We had our one breakfast out this morning (the other mornings we've gotten bagels and brought them over). We went in groups of 5 or 6 to the French cafe nearby and ordered fabulous, delicious French foods brought to us with all the accuracy and timeliness one expects of the French (sigh). After breakfast we headed out to church.
Sr. highs went to "groovy church," aka All Angels at 80th and Broadway for the 11am service. Except the website lied (I think) and the summer schedule started this week and not next. So our gang arrived at 11:00 and the service had started at 10:30. They walked in mid-sermon, though apparently they still heard longer preaching than they were used to. They found the people welcoming and open on the whole, and got out about 12:15 (for a 10:30 start!).
Meanwhile, the junior highs (plus the one sr. higher that didn't make it off the subway car in time and was stuck with the junior high - you know who you are) went to "snooty church" at St. Ignatius of Antioch, where we had a congregation-wide solemn procession around the church (since it's Trinity Sunday, of course), followed by a baptism, followed by Eucharist, all done with a combination of Latin and Rite I language. Oh, and lots of incense. Lots. We sang ALL the verses of St. Patrick's Breastplate (as God intended) and our 11:00am service wrapped up around 12:45. Mixed reactions from the jr. high, I think. To some it felt cold and distant, while others liked the mystery of it all and especially the beautiful choir. The rector met with us briefly after church and answered questions. Many of them were around why somebody took our wafer and stuck it in our mouths.
After church we made our way back to the seminary to change clothes and travel en masse to Brooklyn for ice cream and a walk of the Brooklyn Bridge. At this point things got a little shaky. I won't say tempers flared, but they did simmer a bit, because we didn't have lunch until late and we did lots of walking and it was starting to get hot. My own temper simmered a bit, I'll admit.
After walking the Brooklyn Bridge we headed back to the upper West side to St. Michael's (where the jr. high had worked on Saturday) for their Intersection service. It's a way cool service for the contemplative sort, which we were all exhausted enough to be. The service seemed to restore civility to the group (okay, especially to me) and we headed down to Chelsea to eat at Patsy's Pizzeria.
After a fabulous salad and pizza it was almost 10pm so we decided to turn in early. Okay, not exactly. We got back to the seminary and decided to walk to Greenwich Village for cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery, a fine baker of treats and a place made famous by Andy Samburg and Chris Parnell in the Saturday Night Live digital short film, "Lazy Sunday" ("It's the Chronic" - What? - "...cles of Narnia!").
At this point we're approaching 11:30 and the street just down from Magnolia Bakery has 3 fire trucks trying to save someone or something. So we decide to walk back. Now it's 11:45pm and we separate into those who really need to go to bed and those who want to process the experience. So we met in the chapel and talked about what we saw and heard. And smelled.
Let me just say (now that I've deleted all those letters I just typed when I fell asleep with my fingers on the keys) that those comments told me all our work was worthwhile, both by the EYC'ers work this weekend and the work done by the people back home. I can't exactly put my finger on what "it" is, but they get "it." Be proud of them.
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