A Vibrant and Progressive Church

The whole stated reason for a trip to New York City with my sister was to attend a progressive, vibrant church. I chose Judson Memorial from it's website alone. I think it should win the "Best Church Website" award. It is located just south of Washington Square and is completely surrounded by the NYU campus. The brochure you can pick up on your way in to church says, "We're interested in changing the plight of the marginalized, and in noticing when the emperors have no clothes. We think the arts make life worth living and celebrate the secular and sacred in all that we do, including worship and how we use glorious spaces. A church that's a little bit different -- and committed to making a difference."

The sanctuary is a large space with moveable chairs and beautiful stained glass. The music had traditional hymns ("How Great Thou Art"), contemporary music (a song by Bruce Springsteen) and music that made me weep ("Up to the Mountain" by Patty Griffin). The sermon was relevant to the day and location, dealing with the importance of memory and how we manage our fear. The preacher was dealing specifically with 9/11 and the issue of building an Islamic Cultural Center two blocks from Ground Zero.

Three new members were brought into the church. Instead of vows the new members spoke their own statement of faith. Part of the ritual was to invite the congregation to respond to the new members' request to join the church by voting with a vocal "Amen." The loud decibel level of the response was beautiful and spoke of the congregation's intended welcome.

I was moved by the service and the obvious love the members had for each other. You could tell they wanted to be there. My complaint about many progressive churches is that they spend much of their worship time telling themselves how good and right they are. There was none of that at Judson Memorial. Instead, there was a call to be involved in passionately and compassionately making a difference in the world. They are involved in immigration rights, the new sanctuary movement, women's productive rights, LGBT events, and working with the addicted. Before I went to church I watched a youtube video of the pastor on the Bill O'Reilly show talking about immigration and the new sanctuary movement. She held her own!

Again, I missed the children in worship. They weren't there at all. In fact, at first I thought there were no children in their church. They run their Sunday School during worship. There is something deeply moving to me about how the children at La Verne CoB minister to us and lead us.

Unfortunately, no one welcomed us the whole time we were there, except for the pastor at the door as we left at the end of worship. During this sabbatical, I have been constantly reminded of the absolute importance of hospitality.