St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York City
Simple and Austere.
Posted on 12/18/2002 1:33:55 PM PST by NYer
NEW YORK – Young educated New Yorkers are pouring into mainline churches and synagogues in such numbers that some ministers believe is they are witnessing an awakening.
"It is an awakening. It's a revitalization!" exclaimed the Rev. Amandus J. Derr, senior pastor of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in midtown Manhattan. His congregation has grown from 220 to 560 members in the last five years; 100 have joined in the year since Sept. 11, 2001.
"They are all extremely committed. Every Sunday morning our sanctuary is full. We have to put in chairs."
Like Derr, his colleagues say the young professionals in their pews have thoroughly distanced themselves from the postmodern culture of "me, myself, I and nobody else," as Derr phrased it.
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"They are tired of relativism and embarrassed by the 1990s. Now they want to make sure that their own kids are properly grounded in Scripture," agreed the Rev. Fred R. Anderson, senior pastor of the prestigious Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, which has swollen to 1,000 active members.
"Sure, they may have enjoyed a hedonistic lifestyle. But now that they have kids, they seek meaning, assurance and purpose."
It isn't easy becoming a Presbyterian or a Lutheran. Both denominations have a tradition of educating their laity solidly in Scripture and the confessional writings of the 16th-century Reformation.
They insist that neophytes join "new member classes." But this seems to appeal to these refugees from the self-indulgence of the 1990s. "They are eager to learn," commented Derr.
'Content and Authenticity'
His neighbor, Rabbi Peter J. Rubinstein of Manhattan's Central Synagogue, confirmed this. "Our new members are eagerly studying Hebrew because they are seeking content and authenticity," related Rubinstein, whose sanctuary traces its roots back to 1839 and is the oldest Jewish house of worship in continuous use in New York City.
Central Synagogue's membership stands at 1,800 households, up from 1,100 in 1991, when Rubinstein became its senior rabbi. "These 1,800 households translate into 3,000-4,000 people," he said. Of these, 500 to 800 come to the congregation's Friday night services. Hundreds more attend on Saturday.
Like Derr and Anderson, Rubinstein noticed a growth especially among young people just graduated from college and young couples with children. One of the most stunning developments occurred after his landmark sanctuary burned in 1998.
"We expected to lose members," reported the rabbi. "Instead the opposite happened": The tremendous growth of the preceding years continued.
As in the case of St. Peter's and Madison Avenue Presbyterian, this proved that the return of young educated New Yorkers to their faith is not just something superficial, such as an attachment to a particularly beautiful building, but something much more profound.
Carl Feit, an orthodox rabbi, Talmud scholar, and cancer researcher at New York's Yeshiva University, observed that young Jews of the Reformed Tradition are becoming more conservative, the Conservatives more orthodox, while some of the Orthodox drift into the even stricter Hassidic sects.
Rubinstein, who is Reformed, confirmed this trend and pointed to an outward sign: "Before I came here, the rabbis did not wear skullcaps and prayer shawls, but now they do."
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Within the last decade, the skullcap or yarmulke has become a prominent feature in New York streets, as has the black cross on the foreheads of Catholics, Episcopalians and Lutherans on Ash Wednesday.
A youthful neo-conservatism within Scripture-oriented congregations of otherwise liberal denominations, especially in urban centers, may suggest a global phenomenon. Studies in Europe have shown a return to religion in many of the continent's large cities, though not in Paris.
In New York, the "ultimate city," which has often been unjustly accused of being more godless than the rest of the country, this development is particularly strong. Anderson, the Presbyterian, said that only one or two out of every 10 new members had Presbyterian roots.
From 'Nothing' to Something
"Almost half have been nothing before," he said. Hence, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church often offers an interesting spectacle: the baptism of a Harvard- or Yale-educated pair of professionals followed by the Christening of their child.
The "hunger for God," a term that has been bantered about a lot in the last few years, becomes evident when in St. Peter's, for example, 50 percent of all members are young couples. For one such couple, finding a spiritual home in this congregation was one reason for moving from Staten Island to Manhattan.
But it is the depth of the new congregants' commitment that makes this development so stunning.
In Immanuel Lutheran Church, an uptown congregation, young Wall Street executives have formed the "Under the Hill Gang" (as opposed to those who are already "over the hill"), who are deeply immersed in intensive Bible study every week.
Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church has transformed its narthex into a "crying corner," where young parents can take their babies, should they decide to howl during Fred Anderson's sermons.
In St. Peter's, the choir has swollen to 50 members. More than 100 members show up at congregational meetings, a hitherto unheard-of number. Almost 30 sit in midweek Bible study classes, plus an additional 20 in classed conducted in Spanish.
There's one adjective clergymen like Anderson, Derr and Rubinstein use frequently these days: "Amazing!"
St. Peter's Lutheran Church in New York City
Simple and Austere.
Manhattan Central Synagogue
Now a lot of people say that this is not the END TIMES, well if it gets much worse I don't know if I want to be here for that..
Don't let yourself become so entwined with the darkness that it requires a Herculean effort to accept the Light of Grace. Sursum Corda
Gaudete...The Lord is nigh....<>
Thanks Catholicguy for the valuable warning. I certainly try to not let myself become so entwined. I love God and His Son with all my heart, might, mind, soul and energy. I know that I cannot find salvation without Them. - But I try not to shirk from confronting evil - in all its manifold guises (including within me). In that (as in everything), I try to follow the example of God's Son.
Nor I!
I expect these are the reporter's words, and not the rabbi's. The proper name is "Reform" Judaism, not "Reformed".
I agree. It also tells me that those values we try to imbue in our children when they are young, will blossom, like seeds, when the time is right.
Happy Holidays to you and yours.
Thank you. And may you have a blessed Christmas.
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