethnic diversity, but dance, puppet theater, the dramatic and visual arts, and our diverse expressions of faith.