Dear Members and Friends of Brick Church,
We are off to an amazing start this fall. Our traditions remain vital and strong. The Fall Fling welcomed us back from summer with joyful friendships and delicious food. World Communion Sunday, the Festival of Hymnody, and Kirkin’ of the Tartan services were all a tremendous witness to the glory of God and joyful times to be together. We were especially grateful for Rev. Fiona Smith’s presence, the Principal Clerk of The Church of Scotland, who shared greetings and read scripture at that service. Our brand new Sunday night service has offered long-standing members, young families, and people off the street a sacred time of holy rest, a gift to get their hearts, souls, and minds ready for the week to come. Take a look at this video that shows the energy and excitement among Brick members!
We are creating a new Mission Sunday which will take place during stewardship season every year. This service will feature several of our mission partners so that we might enable more of our congregation to fully appreciate and support this vital work. As we live into the guiding principles adopted by the Session (linked here) last spring we are not only reaching out in mission but in partnership and fellowship with sister congregations. We are reforging connections with Park Avenue Synagogue, and Heavenly Rest as well as rededicating ourselves to connect to other Presbyterian churches within New York City. Hopefully, next fall, we will gather together with a joint Thanksgiving service.
The children's ministry is flourishing. The Children’s Committee’s hard work over the summer has made a tremendous impact on our children’s faith development. After exhaustive research, they settled on a new curriculum but that was only the beginning of their work. They have spent considerable time looking over each week to leverage the greatest strengths of this curriculum so that our teachers might be fully equipped to make Sunday School fun, faithful, and formative. We are adding mission components to Sunday School four times a year, as well as developing year-by-year goals to ensure that over time our children’s faith is growing strongly. The children’s choir and new musical theater classes are both thriving within our own congregation while adding children from the school and the community! The Brick Church School has more new applicants from the congregation than in the past seven years. And we have just welcomed a class of 29 new members with three adult baptisms!
Our calling to be a spiritual home for all people is a critical challenge from our Lord to help spread His light to the world. People are desperately in need of comfort and hope but many do not have a well-formed or traditional faith. They are searching and they are hungry. Rather than dictate to them what they should believe we simply offer them the love and peace of Christ, trusting that the Holy Spirit will work within them and through them. This is a critical mission in our world at a time when so many want to divide, separate, and exclude. Instead, we are praying that God will use us to be a source of unifying hope. We are seeking to reclaim what being Christian means. At its root, it means treating others as Jesus did and therefore is never an excuse for condemnation, worldly division, judgment, or sectarianism. Following Him always means loving and respecting others.
But we do face a challenge. Over the last four years, our utilities, maintenance and insurance costs have grown by over $200,000, more than thirty percent, while our giving has remained flat. We need you to prayerfully consider what God is calling you to give. We do hope that many of you can increase your pledge but because this vision is so powerful–and I truly believe placed upon us by God–we will pursue it with fervency, zeal, joy, and hope. I trust that whatever resources God grants us will be sufficient for the task at hand. We find ourselves at an incredible time of challenge and worldly strife, and yet God is blessing our ministry, bringing hope to so many.
I invite you to join us in a conversation after worship on Sunday, November 17 in the Session Room immediately following 11:00 a.m. worship.
Peace,
Rev. Tom Evans
Senior Minister
SEPTEMBER | The Session of the Brick Church held its annual Joint Officers’ Meeting on September 24, 2024.
Brick’s 2024 Joint Officers Meeting took place this year on September 24th. All Deacons, Elders, and Trustees participated in the meeting with all newly-elected Officers. After a Meditation by Theologian in Residence Rev. Charles Guth regarding the theological aspects of Brick’s 2033 Vision, a Beacon of Hope and a Spiritual Home, the Examination of Incoming Officers was conducted based on each new Officer’s Statement of Faith. Each Officer-elect then explained, in a few sentences to the entire group why they had agreed to serve. The Session, as a final step, voted and approved all the elected Officers for Ordination the following Sunday. Each outgoing Officer spoke to the entire group about their time as an Officer and gave a personal reflection about their time of service.
The regular monthly Session meeting followed with an update on the Sunday School’s summer work on the search for a better curriculum for Grades IV and below, plus a new element this year called Service Sundays. During four Sundays this year, children will experience working on a project in community with others. Personnel reported on initial plans regarding a third pastor and a Christian Educator. Each position, and the many aspects of any decision, will be carefully considered in the upcoming weeks. With regard to operations, Session 1) ensured arrangements were complete for the upcoming Meeting of the NYC Presbytery at Brick on 5 October; 2) reminded Chairs about the budget presentations planned by JFC on 8 October; and 3) approved Elder Liz Boehmler as Brick’s liaison to Brick’s sister Presbyterian Congregations and to Presbytery.
OCTOBER | The Session of the Brick Church held its monthly meeting on October 22, 2024.
The Session of the Brick Church held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, November 22nd. This was the first regular meeting for the newly installed Elders in the Class of 2027. Day School Director Fabian, now in her third year, said the School has received 191 applications to date (compared to 123 at this time last year). There are 32 spots for 2-year-olds and 68 spots for 3-year-olds, the majority of which will go to Church Members. Joint Finance reported on the ongoing challenges and efforts relating to the 2025 Budget. These include making realistic estimates during the process, as well as how to increase revenue and decrease expenses. Youth Ministries reported that Sunday School numbers have been improving over the past couple of years (now 175 registrations, an average attendance of 55, and 27 volunteers). These numbers remain below those of the pre-Covid years. However, enthusiasm is strong, and the new curriculum seems to be a success. Grants to the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, New York Common Pantry, and West Side Campaign Against Hunger were approved, bringing the Grants Subcommittee’s commitments to $149,000, totaling 63% of the 2024 budget. A report on the new Sunday Evening Worship Service was favorable. The difference in time and tone versus the 11 a.m. Service is creating the appeal. The final report summarized the logistics and key topics related to the meeting of the NYC Presbytery at Brick on October 5. Other routine administrative matters, as always, were addressed and acted on. Of note, Rev. Evans spoke about how the Guiding Principles of the Vision of 2033 were shaping many meeting discussions and long-term planning. For example, he explained how the Sunday Evening Services and the tighter Church-School relationship fit with the idea of a “spiritual home for all.” And how the budget, a recent birthday party, and the multiple ministries of the Church fit with the idea of Brick being a “beacon in the community.”
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