Jan Nunley's Sermon From Our Feb. 10th Eucharist

As promised, we have posted the sermon from our Feb. 10th Eucharist at St. Luke in the Fields, by the Rev. Jan Nunley, an award-winning journalist who helped bring the Episcopal News Service into the digital age.

Since our service was observing the Feast of Cornelius the Centurion, Jan explained what we know about the two men who the Bible identifies as  Centurions, positing they may have in fact been the same person, and - by exploring some variables in possible translation - positing that the relationship between Cornelius and the "slave" whom Jesus heals may have been slightly more romantic in nature than that between a soldier and his servant would imply. The Greek word pais, which modern English translations of the Bible take to mean "slave" or "servant" is argued by some scholars to actually be an affectionate term for the younger member of a male couple.

For further reading, Jan suggests the following:

• Jesus, the Centurion, and his Lover
  Jack Clark Robinson in the Gay & Lesbian Review
• The Gay Centurion: Did Jesus Bless A Gay Relationship?
  Gay Christian 101
  
• Cornelius the Centurion
  James E. Kiefer in Biographical Sketches of Christians of the Past

Good times with Integrity/NYC-Metro on February 10th

Forty eight people turned out for Integrity/NYC-Metro's Eucharist and Social on Friday, February 10th, at The Church of St. Luke in the Fields. The Rev. Jon M. Richardson, Priest-in-Charge of St. Paul's, Bergen and Integrity Vice President of National Affairs presided; The Rev. Dn. Kent Curtis of All Saints, Manhattan, served as deacon; and The Rev. Jan Nunley, parishioner-priest at St. Peter's, Peekskill stirred everyone up with a great sermon.

We were blessed with presence of Integrity's founder, Louie Crew. It was also wonderful to have some folks who were checking out the Episcopal Church for the very first time, as they had heard of the event through NYU's campus ministry. The social went on for over an hour and a half, until the hall finally had to be locked for the evening. (Rumor has it that some folks continued the party on their own!)

The steering committee was very pleased by the response, and is planning another Eucharist and Social for early May. We are hoping to do something brand-new for Integrity and have a Spanish-language Eucharist in a Latino parish! Watch this blog for details.

Eucharist & Social Scheduled for Feb. 10th

On Friday, Feb. 10th at 7:00 p.m., Integrity NYC-Metro invites everyone to join us for worship and conversation at St. Luke in the Fields, 487 Hudson Street, New York.

The Rev. Jon L. Richardson, Priest-in-Charge at St. Paul's Church in Jersey City and Vice President for National Affairs for IntegrityUSA, will celebrate the Eucharist, assisted by The Rev. Deacon Kenton Curtis.  Kenton is the supervising social worker for the HIV/AIDS Initiative of The Actors Fund and serves at All Saints' Church in Manhattan.

The Rev. Jan Nunley, an award-winning journalist who helped shepherd the Episcopal Church's communications into the digital age, will offer the sermon. A reception and social hour will follow.

A special invitation is extended to past and present members of Integrity. We would like to get to know you and share a bit about what we've been up to!

St. Luke in the Fields is located at the corner of Hudson and Christopher streets in the  heart of the West Village. It is just steps away from the Christopher Street PATH station for a quick ride from New Jersey, and two short blocks from the Sheridan Square station on the #1 subway.

Pride March Thank You

A message from Paul Lane:

As the organizer of the Pride March contingent for the Committee on LGBT Concerns of the Diocese of New York, I would like to thank everyone who helped make this year's LGBT Pride March such a success.

The marchers, who came from at least four diocese and made us one of the larger groups in the March. The benefactors, parishes, organization and individuals, who came through to fund the float. The folks at Integrity NYC Metro and Oasis Newark who were instrumental in getting the word out. Our wonderful DJ Brett. Our group marshals: Stephen, Erlinda, Lou and Mark. The Church of the Transfiguration, who made our out of town marchers feel welcome at their 11:00 a.m. Eucharist. The churches along the way who provided water for all the marchers, Marble Collegiate, First Presbyterian, especially the Episcopal Church of the Ascension (who added just a twist of lemon) and the Church of St. Luke in the Fields, who welcomed us at the end of the March both spiritually at Evensong and physically at the reception that followed.

Our visibility is very important. Our presence in the March is a wonderful way to reach out to the LGBT community, many of whom have had very negative experiences with "church" in the past, letting them know that is a church (among others) that welcomes them and is dedicated to "respecting the dignity of every human being".

Planning for next year's March will start in September. Anyone interested in helping can contact us at info@lgbt.dioceseny.org

Again, many thanks to all.

Paul J. Lane

Pride March Organizer

Committee on LGBT Concerns

The Episcopal Diocese of New York

Diocesan Organizer of New York

Integrity USA

Steering Committee Member

Integrity NYC Metro

To see some photos of the 2 block contingent, please see these two Albums:

Pride March 06-27-10 by Millard Cook

Heritage of Pride 2010 by Christian Paolino

iNYC Celebrates Strides at General Convention

IntegrityNYC hosted a Solemn Eucharist at St. Luke in the Fields Church in Manhattan's historic Greenwich Village. About 60 people from across New York City and New Jersey gathered in thanksgiving for the strides made this summer by the Episcopal Church's General Convention on LGBTQ issues.

The Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam, Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of New York, presided; David Casey (Grace), Convener of IntegrityNYC, preached; The Rev Hugh Grant, Curate, and The Rev Caroline Stacey, Rector (St. Luke's) assisted; The Rev. Dn. Kent Curtis (All Saints), served as Deacon; The Altar Guild and Acolyte Guild of St. Luke's offered their time and talents in the service; Shauna Leeks (St. Barts) and Michael Cudney (Holy Apostles and iNYC Steering Committee) read the lessons. Ms. Leeks, Wayne Seifried (Ascension), Chap Day (St. Luke's, iNYC Steering Committee, and Province II Coordinator Elect), and Michael Mallon (St. Luke's and iNYC Steering Committee) served as Ushers; and John Bradley (St. Lukes and Polyhymia) and David Shuler (St. Luke's) provided music.

"America is not the same place it was 50 years ago...or even 10 years ago; and neither is the Episcopal Church" proclaimed David Casey. "When we get All the Sacraments for All the Baptized, we will still not be done! We will still have to deal with homophobia and hetero-sexism in the same way that Women in the Church are still facing Sexism and People of Color in the Church are still facing racism." pulling from the Gospel of Mark, David pointed to the marginalized youth, especially those outside of the Church who will still need our help, support and love.

A collection was taken in honor of "The Church". The Church is a ministry offered by St. Luke's to the LGBTQA Youth in Greenwich Village. Greenwich Village is a destination for thousands of LGBTQA young people who come from all over the city and beyond looking for a safe place to express themselves without fear of homophobic violence or moral condemnation. In 2001, St. Luke’s began opening their doors to these young people on Saturday nights by offering a hot meal, workshops in the visual and performing arts, and the services of social workers and caring adult volunteers. Today the program serves 20-30 young people each week and more than 600 youth ages 14-21 are currently enrolled. The Reverend Mary Foulke, who oversees the program, estimates that at least 1/3 of the attendees are homeless.

An intimate reception followed in St. Luke's Laughlin Hall. Pictures were taken by Jon Nally.

The Rev. Hugh Grant and David Casey greet attendees.

The iNYC Steering Committee and Bishop Roskam
L-R: Chap Day, David Casey, The Rt. Rev. Catherine Roskam, Michael Cudney, Marlin Mattson, and Michael Mallon (not pictured Rachel Furer, Dale McNeil)

Celebratory Eucharist - 20 Sep, 4pm - St. Luke's

Details:

Sunday, 20th September 2009 (4:00pm)
Church of St. Luke in the Fields
487 Hudson St (at Grove)

This Summer General Convention passed some amazing resolutions.

IntegrityUSA was there the entire time advocating among the delegates to do the right thing, and they came through!

iNYC is hosting this Celebratory Eucharist in thanksgiving for these resolutions and in gratitude to the Diocesan delegates who helped make these strides possible!

This is our time to Celebrate the welcoming and affirming Episcopal Church in our own area! Come join us!!!


Celebrant: Bishop Roskam, Diocese of New York
Preacher: David Casey of iNYC
Acolytes: St. Luke in the Fields
Music: John Bradley and David Shuler

The Resolutions:
C056 – Authorizes “generous pastoral support” for blessing marriages, unions & partnerships and collection of liturgical resources for consideration at GC2012
C048 – Urges support of fully inclusive ENDA legislation pending in Washington
D012 -- Support for Transgender Civil Rights
D025 – Supports inclusive ordination processes for ALL orders of ministry
D032 -- Non-discrimination clause including gender identity and gender expression for lay employees
D076 -- Support for immigration equality for gay couples
D090 -- Church paper work to be made more accessible to flexibility in gender identity and pronoun preference
C023 – Urging support for repeal of DOMA (“Defense of Marriage Act”) passed in Deputies and was referred by Bishops to Executive Council – where we expect affirmative action will be taken to take the voice of the Episcopal Church to Washington on this important issue.


Please RSVP Below:
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Celebratory Eucharist - 20 Sep, 4pm - St. Luke's

Details:
Sunday, 20th September 2009 (4:00pm)
Church of St. Luke in the Fields
487 Hudson St (at Grove)

Save the Date for a Celebratory Eucharist in thanksgiving for the passing of inclusive resolutions at General Convention, and in gratitude to our Diocesan Delegates.

If you are interested in contributing to this service (reader, usher, choir, planning, volunteering) or if you have questions, please Email Chap James Day .

Gay Pride Eucharist

Here are some images from the Eucharist at Gay Pride 28 Jun 2009.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

David Casey, iNYC Convener offers the Prayers of the People
Chap Day, acolyte and Stephen McFadden from the Diocesan LGBT Concerns Committee

The Rev. John Denaro, Celebrant

There were about 3 dozen people in attendance at the Street Eucharist. Thank you to all who stepped up to assist with reading the lessons, and a special thanks to St. Luke in the Fields, for providing everything necessary for the Eucharist including bulletins, and especially to Paul Lane for organizing it.

Pre-Diocesan Convention Rally

Are you ....

A Delegate to the New York Diocesan Convention?

A member of the clergy?

On the Vestry??

A Concerned Parishioner???

If so, please come to the Church of the Holy Apostles on Tuesday, October 28th to hear about what YOU can do to help support the Resolution on Civil Marriage Equality in New York State. There will be a Eucharist at 615pm, followed by the rally / presentation at 7pm

Find out more about the resolution, the pre-convention caucuses and more!

Special thanks to the Committee on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns for crafting the resolution.

RSVP Here

Church Crawl

Details:
Sunday, Mar 9, 2008 (11:00 AM to 8:00 PM)
at Church of the Ascension and Grace Church

iNYC is proud to announce our first Parish Crawl which is taking place in Manhattan on Sunday, March 9, 2008. We will be visiting the Church of the Ascension for their 11am service and Grace Church for their 6pm service. Itinerary for the day is as follows

11am Principal Service, Church of the Ascension: Fifth Avenue at 10th Street, Holy Eucharist at Main Altar, with full choir and sermon

12pm Coffee Hour, Church of the Ascension. This is our chance to mingle with parishioners of Ascension and spread the Good News of God’s inclusive love for GLBT Christians in the Episcopal Church and to talk about iNYC.

1pm-ish .. Brunch on our own + free time

6pm Evening Service, Grace Church in New York: 10th Street and Broadway, Holy Eucharist in the Chantry, with sermon.

7pm Wine and Cheese Reception, Grace Church in New York.

Please RSVP Here for your attendance to either or both of these services. It is asked that if you are attending only one of the Churches, that you please leave a comment as to which one you are attending.