Check Out Our Website!

From now on, this blog will be updated very sporadically, if ever.

For information about St. Paul's Church, go to www.stpaulsnyc.org

Hope to see you soon!

Official Launch September 27th!

Save the date and tell your friends!

St. Paul's will be officially launching on Sunday, September 27th, 11am at 122 East 83rd Street between Park and Lex.

Between now and then we will be taking some time off to get geared up.

See you then!

Pool Party this Saturday

Join us in Rowayton, CT for a Pool Party and Cookout this Saturday, August 15 from 12pm onwards...

Trains leave Grand Central at 11:07, 1:07 & 3:07pm and arrive in Rowayton 55 minutes later.

Contact R-J at 917.294.7825 or rheijmen@

stpaulsnyc.org to let us know when you'll be arriving!

Picnic in Central Park this Sunday

This Sunday, instead of a service, we will be having a picnic at 4pm at the south edge of the Great Lawn, which is roughly equal with 80th St. Give me a call on my cell (917.294.7825) if you're having a tough time finding us.

See you soon!

Tuesday Night Dinner, Drinks and Discussion

Tonight will be our first weekly Tuesday night "Dinner, Drinks and Discussion" meeting. 

It will begin at 7:30pm (come later if you can't get out of work) at the Heijmens' apartment, 242 East 71st St. Apt 2E, between 2nd & 3rd Avenues. We'll wrap up around 9pm, but you'll be welcome to hang out as long as you like.

See you then!

Summer Schedule

This summer, St. Paul's will have two regular weekly meetings:

Sundays, 5:30pm, beginning May 31st:

A casual time of teaching, music and prayer, with food to follow. 122 East 83rd Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues.

Tuesdays, 7:30pm, beginning May 26th:

Dinner, drinks and discussion at the Heijmens' apartment. 242 East 71st Street Apt 2E, between 2nd & 3rd Avenues.

We hope to see you soon!

Please note: there will be no meeting this Sunday, May 24, due to the Memorial Day Holiday.

Preview Service this Sunday!

Join us for a Preview Service this Sunday, May 17th at 10:30am.

The service will be at the Metropolitan Republican Club (St. Paul's has no political affiliations:) at 122 East 83rd Street between Lexington and Park Avenues.

Childcare will be provided and there will be refreshments to follow.

We hope to see you then!

This (past) Sunday's Sermon: Emotion & Action

This past week we looked at John 14.15-21, specifically Jesus' words that "if you love me you will keep my commandments." We talked about how we usually read those words as a challenge and an accusation, as if Jesus is saying "put or shut up" or "prove your (supposed) love to me through action," but what he is actually saying is that emotion (love) always precedes action (obedience), and that the answer is not to obey our way into love, but to actually love and let obedience naturally follow.

Also, it was Mother's Day, so we talked about how a mother's love spurns her to serve her children, and not the other way around.

You can find the link to the podcast at right.

Enjoy!

Amazing Preview Service

This past Sunday, almost 90 of us gathered for St. Paul's first Preview Service. It was a truly wonderful time and I hope that you will join us for the next one on May 17th!

Preview Service this Sunday!

This Sunday, April 26th at 10:30am, we will be having our first Preview Service as we gear up for our official launch this coming September.

As usual, we will be meeting at 122 East 83rd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues.

Childcare will be provided and there will be refreshments to follow.

I hope to see you all there!

Easter at St. Paul's

We had a wonderful Easter this past week, my facial situation notwith-standing.

I spoke on the resurrec-tion (what else?), specifically two questions, giving much more time to the latter:

1. Did it happen?

2. Does it matter?

Using the early 20th century German theologian Karl Holl as a guide, I claimed that Easter matters because Jesus is the only God who claimed to be the Friend of Sinners.

For the audio, click here.

10 days until the Preview Service!

Funny (and Indicative) Story

Brief preface: My oldest son Jackson goes to an all-boys K-8 school called Buckley, whose chief rival is another K-8 boys school on the Upper East Side, St. Bernard's.

On Saturday after dinner, Jackson and I decided to take a little post-meal scooter ride. It was a beautiful evening and we headed straight for Central Park, where we rode to Belvedere Castle & the Great Lawn before the sun set and it was time to come home.

Jack's been on crutches and in a booty for a couple of weeks because of a slightly underdeveloped bone in his left foot, which, the doctor tells us, is quite normal for boys his age and will resolve itself soon. For this reason, Jack and I were on the same scooter - him in front, me in back pushing.

As we were coming home on 72nd Street, we hit a slick piece of pavement just after crossing Park Avenue and took a nasty spill. He

was bleeding and crying, I was bleeding, we were a mess.

A kind, well put-together woman in her 40s and her son, who was in coat and tie, stopped to help us. After checking to see how we were, she started looking through her purse for something to help stop the bleeding.

After a few moments, she pulled something out and said to me, "I hope you're not a Buckley family, because all I have is this St. Bernard's napkin!"

New Website

After a very late night, stpaulsnyc.org has gone live. It's very much a work in progress, but I hope that you'll stop by and let me know what you think!

Wonderful Palm Sunday!

We had a great meeting yesterday. Good crowd (almost 50, and lots of new people), good food, good times.

To check out my sermon, which was on Jesus' so-called "triumphal entry" into Jerusalem (what else?) five days before he was killed(!), click here.

The basic theme was that we are all much like the crowd on that day 200o years ago, in that we want God to do our bidding, to conquer our enemies and problems, and we start to resent Him when He doesn't deliver. Even so, Jesus conquers our selfishness and unbelief, not by destroying us, but by destroying himself, thus forgiving those who "know not what they are doing" (and even those who do!).

Hope to see you on some Sunday soon!

Why Anglican? (part 1)

Why Anglicanism? Why start an Anglican church? Why in a world with so many denominational (and non-denominational) options, would one choose to call themselves Anglican or attend an Anglican church? 

While I am not so out-of-touch as to believe that these are besetting questions for many, they may be at least interesting for some:)

Therefore, in the first in a continuing series, I will offer a few thoughts, some banal, some (hopefully) not, on Anglicanism as a viable Christian option.

Reason #1: Anglicanism is the bedrock Christianity of the English-speaking world.

Though we may not realize it, whenever we speak the language of the Bible, consciously or not, we are almost always speaking in Anglican terms. That is to say, when we say "the spirit is willing..." or "Our Father, which art in heaven..." or "you shall know the truth..." or simply "let there be light," we are quoting the King James Bible (and William Tyndale), which sprung out of the Anglican church. And this is no accident. 

Anglicanism was the first arm of Christianity to bring the faith to the English-speaking world in the vernacular, and with such a clarity, power and beauty so as to be ingrained in the collective consciousness. Beyond the church, Anglicanism, in the words of Yale Scholar David Daniell, "gave England (and English) in the middle of the sixteenth century its first disseminated plain style."

Simply put, Anglicanism is the original English Christianity and has had a profound, positive and enduring effect on the English language.

This (past) Sunday's Sermon: Two Covenants

This past week's sermon was on Jeremiah 31.31-34 (text below), specifically what the prophet Jeremiah (writing 600 years before Jesus) has to say about the old covenant, i.e. the Law, and the new covenant, i.e. the Gospel. 

Succinctly put, the old covenant represents what we know to be true (how the world works) and the new covenant what we wish were true, which comes to pass in Jesus.

The link to the podcast is here. 

Happy Spring!

Jeremiah 31.31-34

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

This (past) Sunday's Sermon: The Inner Conflict

This past Sunday's sermon focused on Romans 7.10-25 (text below), in which Paul says things about himself, the Law and God that no one has ever said before with such clarity. 

Specifically, Paul talks about how he is a dis-integrated person, how is unable to do what he wants and he does what he does not want to do (ever felt like that?:), how he is at war within himself and needs someone to save him.

Click here for the link to the podcast if you're interested:

I'd love to know your thoughts!

Romans 7.10-25

I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

First Meeting in New Space!

This past Sunday we had the first meeting at our new location, 122 East 83rd St. between Lexington and Park Avenues. A great time was had by all and we hope you'll visit soon!

I preached on Romans 8.31-39 (text below) but forgot to record it:(

The premise of the talk was that, in the midst of lives that are often very difficult, it's sometimes hard to believe that God is, as St. Paul writes, "for us".

In fact, the only proof/evidence/inkling we have that God may be, in fact, "on our side" is Jesus: who he is, what he says and what he does. Jesus is alone among religious/moral/ethical leaders in that he does not tell us how to solve our own problems, but rather saves us by taking our problems upon himself. Jesus isn't a "life coach," he's a body double (in the stunt man or Presidential security sense:).

Every other conception of God/life tells us that if we're having problems, it's up to us to overcome them, but Jesus is unique in that he takes all of the "against-ness", "condemn-ation" and "separation" (in Paul's words) we so often feel and returns only "for-ness." Only in Jesus can God be said to be truly "for us."

Finally, Jesus is so radically for us that he says:

I am for you even when you are against me.
I accept you even when you condemn me.
I cling to you even when you reject me.

I love you even when you hate me.

Romans 8.31-39 (ESV)

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised— who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,

"For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This (past) Sunday's Sermon: Lent

This past week's sermon was about Lent, specifically why the season is 40 days (a highly significant number Biblically) and the connection between Lent and Baptism.

In response to a supporter, I have also set up podcast via iTunes, which can be accessed by clicking here. Happy listening!

The text for this Sunday was Mark 1.9-13 (below) and the song referenced was Ash Wednesday by Elvis Perkins.


Mark 1.9-13
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased." The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

We're Moving & We Have a Name!

I am very pleased to make two big announce-ments:

1. We are moving the Sunday Brunch out of our apartment. We have found a great space at 122 East 83rd between Lexington & Park where we will begin meeting this week. Food will be available starting at 12:30pm and our time of music, teaching and prayer will be from 1-2pm. We hope that you'll come by and see us!

2. We have a name. A name we're excited about, which reflects our theological convictions and which is appropriate for our denomination and our location. We are St. Paul's Church.

Thanks for all of your prayers. We're excited about what God is doing in and through us and we're eager to see what He'll do in the future!

This (past) Sunday's Sermon: Trying to Hold on to Glory

This past Sunday I preached on the transfiguration, specifically on how Peter responded to it by offering (ridiculously) to pitch tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah. Peter is much like us in his desire to hold on to the glory, to move from "good to great", while the way of Jesus, the way of the cross, is always death before resurrection, suffering before glory.

Have a listen and let me know what you think!

Here's the text:

Mark 9. 2-10
Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. And Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my beloved Son; listen to him." And suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.
And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. So they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.

This (past) Sunday's Sermon: The Gospel is too Easy

This past Sunday, I preached on Naaman, the Aramean general who was cured of his leprosy via the prophet Elisha in the 9th century BC.

Naaman's story is not terribly well known, but wonderful nonetheless. The two main points, as I see them, are:

1. God works in and through suffering and weakness.
2. We often reject the Gospel not because it is too hard, but rather because it is too easy, and thus offends our need to have something to do, to play some part in our own salvation.

Feel free to have a listen and let me know what you think!


Here's the text:

2Kings 5.1-14 (NASB)

Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected, because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper. Now the Arameans had gone out in bands, and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel; and she waited on Naaman’s wife. And she said to her mistress, “I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria! Then he would cure him of his leprosy.” And Naaman went in and told his master, saying, “Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel.” Then the king of Aram said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

And he departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, “And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” And it came about when the king of Israel read the letter, that he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me.”

And it happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots, and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha.

And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean.” But Naaman was furious and went away and said, “Behold, I thought, ‘He will surely come out to me, and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place, and cure the leper.’ “Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, “My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

(Reluctantly) Embracing the Upper East Side

Here is a wonderful NYTimes article about how a life-long New Yorker came to embrace her childhood neighborhood, which is also our own.

Truth be told, Jaime and I had some reservations about the Upper East Side when we moved back to New York last summer. We had always lived on the Upper West Side and thought we always would. But now that we're here, we love it!

Manhattan is Expensive (duh)

One of the persistent challenges in New York City is money. Not just having enough of it, but dealing with the guilt of how expensive it is to survive here, the reality that the same money could go a lot farther just about anywhere else.

Tim Keller, head pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC, told me and the other church planting fellows that when he first came to New York to plant a church, many in his denomination were angry, calling his large salary a waste of resources. Even so, he and his wife ran out of money early on and had to live very lean (they couldn't afford to do laundry!) before the church had grown enough to warrant asking for more.

All of which is why it was very comforting to see a recent report, cited widely, from the Center for an Urban Future, which states that, in order to be considered middle class (not upper middle class) in Manhattan, an individual must make $123,322 a year, compared to $50,000 a year in Houston  or $72,772 in Boston. This report clearly states what I already knew and makes it a little easier to live with the resources we need to get our church off the ground.

PS There's an interesting income calculator at cnn.com where you can compare cost of living for a bunch of different urban areas. Check it out!

PPS Here's a funny (kind of) article about how President Obama's proposed $500,000 limit on executive pay actually isn't a lot in NYC.

New Sponsoring Church

This week, Big Springs Community Church in Montague, California committed to praying for and supporting our church plant. This news was a complete surprise, the result of our visit over the Christmas holiday. Big Springs is a wonderful Reformed church attended by Jaime's parents and pastored by Bernee Vanee, a good friend of one of my seminary professors.  

Big Spring joins Redeemer Presbyterian (NYC) and Trinity (Greenwich, CT) on the list of our sponsoring churches. Many thanks to Pastor Vanee and the entire Big Springs family!

We're Growing! (update and prayer request)

This past Sunday, we had 38 people at our home for brunch, our biggest turnout yet. It was wonderful.

That being said, it was also quite cramped, and although having a "packed house" is exciting for a while, we can only ask people to sit on our our living room rug (which sheds) for so long.

Given our current growth, we'll soon need to find a bigger (but not too big) space into which we can further expand. Ideally, we'd want something that could accomodate up to 80 but not feel empty with 35. If you think of it, please pray that the right place, in the right neighborhood and at the right price, will make itself known at the right time.

Super Bowl Party

This Sunday we will be hosting a Super Bowl Party at our apartment. Here are the details:


What: The Big Game in Hi-Def, Surround-Sound glory
Where: Our Apartment, 242 East 71st St. Apt. 2E
When: This Sunday, 5:30pm until whenever
What to Bring: A six-pack of your preferred beverage or a favorite hors d'oeuvres (chips/dip, wings, etc). We'll provide pizza.


Hope to see you then and feel free to invite anyone you like to come along!

Church Plant Moving Forward

The following is an email I sent out today to all of our Sunday brunch attendees, as well as some other supporters:

Dear All,

In my last brunch email, I wrote that we are moving into a new phase of the church plant. For those of you who were not with us on Sunday, here is what we discussed:

Over our first 10 brunches, we have had over 50 different people in attendance, over 35 of them twice or more, and there is palpable sense that God is doing something good in our midst. Amazingly, this has all happened purely by word of mouth.

After spending some time in conversation with my church planting mentors, both in NYC and elsewhere, it seems time to move into a
new phase. Over the past few months we have been gathering together those with some interest in being part of new church in Manhattan. Although we will continue this gathering in the coming months and years, it is now time to begin forming a core group of people who are interested in shaping the vision and values that will guide the growth of our new church.

The rationale behind this group is to build a common sense of purpose, as well as mutual affection, as we move towards launching public worship services a few months down the road. This group will meet twice a month even as we continue with our weekly Sunday brunches.

I will be in touch with you over the next few weeks about the formation of this "vision group" and I invite any of you who may be interested to participate.

We have had a very encouraging start to this endeavor and I look forward to what God has in store for the future!

rj

Mockingbird

I want to encourage everyone who reads this blog (all 4 of you:) to check out the Mockingbird Blog, to which I also contribute (along with about 25 friends) and which can be accessed by clicking here.

The Mockingbird blog is a truly wonderful melding of pop culture and Christianity, bringing the gospel to bear (in fresh ways) on everything from finance to sports, music, movies, current events, etc., always with a healthy dose of humor.

It is also becoming quite popular, with a regular readership of almost 1,000 and a monthly readership of over 4,000 (and growing!). Just this week, someone at Redeemer asked "if I had ever heard of it" and said how great it was.

If I had a "favorite things" list (Oprah), it would be right at the top. Ok, right after my iPhone.

Church as Therapy

Last week, one of the regular attendees at our Sunday brunches shared the following thought, which she had received from an Episcopal priest that some of us know and respect:

"Church should be a place that you walk out of feeling a little less burdened than when you walked in."

This idea lines up perfectly with the kind of church we want to plant, a church where people bring in their anxieties, fears, negativity, etc., and experience God's love, mercy, grace and forgiveness such that they are comforted.

Interestingly, at a recent cocktail party, a mother from one of my kids' schools, who attends church very rarely, said that, from her perspective, church should be "free therapy", that life is hard enough and that Sundays should help one survive the rest of the week. Amen!

As Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt 11.28).

Church Planting is Like Pregnancy

One of the tensions I constantly feel as a church planter is between moving too fast or too slow; fear of either launching the church before it's really ready or waiting too long and losing momentum.

As I was walking along 3rd Avenue yesterday, it occurred to me that starting a church is a lot like having a baby. That is to say, it takes time, it can't be rushed, and there's not much I can do about it except wait, watch and stay healthy, trusting that when the time comes, I'll know.

That being said, I am very thankful to have experienced church planters around me, "midwives" of sorts, people who have been through this before, who know what the various stages of the process look like, people I can call when something unexpected happens, who can let me know if the "pregnancy" is progressing well or not.

Thankfully, all of my advisors are quite encouraged by the progress we've made so far. But, like many expectant parents, I'm ready to have the "baby" now! Of course, having a kid is a lot more work than pregnancy...

To Collar or Not to Collar?

One (somewhat minor) issue that I have been thinking over is whether or not to wear a collar once the church is up and running and, if so, how often. I have always thought that I would own at least one collar for certain occasions (it can very useful in hospitals, for example), but never thought I would wear one regularly because, to be honest, I don't like them. They seem very stuffy and old-fashioned to me. I mean, just look at this picture - LAME-O!

That being said, in my current context, a collar might be quite helpful. Whatever you may think, NYC is actually a very institutional, conservative place. Credentials & authority matter, all the more so with Manhattan's many Catholics and Episcopalians, both lapsed and active. Also, a collar might make me look older than 18. To be sure, the collar will "turn off" some, but wearing one may draw more.

I remember one friend telling me how, the very first time he wore a collar on the street (on the way to the reception following his ordination!) he was accosted by a young man seeking relationship advice.

Any thoughts?

Good to be back in NYC

We just arrived back in NYC this morning and I must say, it is good to be back, bitter cold notwithstanding.

Even so, it was really good to get away for a while. New York City has a way of taking over one's life, or rather I have a way of getting caught up in it all, and it was psychologically salubrious to be in a place where I could get a bit of distance and perspective on everything. After having done so, I am even more encouraged about our church plant than before I left.

For the last 10 days, we were at Jaime's parents' ranch up in Northern California. Montague, to be exact, near Yreka. It's a high desert valley with Mt. Shasta looming over, very much like in the picture, just about as far away as you can get from NYC in every imaginable away, and while I was out there, suddenly many of the worries I carry with me every day in Manhattan started to seem quite inconsequential.

I know that, before long, I'll be swept up in the craziness once more, but the past week-and-a-half have been a must-appreciated reminder of the need to get away every so often, espeicially to a place where you are loved.