The End of Emerge
February 20, 2007
Last night I went to the final Emerge, the 7 p.m. alt worship service at St. Bart’s on Park Avenue and 51st in New York. After the service, a friend turned to me and said, “that was sad.”
“Tragically and sinfully sad,” I replied.
Sad because it was just so damn good and sad because it’s a crying shame that St. Bart’s is shutting it down less than a year after it started.
Sinfully sad because there were more than one hundred people there last night, with visible age, ethnic, racial, and class diversity in the room. How many churches around the country only dream of that type of crowd on a Sunday morning (the majority of Episcopal churches have less)…let alone a Sunday night.
St. Bart’s, a Byzantine basilica, covered in shimmering tiles and mosaics, is one of the most beautiful churches in New York City. A take-your-breath-away holy space. For Emerge, candles created a curtain of light between the altar and the congregation. Behind the small table set up for readings and celebrating the Eucharist, a wonderful assortment of images were projected on a beveled-edged stand-alone screen.
The service followed the forms for an Episcopal liturgy with texts “crafted and adapted from several sources including Enriching Our Worship, The Iona Community Worship Book, Johnny Baker’s Alternative Worship and Common Worship 2000“. The music selections and musicians were spot on, capturing the contemplative and celebratory mood of Emerge’s tag line: “where the ancient and urban come together.” I was moved by the amount of silence in the service (allowing for entire minutes to go by, a sacred treasure in NYC) and also really glad when they invited the entire congregation to stand around the table during the celebration of communion.
There’s bits I could critique (hey, I’m a seminary-trained PK who’s starting my own emerging liturgical community) but why? I like to say: If you’re part of the solution, you’re part of the solution. Sanctuary at Epiphany, Common Ground at Advent Lutheran, and Emerge at St. Bart’s are all trying to work out some new solutions in mainline settings… and are all succeeding.
It’s tragically sad that Emerge is ending precisely because it was succeeding at doing something perceptibly new. Elizabeth, the young priest who gave the sermon, did a good job of using the story of the Transfiguration to tell the congregation that we shouldn’t try to hold on to our “mountain-top” experiences. Nor, she preached, should we “worship the worship.”
The party line reason for ending Emerge was budget cuts. At the end of the service, Bill Tully, the rector of St. Bart’s stood up and asked people to pledge. Maybe then Emerge could come back. He asked us to read through a small printed pamphlet about St. Bart’s 2007 Annual Fund called “The Heart of All We Do.” The opening message from the rector in the booklet says that “at St. Bart’s, worship is at the heart of all we do.” Tonight that statement rang hollow.
One of the hallmarks of doing post-modern worship is that it’s got to be authentic. Emerge was authentic. It succeeded in being a sacred space of mystery and transcendence. It succeeded in being a safe place for many different types of people who feel the brokenness all around us and who perhaps are made to feel broken themselves by traditional church. The service was professional and resourced and lived up to all that St. Bart’s should be doing in an alt worship service. Beautiful, mysterious, broken, and profound. It was authentic to St. Bart’s.
3 Responses to “The End of Emerge”
Yeah, the end of Emerge is definitely a poor moment in St. Bart’s mission to the world. My sense from my experience of Sanctuary is that if mainline churches are serious about inviting people in through different liturgies, they’re going to have to pay for it. No way is Sanctuary “revenue neutral,” but it’s part of Epiphany’s total mission, and viewed as outreach, education, and evangelism all wrapped up in one.
What’s up with Intersection at St. Michael’s?
By Jenn on Feb 20, 2007
>What’s up with Intersection at St. Michael’s?
I’m not sure, but it’s still posted on their website’s worship schedule for 6pm on Sundays: http://www.saintmichaelschurch.org/worship/schedule.html
It is worth saying that St. Michael’s is also one of the beautiful churches in this city… I didn’t see any photos of their interior on their website, but it’s worth the trip up to Amsterdam & 99th St to pay a visit to this hidden gem.
By Bowie on Feb 20, 2007
Sinfully sad because there were more than one hundred people there last night, with visible age, ethnic, racial, and class diversity in the room. How many churches around the country only dream of that type of crowd on a Sunday morning (the majority of Episcopal churches have less)…let alone a Sunday night.
That’s what I loved about Regen. Even the homeless would walk in the door and have church with us. That to me is the sign of a healthy, well-balanced church that is focused on Christ. That’s the point I have been trying to make to Transmission all along. If you have a healthy church, focused on Christ, and following the word… that is the result. A place where anyone (no matter race, background, creed, etc) can feel safe.
I probably would have liked that church… maybe… ;)
I wonder though if this is a comment on east coast verses west or perhaps better said, old vs new. I have had many similar conversations with friends from California whom have spent time on the east coast. We have all agreed that church in the west is very different from church in the east. The east coast has a much more traditional format and structure than most churches on the west coast. We thought it might be due to the history of the east coast and being older (thus steeped in tradition) but weren’t really set on any theory.
My 2 cents.
By Renata on Feb 24, 2007