Dear Friends,

I have often wondered about certain rules of etiquette. What is the greater social blunder: arriving too early, or arriving too late? The standards are different depending on the occasion. Arriving early for work or early for a job interview shows that you are an eager, disciplined person. But if you arrive early for a dinner party or a date, you disrupt the rhythm of preparations, and risk annoying the host. Being fashionably late may be better. Or how about right on time?

This year we have an Easter that is arriving fashionably late. As I’ve quipped before, if it were up to me, we would dispense with the lunar calendar, and fix the date of Easter on the second Sunday of April. It would arrive right on time, every year. Alas, it is not up to me, so this year we are one week late, whereas last year we were two weeks early. Nevertheless, the time has arrived. Here we are in the midst of Holy Week and on the brink of Easter. Today we offer you an early edition of the Epistle – one day sooner in the week than it normally arrives. Why? To help us get ready for Easter. Easter will be more meaningful if you walk faithfully and prayerfully through the days preceding it – especially Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Today is Maundy Thursday, and we have a worship service at 7 pm. This is the day that Jesus began with his life intact, but ended utterly alone and deserted. He ate the Passover meal with his disciples and transformed it into what we call the Eucharist, or Holy Communion. From then on his followers would break the bread and pass the cup in remembrance of him. Also, as an act of humble service, he washed the feet of his disciples. Lately at Grace Church, we’ve been practicing a unique way to stay true to the spirit of what Jesus did on this day. Rather than offering a symbolic washing of feet, we have an ingathering of new socks for the shelters to distribute. If you are coming to church tonight, pick up a package of new socks on the way and you will have the opportunity to present your gift at the altar.

Tomorrow is Good Friday. We call the day good because on the cross Jesus absorbed and forgave the sins of the whole world. It is quite an audacious claim to make, which is why we’ll have seven different sermons to help us process what it means. The worship service is from 12 to 3 pm, and will focus on seven people who looked on Jesus in the hours before, during, and after his suffering. You don’t have to be here for the full three hours. The liturgy is designed so that you can arrive early, right on time, or fashionably late (or you can tune in on the livestream). The preachers will be, in order: Robbie Pennoyer: Malchus, the slave of the high priest; Yours Truly: Barabbas; Alissa Newton (Canon to the Ordinary, the Diocese of New York): Mary, the mother of Jesus; James Morton: John, the beloved disciple; Sarah Wood: the women looking on from afar; Harry Krauss: the centurion; Julia Offinger: Nicodemus.

On Holy Saturday we have the Easter Eve Walk for children and families beginning at 10:30 am in Tuttle Hall. This is an interactive experience of all the days of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter, presented in a way especially geared for children. Register here. Then at 7 pm we celebrate the Great Vigil of Easter, a service that moves us from the darkness of death to the light of resurrection. The service will include 13 baptisms – 12 of them adults. The Spirit is moving at Grace Church!

It all comes to a climax on Sunday, of course, with three festive services at our regular times – 9 am, 11 am, and 6 pm. The 11 am service will be on the livestream, of course. Speaking of etiquette, you may want to arrive early for seating purposes, and don’t be afraid to allow someone you don’t know squeeze into a pew with you.

Let’s do this! See you in church.

Don

Dear Friends.

Here we are on the brink of Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week and the end of Lent. To me, it seems like only yesterday when we began the Lenten journey back on Ash Wednesday, March 5. Perhaps you were here at Grace Church on that day to receive the imposition of ashes on your forehead, and hear the bracing words, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” We all repented of our sins, and vowed to make a new beginning. Many embarked on Lenten disciplines. We aimed to cut back on calories, drink less, pray more, or reach out to the marginalized of our community through an outreach project. Ideally, the larger goal of these endeavors was a closer walk with God. Now, at the ending of Lent, it is time to ask, “How did it go?”

When Jesus entered the city of Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, I imagine that he was asking a similar question. The great city, and the people who dwelled within it had a mission to be a light to enlighten the nations. As God’s chosen people, they were to be set apart, and disciplined in walking in the ways of the Lord. How was it going? The answer was, not well. In fact, just beyond the reading we will hear at the beginning of the services on Sunday, Luke, the Gospel writer reports that when Jesus “saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace!’” What did Jesus do? Did he throw his hands up in despair? Did he run in the opposite direction because the people would never know the things that make for peace? No, he entered the city. He came to offer them a new beginning.

One of the great blessings that I glean from the entire Bible, but especially in the life of Jesus, is always the chance to begin again. Perhaps Lent did not go well for you. The things you embarked upon did not remove the mark of ashes from your forehead, and you feel no closer to God today than you did back then. Perhaps life itself is not going well for you. Take heart, here comes Jesus, again, with the offer to begin anew. When I think about it, the message of Palm Sunday is much the same as the message of Easter, Pentecost, Advent, and Christmas: here comes Jesus again, offering you and me a new beginning.

God is not going to give up on any of us, no matter how badly we fail, no matter how ferociously we resist. For this reason, on Sunday we will shout, “Blessed is the King, who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.”

See you in Church.

Don

Dear Friends,

It seems that every year as Holy Week and Easter approach, the secular press goes off in search of the historical Jesus. They run articles that are intended to shock, if not offend the average church goer. Did you know, for example, that in addition to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, other documents called Thomas, Judas, and Phillip are also in existence? Why did these not make it into the Bible? It must have been some sort of theological or cultural conspiracy that silenced their voices. Did you know that the birth stories of Jesus in Matthew and Luke don’t agree with each other, and that Mark and John don’t include infancy narratives at all? Say it ain’t so!

How about Easter? Did you know that the four canonical Gospels vary greatly in their telling of what happened at the tomb of Jesus? Concerning the central, most important event in the Christian faith, you would think that the early church would have seen to it that they had the story straight. They didn’t. Why not? Could it mean that the documents are unreliable accounts, or at best, historical fiction?

The latest of these offerings appeared in the March 24 edition of The New Yorker magazine. It is an article entitled “We’re Still Not Done With Jesus,” by the author, Adam Gopniik. Gopnik is not disrespectful in what he writes, but he relies heavily on certain iconoclastic scholars whose mission has been to tear down and leave in tatters the central claims of Christianity. In reply to Gopnik’s article, The New York Times columnist Ross Douthat asked (March 28) “Can the Jesus of History Support the Christ of Faith?” His answer is, in a word, Yes. He is critical of Gopnik’s piece because “entirely absent is any meaningful treatment of the arguments for taking the Gospels seriously as what they claim to be: eyewitness accounts, or syntheses of eyewitness accounts, with a straightforward claim to basic historical credibility.”

I believe that whenever we contend with the tough questions about the origins of Christianity, the process strengthens rather than depletes our faith. At its best, the church has been engaged in honest, rigorous, scholarship from the very beginning. We have nothing to fear from it. In fact, it is what we have been trying to do at the Sunday Forum this Lent. Concerning the events of Holy Week – the last week of Jesus’ life – we have been asking, “What really happened?” This Sunday I’m looking forward to turning the question to Easter itself. Is it possible to make an historical case for the resurrection of Jesus? Gopnik is right in one respect: we’re still not done with Jesus. Join us at 10 am in the reception room. Breakfast treats served.

See you in church,

Don

Dear Friends,

As I walk around Grace Church this Friday morning, I recognize that we are in the calm before the storm. Outside my office window, spring is springing. Tulips and daffodils have pushed through the dead thatch of winter. The magnificent magnolia tree is about to burst into flower, and the tourists and neighbors who want to bask in nature’s glory won’t be far behind. Opening day for the Yankees and the Mets has already occurred (with predictable results, I might add). Grace Church School students will return from spring break on Monday, bringing with them all the energy that makes the campus buzz during the week. Soon it will be Holy Week and Easter, the time we remember and celebrate the central proclamations of the Christian faith.

Immediately following Easter, the lull in our efforts to restore Grace Church will come to an end. Scaffolding will return to the south aisle, though not with as big a footprint as we had last year. Four stained glass windows – three in the south aisle and one above the columbarium – will be removed for a complete refurbishment. Also, as the weather warms it is our goal to repair and waterproof numerous exterior facades. If all goes well, this summer you will see the parish house and rectory encased in scaffolding. Scaffolding is good! We make no apology for it to people who think it is unsightly. It shows that we care, and that we are participating in the renewal of the world God has made. Thank you for your capital campaign gifts that are making the work possible. 

Before we all get caught up in the joyful activities that are just ahead, I want to call your attention to one event that I hope you will put on your calendars now. I refer to the celebration of Patrick Allen’s 25th Anniversary as Organist and Choirmaster of Grace Church. The date is Friday, April 25, beginning with Annual Spring Choir Concert at 7 pm in the church, followed by a festive reception outdoors in Huntington Close (Tuttle Hall in case of rain). 25 years is an extraordinary achievement for Patrick. What a blessing for Grace Church he has been – and will continue to be. Music has always occupied a central place in the ministries of Grace Church, but Patrick has taken it to another level and brought along with him a generation of choristers and their families. He has instilled in them a love of music, and the liturgy, and the Lord whose praises we strive to sing.  

We are hoping for a full church on April 25. Patrick has requested that all gifts in honor of the occasion be directed to the Choir Special Projects Fund, which will be essential in sending the choir on a concert tour of France in the summer of 2026. Check out the link here for how to give, and give thanks, and celebrate. Do it today, while the doing is good.

See you in church,

Don

Dear Friends,

On a recent weekday I had a meeting in my office with a prospective new member, who arrived early and spent about 15 minutes sitting inside the church. “Wow,” he said, “I was surprised by how many people were there in the pews.”

He’s right. The church is open to the public Monday through Saturday from noon to 5 pm and on Sundays from 8:30 am to 5 pm. The hours are longer, of course, when evening services occur. If you go into the church during the open hours when no liturgy is scheduled, you will usually find anywhere from four to forty people scattered throughout the nave. Some are sitting quietly, some are strolling about taking the cell phone tour, others are kneeling in a pew deep in prayer.

I’ve written many times before that the first line of ministry is to keep the building open as much as possible. Our prayer is that the Holy Spirit and the sacred space will conspire to make a positive difference in people’s lives. We trust that those who come inside tired, anxious, and overwhelmed will leave in some measure refreshed, renewed, and reassured of God’s living presence. Indeed, even those contemplating some wrong may rethink their ways and leave resolving to do the right thing.

Yes, it’s expensive to open the church even when no services or concerts are on the calendar. Not only do we have to keep it heated in the winter, cooled in the summer, and lighted when the public is welcome, we also have to keep eyes on the building to assure that it’s safe. The expense is well worth it.

Some time ago I was leafing through our old parish history book (published in 1923), and came across a memorable quote from William Reed Huntington, who was the 6th Rector of Grace Church from 1884-1909. Apparently, when Huntington took office the church was closed during the week, but one of the first moves he made was to open it. He met with resistance but defended the new policy with an interesting argument: “The exemption of ecclesiastical property from taxation by the State can only be defended on the score of the usefulness of the Church as a bulwark for public morals. The Church would seem, therefore, to owe it to the citizens to make her sacred buildings as accessible as possible. Even if no prayer be said by the casual visitor, the influence silently exerted upon him by the architecture and symbolism of such a church as Grace Church can scarcely fail to be a wholesome one.”

My prayer is that God always gives Grace Church the will and the way to keep this place open – not just for ourselves, but for anyone who would come inside.

See you in church – and you don’t have to wait till Sunday,

Don

Dear Friends,

What really happened?

A few summers ago, my family and I were on vacation in Texas. Something I had always wanted to see was Dealey Plaza, the site where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. It was a day that stunned the world. Those who were old enough at the time to understand what was happening would never forget where they were when they first heard the news. The authorities quickly zeroed in on Lee Harvey Oswald, a lone gunman who fired the fatal shots from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.

Touring the site was moving and meaningful. What I was not prepared for were the unofficial “tour guides” in the vicinity who were offering their alternative versions of what really happened. Conspiracy theories abound. Harvey could not have acted alone, they claim. It was a vast collaboration between Cuba, the Soviets, the C.I.A., and organized crime. A second shooter fired from the grassy knoll. Despite numerous, exhaustive investigations beginning with the Warren Commission, the conspiracy theories persist, to the point where it is hard to answer the question: what really happened?

My point today is not to delve into the last days of Kennedy’s life, but rather to draw a comparison with the last days of Jesus’ life. A week ago we began a Lenten Sunday Forum series that examines the crucial events leading up to Jesus’ death and resurrection. What really happened? It is a question worth asking, not only from the standpoint of faith, but also from history because the world would not be the same after these things had come to pass. As you might imagine, the alternate, even conspiracy theories began almost immediately, so early in fact, that some of them are even addressed in the Gospels. On March 9, the Rev. James Morton helped us look at Palm Sunday. This week the Rev. Harry Krauss will take us to the room in Jerusalem where Jesus and his disciples ate the Passover meal – the Last Supper. In subsequent weeks we will ask what really happened on Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and finally Easter Day.

This Lent, make a point of travelling toward Easter by digging into the events of Holy Week. What really happened? Join us at 10 am in the reception room for coffee, breakfast treats, and a fresh look at the week that changes everything.

See you in church,

Don

Dear Friends,

We begin today on a sad note. On Wednesday morning, word reached the parish office that John Berringer had died just after midnight. John was 71 years old, and had been battling a stubborn cancer for over five years. He lived long enough to hold his first grandchild: Sanford Albert Berringer, born on February 19. He was in church as recently as February 23. In the words that follow I don’t mean to paint a portrait of John as if he were a perfect person, because none of us are. But John was decidedly one of the good guys. The world needs more people like John Berringer, not one fewer.

John trusted deeply that the church could be God’s instrument for healing in the world. Therefore, he gave generously of himself to the ministries of God’s people. At Grace Church he served over the years on a host of committees: Outreach to serve our neighbors in need, Newcomers to welcome the seekers, and Discernment to help those considering what might be God’s call to the ordained ministry. As a volunteer he was an Open Door Greeter, a 6 pm Sunday Altar Team member, an usher, a lay reader, and an occasional chalice bearer. John devoted many a Saturday morning to the GO Project, the joint ministry between Grace Church and School, tutoring public school students who were falling through the cracks. 

Most recently, John served for six years on the Vestry, the governing lay body of Grace Church. As an attorney, John proved instrumental when complaints alleging sexual abuse in the 1990s were brought against us. John was among many on the vestry who helped us respond in a way that was compassionate, sustainable, faithful, and fair. John cared deeply about the world, and was always eager to talk politics. He never complained about the ways things were – at least not that I heard. Rather, he rolled up his sleeves and gave himself to the places where he thought he could make a positive difference.

We will give thanks to God for John’s life one week from today, on Friday, March 14 at 4 pm with a memorial service in the church, and reception following in Tuttle Hall. John’s family – Bonnie, Ben, Katy, and Val – request that gifts in memory of John be directed to our recent Grace Church capital campaign, Making All Things New. 

Here we are, coming up on the First Sunday in Lent. The season prepares us for Easter, and offers many opportunities to serve, connect, study, and worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. See below for how you can roll up your sleeves and get involved. This year, let’s have John Berringer as one of our role models in faith. The world needs more people like him

See you in church,

Don

Dear Friends,

The New York Times featured an article yesterday with an encouraging title: “Christianity’s Decline in U.S. Appears to Have Halted.” The author, Ruth Graham, cites recent survey results that are significant. It is true that over the past 30 years, the percentage of Americans who identify as Christian has dropped. But over the past several years the downward trend has leveled off. What accounts for it? 

I’ve been a parish priest for 36 years now, and I confess that I gave up long ago trying to understand the patterns of church attendance. Is it the weather? Is it a long weekend? Will the street fair on Broadway bring them in or scare them away? Nevertheless, I do pay close attention to our numbers, and I have noticed that over the past two or three years our attendance is growing. Across the board, at all three Sunday services, and at our Wednesday 6 pm Eucharist, more people are coming to Grace Church than they were before the pandemic. 

Graham points to a surge in interest among young adults who grew up with no faith tradition. I have wondered if the pandemic itself has something to do with it. Five years ago we all received an uncomfortably close look at our mortality, and how fragile human life is. Now that it is safe again to be in large crowds, people of all ages – but especially young people – are searching for human connections and answers to the meaning of life that are deeper than what they can find online, or along secular pursuits. 

Whatever the reason, we have in our midst these days people who are unfamiliar in the ways of church. The questions we receive are as basic as they can be: Am I allowed to attend one of your services? (Yes) Is there a dress code? (Not really, although we do ask that you be sufficiently attired). I want to come to church; what do I do next? (Come to church). Then add to these initial questions our own particular customs at Grace Church. How do I open that pew door? How do I juggle the Prayer Book, the Hymnal, and the bulletin? What is Communion? Am I allowed to receive, and if so, how do I do it?

These last questions about Communion will be the subject of our Sunday Forum this week at 10 am in the reception room. The Eucharist – the Holy Communion – is one of the sure and certain ways that we encounter the presence of Jesus. But even those who have attended church for years may have experienced a great variety in how to receive. It ranges from kneeling to standing; from wine to grape juice; from the common cup to little shot glasses; from tasteless wafers to tasty unleavened bread; from sipping to dipping; from receiving the bread in the hand, on the tongue, or palming it for now and eating later in the day (not encouraged). 

Come to the Sunday Forum this week as the Rev. Julia Offinger leads a practical demonstration, but also a theological discussion about how to receive Communion. Coffee and breakfast treats will be served.  

See you in church. The Shrove Sunday feast follows the 11 am service!

Don

Dear Friends,

Those who pay close attention to the Prayers of the People on Sundays may have noticed that we have dropped “Justin, Archbishop of Canterbury” from our petitions. Why? The simple answer is that Justin Welby stepped down from the position last month, and the See of Canterbury is currently vacant. It will take some time to find just the right person to fill it.

The more complicated answer is that Archbishop Welby resigned under pressure. Welby’s critics claimed that his institutional response to an historic case of sexual misconduct was inadequate. While the Archbishop himself was uninvolved in any transgression, some think he should have done more to shine the light onto the dark deeds of one person in particular, and safeguard the church from further harm. Still others are claiming that the Archbishop’s resignation and the scandal currently roiling the Church of England are both signs of a declining institution.

I make no pretension to expertise in contemporary English church affairs. We have prayed for the Archbishop of Canterbury (and we will pray for whoever comes next) not because the occupant of the chair is akin to our Pope. Rather, the Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church in the United States is a member. Our historic, theological, cultural, and liturgical ties are deep. Our ongoing global partnership enriches our faith.

As for the Church of England being in decline, such was not my impression at all when I visited London last April. Admittedly, my sample size is small, but St. George’s Church, Hanover Square, our companion parish for two years now, is a bustling, urban congregation. They have a rich music tradition, a vital outreach ministry, and they are closely associated with a school that bears their name, as are we. This year they are celebrating their tercentenary – 300 years of ministry all in the same glorious, Georgian building. George Frideric Handel lived around the corner, and was an active parishioner for many years while he composed Messiah. President Theodore Roosevelt was married there.

This Sunday it will be our delight to have the Rev. Roderick Leece with us at Grace Church. “Roddy” is only the 13th Rector of St. George’s Church in its 300 year history. By contrast, I am the 14th Rector of Grace Church in our 217 years (yes, I am doing my part to raise the average term of service). Roddy will preach at the 9 and 11 am services, lead the Sunday Forum at 10 am, and hold forth at coffee hour after the 11 am service. At the Sunday Forum he will continue our series entitled “The Shape of the Liturgy,” and focus on the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, which the people of St. George’s Church use every Sunday.

All “Book of Common Prayer” matters aside, since Roddy arrived at the rectory yesterday I have been pressing him for information about St. George’s Church – the building itself. At 300 years old, it is apparently water tight. Meanwhile, the name of the game at our beloved 179-year old edifice called Grace Church continues to be “Whack-a-Leak.” Tell us the secret, Roddy, of how to keep the water out. We’d like to know.

See you in church,

Don

Dear Friends,

Over the past few months, my son Luke and I have been indulging ourselves in episodes of Better Call Saul, a television series that ran from 2015 to 2022. The two main characters – Jimmy McGill (who later becomes Saul Goodman) and Kim Wexler – are complex people who descend from being ordinary citizens to unethical monsters. Time after time they reach a fork in the road. One path leads to light and life. The other path risks darkness and death. With few exceptions, they cannot resist the latter way. Remarkably, redemption often presents itself anew with another fork in the road, yet seldom do they follow the light. I’ve lost count how many times I have hit my forehead with the heel of my hand, as if the New York Giants had just fumbled again in the red zone. 

Lately, I’ve been feeling like we are all living in the television series, Better Call Saul. Indeed, the headlines are such that I’ve lost count how many times the heel of my hand has hit my forehead. People with seriously questionable, if not dangerous credentials are given vitally important cabinet seats. Vladimir Putin, plastic straws, and January 6 insurrectionists are returned to the mix as good elements. Meanwhile, the Gulf of Mexico, Canada, Greenland, Panama, our historic European allies, and others are on the outs – dismissed and disrespected. What is an appropriate Christian response to these things that are coming to pass? Perhaps you will indulge me for a few more paragraphs, as it is Presidents’ Day Weekend. 

Sadly, many people who call themselves Christian have aligned themselves entirely with the current occupant of the Oval Office. Doing so is never a good idea, no matter who the President is, because the ways of God are often inscrutable to us. Perhaps a better mindset is to trust that despite broken systems and seriously flawed people, God still manages to work out the divine will. I realized this anew last Wednesday evening at our Bible study following the 6 pm Eucharist. We have been making our way through the great stories of Genesis, and the lot fell to me to present chapters 18 and 19 – the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Read the story for yourself. In the midst of it you will encounter Lot, a nephew of Abraham. Lot turns out to be the very last person you’d pick to be heading up your family. The decisions he makes are remarkably bad, yet God has a purpose for this deeply defective individual. God makes use of him in the drama of salvation history. 

Something else for us all to remember is the virtue of humility. I was not in Lot’s house or his mind when the violent mob was trying to break down his door. Likewise, I am not an international diplomat, a military strategist, an economist, or a politician. Certainly, we all have our opinions. In a free society we must be able to voice them vigorously, without fear of retribution, especially when those in power appear to be traveling the paths of darkness and death. On this Presidents’ Day Weekend, let us continue to pray for those who sit in judgement seats, and urge them to choose the ways of light and life. 

See you in church,

Don