Wander Freely

On Sunday, April 18, The Rev. Michael Phillips, rector of Holy Trinity Church, joined us as guest preacher and speaker at the adult education forum. During the course of the morning, with great enthusiasm, he shared the history of our two churches and spoke eloquently and inspiringly about the importance of mission and vision of the Episcopal Church and our role in it.

The Rev. Phillips described the long standing relationship of our two churches that started when St. James’ supported Holy Trinity by providing clergy that allowed it to function as a mission church. Holy Trinity is an outgrowth of a gift of property originally intended to be used for the social benefit of primarily German immigrants to the Yorkville neighborhood. Our churches are linked by a long history of providing for our neighbors in the changing history of our city.

I was particularly struck by the biblical underpinning he provided for the message of how the modern church can view its role in the world. Using the story of Moses leading the Israelites in the wilderness after having been freed by Pharaoh, he pointed to the opportunity to wander freely, led by God, choosing where we will go and how we will live out our mission as Christians in the world.

Reflecting on the changes in our society during the past fifty years or so, the Rev. Phillips asked us “When people look back 100 years from now, what vision will we (St. James’) have left for them to see?” In this bicentennial year, he encouraged us to look to the future through the lens of our history and accomplishments. What is our mission today and for the future?

--Madeline Schroth, Vestry

A Church for Heritage

Today St. James’ was aglow with the sound of children’s voices. Today’s choir at the 9:10 a.m. service was made up of St. James’ children’s choirs along with children’s choirs from St. Paul’s Chestnut Hill and St. Thomas Church in Whitemarsh, both in Pennsylvania. No adults! And the music was wonderful. In addition, we had the pleasure of Michael Phillips, the Rector of The Church of the Holy Trinity, as our bicentennial guest preacher. Holy Trinity was a mission church of St. James’ from the late 1890s until 1951. In the late 1890s Serena Rhinelander owned a summer home on what is now E. 88th Street and decided that the immigrants who were moving north in Manhattan needed a church to remind them of their European heritage. She built a church and a community center complete with gymnasium and indoor swimming pool and then gave this complex to the Diocese of New York. The Diocese, not having the money to run this new church, asked St. James’ to take it up that work and to supply the clergy. As a result, Holy Trinity became a mission church of St. James’ until 1951 when a rector was called. In the forum, as the Rev. Phillips extolled our 200-year history, he also challenged us to look ahead and envision what St. James’ would look like in the next 100 years, keeping in mind our ever changing culture.

--Anne Anthony

St. James' Church in the City of New York 1810-2010

This book by Francis J. Sypher, Jr., with a foreword by Archbishop Emertus Desmond Mpilo Tutu, gives readers a fascinating view of the leadership and members of St. James’ parish responding to the dramatic changes of the 19th and 20th centuries. It’s a story of the arrival of the elevated train signaling the transformation of a small summer parish into a year-round church serving the wealthy of Fifth Avenue and the working classes of Yorkville. It’s a story of social change from the time of pew rentals, Plaza Hotel fundraisers, and ushers in cutaways to the development of ongoing local mission services for the poor, support for communities in Harlem and the Bronx, and involvement in women’s ordination in the United States and the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa. Sypher’s book offers an excellent view into the evolution of how Episcopalians on the Upper East Side of Manhattan understand their call to a Christian life.

--Suzanne Oliver, co-author of The Faith Club

On the Reconciliation Panel

Hope for a future without violence and fear resonated throughout the panel discussion on The Church and Global Reconciliation on March 7th at St. James'. Both Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Bishop Gordon McMullan go back thirty years or more with Bishop Rockwell and therefore with St. James’. While Archbishop Tutu and Bishop McMullan were actively engaged to stop the horrors within their countries and move to peace and reconciliation, Bishop Rockwell directed the attention of St. James’ and the Episcopal Church towards their courageous struggle.

Archbishop Tutu and Bishop McMullan described first hand the violence and fear that had had a strangle hold on their countries. In South Africa, it was based on the color of the skin (apartheid), in Northern Ireland, on religion -– Catholic vs. Protestant -- and politics. Many thousands died in South Africa, more than 3,500 in Northern Ireland.

What kept their sanity during this tragic time? Archbishop Tutu said it was his Christian faith and the knowledge that all over the world people were praying for him and for South Africa. Bishop McMullan’s Christianity is who he is. As people with major differences come together and talk, they discover that they have more in common than differences. It is this commonality that brings joy.

Tentatively, both men expect that there will be no turning back in their countries, as too many of their citizens experienced violence and now crave peace.

Bishop Rockwell said we take one step first and then another. A prophetic gift is accompanied by patience as well as humility. Forgiveness moves us toward a right relationship with God and our neighbors. But God does not make the world perfect, we must.

--Katharine Fleming, Mission Committee