Nightwatch at St. John the Divine, with a figurine
February 05, 2009
[From Mother Demery Bader-Saye, Youth Missoner] On the last Friday of January, 64 youth and 15 adults from the Diocese of Bethlehem boarded tour buses for the short journey to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City. The event, originally schedule as Bishop's Day with Youth, was held without Bishop Paul, who was recovering from surgery. The group, however, found a special way to include Bishop Paul in the weekend; they traveled with a miniature Bishop Paul figure (photo to come), documenting each part of the trip with photographs. After the event, they mailed the figurine, a Nightwatch T-Shirt & pin, and a photo montage of the weekend to the real Bishop Paul, along with a signed, matted photo of the "bishop" admiring the Great Organ console at St. John the Divine.
This is the second year that the youth of our diocese participated in the Nightwatch program at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The historic New York cathedral hosts youth groups from around the nation almost every weekend of the year. The overnight program includes recreation and fellowship time in the gymnasium, sing-alongs with exceptional NY city musicians, a meditative walk through a sizable canvass labyrinth spread on the stone floor of the sanctuary, a demonstration of the newly restored Great Organ, a midnight candlelight Eucharist, and a complete tour of the sanctuary (including a history of the gorgeous stained glass windows and lovely side chapels). Members of the group who attended Bishop's Day in 2008 appreciated seeing the sanctuary in its entirety, since the north transept, having been damaged in a devastating fire in 2001, was closed to the public last year.
After Nightwatch the group, ready for a more frivolous kind of fun, lunched at Dave & Buster's in TImes Square, enjoying an Italian Feast and some arcade time.
Participating parishes: St. Gabriel's (Douglassville), Church of the Redeemer (Sayre), Trinity Church (Easton), Cathedral Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem), St. John's (Palmerton), St. Brigid's (Nazareth), St. Mark's (Moscow), Trinity Church (Bethlehem), St. Anne's (Trexlertown), Christ Church (Stroudsburg), Church of the Epiphany (Glenburn), and Holy Apostles (St. Clair). Many thanks to our adult chaperones and to the parishes and individuals who donated food for snacks and breakfast.
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