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The Greatest Commandment
by the Reverend Meredith Ward, Senior Associate Rector
“God is a verb, not a noun …” So wrote the American designer and architect Buckminster Fuller in his 1963 book No More Secondhand God. Fuller’s idea was that God is best understood not as static, dogmatic, and exclusive but active, dynamic, and inclusive. For Fuller, God is actively “loving,” not the abstraction “love.”
In our Gospel this Sunday, we see Jesus questioned by the religious authorities about which commandment is the greatest. In response, he reaches back to his own sacred texts, innovatively combining passages from Deuteronomy (6:5) and Leviticus (19:18) to say, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and … soul, and … mind …” and “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:37, 39).
Love of God and love of neighbor are the foundations upon which our faith is built. We easily quote Jesus’ words, though perhaps without fully grasping the challenge he is calling us to. Loving God may not be hard, but loving our neighbor can sometimes seem impossibly difficult. In our polarized world, especially as we approach the midterm elections, restraint of pen and tongue seem to be thoroughly out of fashion; it’s easy to get tangled up in the swirling language of hate when what we really yearn for is hope.
This is where I find Fuller’s idea most helpful: to think of God’s loving—and therefore my own —not as a feeling, but as an action. I can choose to act with love regardless of how I’m feeling, and sometimes, the feeling follows. Maybe we can create the loving world we yearn for by acting as if it is already here—because, in truth, it is.
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The Twenty-Second Sunday After Pentecost
Sunday, October 25
Join us in person at 9 am, 11 am, or 5 pm. The Reverend Meredith Ward, Senior Associate Rector, will preach at all services.
Join us online at 11 am. Download the service leaflet to follow along as we livestream from the church on our website, Facebook, and YouTube.
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The Forum
Sunday, October 25 at 10 am
From Kanuga to Federal Plaza: A Year of Reporting on the Life and Witness of The Episcopal Church
Caleb Maglaya Galaraga, St. Bart's parishioner and a reporter for The Living Church, shares his unique perspective as a journalist who covers The Episcopal Church.
Please post your questions in the comments on Facebook or YouTube, or email the Reverend Peter Thompson at pthompson@stbarts.org.
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A Choral Feast: Rheinberger’s Mass in C
Sunday, October 25 at 11 am
Services designated A Choral Feast celebrate a composer, theme, or major choral work and offer the opportunity to engage with larger-scale sacred choral repertoire in its original context of worship. This Sunday, St. Bartholomew’s Choir offers Josef Gabriel Rheinberger’s Mass in C, Op. 169 with chamber orchestra and organ. Learn more.
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Newcomer Reception
Sunday, October 25 at 12:30 pm
Anyone new to St. Bart’s in the last year is invited to a reception with the clergy. Learn more about the parish and how you can be involved in the life of our vibrant community of faith and belonging. For details and an invitation, please email Loriel Merritt, Associate for Community Engagement, at lmerritt@stbarts.org.
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A History of Christianity: From Pentecost to the Reformation
Sundays through November 15 at 1 pm in Room 33
Dr. Robin Brooks Ishler offers a sweeping account of the first 1,600 years of Christian history, examining the social, political, and intellectual forces that shaped the development of Christian institutions and the Church’s efforts to address the foundational theological questions at its core. Learn more and register.
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The 2027 Pledge Campaign at St. Bart’s
The 2027 Pledge Campaign at St. Bart’s, “Meeting This Moment as One,” is nearing the end of its first week, and we are grateful to our Campaign Co-Chairs, Rachel Farrar and Vivian Roston, for their leadership and to all who have already declared their 2027 commitments to St. Bart’s. Please join them and help us to achieve our $1.6M goal by going online to stbarts.org/pledge2027 or filling out a pledge card.
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This Saturday, October 24, the Episcopal Diocese of the Great Lakes will elect its first bishop. As we shared this summer, the Reverend Zack Nyein, our Senior Associate Rector and Pastor of Imagine Worship, is among the candidates. You can watch the election live here.
Whatever the outcome, please join us at coffee hour this Sunday to celebrate Zack and his ministry.
| | Click here for a complete list of Community Groups and activities after church this Sunday. | | | | |
Youth Nightwatch at the Cathedral
Friday, October 30 at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
Nightwatch is an evening spent in the world’s largest Gothic cathedral immersed in a faith-based program to deepen your spiritual connection with God. During the evening, we experience community building, workshops, exploration of the cathedral through interactive activities, candlelight meditation, music, writing, and a labyrinth walk. Participants stay overnight sleeping in the undercroft of the cathedral. Sign up to attend with St. Bart’s Youth at the Center.
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Explore Class for Newcomers
Sundays, November 1-15 at 12:30 pm in Room 33
Wednesdays, November 4–18 at 7 pm via Zoom
Explore is for anyone new to St. Bart’s or The Episcopal Church and interested in learning more. This three-week series provides an overview of Christian belief and practice, through a progressive and open-minded lens. No question is off the table, and all are welcome. A light lunch is offered. Sign up at stbarts.org/explore.
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The Forum
Sunday, November 1 at 10 am
Paul, Democracy, and the Corinthians
Larry Welborn, Professor Emeritus at Fordham University, highlights democratic impulses within the early Church and the New Testament. Copies of his latest book Paul, Democracy, and the Corinthians are available at the Bookstore.
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Upcoming Memorial Services
Please join us to celebrate the lives of two members of our community who recently died:
Steve Hughes, Friday, November 6, 2 pm
Diane Posnak, Friday, November 6, 5 pm
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A Choral Feast: Mozart's Requiem
Sunday, November 8 at 11 am
On the Sunday after All Saints’ Sunday (known in some contexts as Remembrance Sunday), we remember all who have died over the course of the past year as St. Bartholomew’s Choir offers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Requiem, K. 626, with chamber orchestra. Learn more.
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The St. Bart’s Players premieres Bright Star
October 27-November 1 at the 14 Street Y Theatre
Steve Martin and Edie Brickell’s Bright Star is a sweeping, deeply emotional tale of love, redemption, and hope set against the rich backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The story follows literary editor Alice Murphy and a young soldier just home from World War II. Propelled by an intoxicating, Grammy-nominated bluegrass and folk score, this uplifting journey proves that the truth always has a way of finding its light. Tickets and information.
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From The Forum to The Metropolitan Opera
Last Sunday, we were honored to welcome composer Missy Mazzoli to The Forum, just one day before the world premiere of her new opera, Lincoln in the Bardo, at The Metropolitan Opera. The production has since received praise from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. Performances continue through November 14.
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The Forum, Sunday, October 18 at 10 am
Lincoln in the Bardo
Sunday, October 18 at 11 am
The Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
The Sermon from Sunday, October 18 at 11 am
Give
by the Reverend Peter D. Thompson, Priest-in-Charge
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