First a Church Cathedrals, regardless of size or splendor, are set apart from all other churches as the seat of a bishop and principle church of a diocese. The building reflects the glory of God as it houses the works of its community. At an Episcopal cathedral, scripture, tradition, and reason are equally valued. Every service and each event here gives witness to what lies at the core of our worship: the opening of the spirit. Here We Worship God
SUB-DEAN PAT MALLOY The Cathedral is a house of prayer, a meeting place, a forum for discussion, a host to extraordinary events—and it is more than all of these. It is a sanctuary. It is where people come to build an abiding connection to each other and to God. DEAN MORTON The
word “religion” comes from the Latin verb regligare: meaning “to connect, to join together.” The function of every religion and every holy place is to make humans feel connected to all other human beings, to the earth, the cosmos—and ultimately to the Divine. BILL BAKER We easily forget that of the sevenand-a-half-billion people on this earth, 85 percent, over six billion, have faith or are seeking faith. Faith is critical to most people on earth and has been through all of history. And somehow, that faith gets those billions of people through their daily lives and gives them a moral direction. BISHOP MANNING Here
in this metropolis of the new world, we are erecting this great building for no material or utilitarian purpose but to witness to the things that are eternal. This building speaks of the Heavenly realities, of the power and glory of the supernatural. DEAN DANIEL This place is meant to be overwhelming, it is meant to be grand. But in the end, what the grandeur encases is the heart of love that yearns to touch human life. That’s what it’s all about. The love of God for all humans. It is my job as one who serves in this place to express that love the best I can in order that others might experience something of the love that created this building, our world, and everything in it. The cathedral is the spiritual center of the diocese. It’s where the Bishop sits, and it is where as a larger body, we’re drawn to convene and express what we can never express quite completely in our smaller parishes. The Episcopal Diocese of New York includes 199 local parishes with approximately 66,000 members, 70 deacons, 600 priests and three bishops, including the Diocesan Bishop, who is the chief pastor. 166
THE REV. CANON JAY WEGMAN The
cathedral is the hub of a diocesan wheel. Everything feeds into it. In turn, the cathedral feeds everything back to the churches in the diocese.
BISHOP DIETSCHE The first purpose of the Cathedral is to be the seat of the Bishop of New York. If you took away the Bishop’s chair they would have to change our name to "The Church of St. John the Divine." BISHOP ALLEN SHIN Historically, there has been a tension between whether the Cathedral is a house of prayer for all people or the Episcopal Diocese of New York first. I think that’s a false dichotomy. It is an Episcopal Church, which is open. It also has the primary mission to welcome and be hospitable to all people from this city. They go hand-in-hand. DEAN DANIEL The Cathedral is a great crossroads where a community comes together. It is like a mosaic of people and places and things. It expresses the diversity of that whole community. THE REV. CANON JAY WEGMAN The
Cathedral is a living laboratory. It’s a place that sets the standards for liturgy, for preaching, for theology, and it does that by having a broad worldview. Everything is contained within that building.
BISHOP DIETSCHE Why do we do have art in the Cathedral? Why do we have music? Why do we invite the city to be here? Why do elected officials speak from our pulpit, why do we engage in social action, direct ministries, and advocacy? Because this is a church. If we start by saying it is a church, a place “set apart” for the Glory of God, it means we will bring into that space, before the altar, and into our midst the very best of what we have from the creation and the expressions of our co-creation with God as artists, or writers, or musicians. When we begin by saying the Cathedral is a space set apart for the Glory of God, which is what any church is, it then becomes what do we “do” in that space. We worship God. We come before God here. We bring our offerings and oblations, the supplications of our heart, our whole lives and labors before the altar and here we pray, we offer praise. Here we worship God.
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