Gotta Have Faith

Those who know me well probably know that I rarely attend church. I wasn’t really raised with the ritual and, consequently, have my own ideas and opinions about God and religion. However, religious ideas and opinions aside, I tend to be an Easter girl when it comes to church. I occasionally accompany friends who do observe the holiday and who aren’t able to spend the day with their own families for whatever reason.

This Easter marks my second church going experience in NYC and this morning I was off to Saint Bartholomew’s Church (a.k.a. St. Bart's) on Park between 50^th and 51^st in Manhattan, followed by brunch at Inside Park at St. Bart's.

 St. Barts & Inside Park @ St. Bart's

I met up with a couple of my friends who are, more often than not, happy hour pals, and had to reflect on our cleaned up appearance in Easter Sunday attire. One of my friends made the poignant statement, “Well, this is different for us,” which sent us into our first fit of giggles for the day. It was different for us, but definitely not bad.

The overall feeling I got for the theoretical church, or the ideals of the church, is that they want to create an open community that welcomes people, despite their differences. Printed clearly in their program, the church is for, “the dignity and worth of every person” and they are “against claiming to have all the answers.” Right away, these are two things that I would look for in any religious establishment, so I was glad this was the church my friend designated for our Easter experience.

The physical church was immaculate. It was truly a humbling experience to be inside such a large and strikingly beautiful church on a day that is so important to so many.

As church services go, from my limited experience, this service wasn’t half bad. As we were at the Festival Choral Eucharist version of mass, there was quite a bit of pomp, circumstance, and singing throughout.

My favorite part of the service was surprisingly the sermon. I usually find sermons to be a bit elitist, heady, and overly laden with religious references that I don’t quite understand, or necessarily agree with. However, Reverend F.M. “Buddy” Stallings spoke on a level easily identifiable and applicable to daily life, despite where individuals might find themselves on the spectrum of religion. He talked about resurrection being a parallel to hope and faith. When we are at our lowest, we must find hope to continue onward. I could use a little more hope in my life, so I actually felt inspired. Word. Thanks, Rev.

After the service, we bopped over to Inside the Park at St. Bart’s for Easter Brunch. We easily snagged a table after the 9am service. 

The setting was lovely. We sat inside the St. Bart’s courtyard, which is enclosed in a heated tent with clear plastic sides and a plastic roof, so patrons can enjoy the sunlight and feeling of being outdoors without being exposed to the elements.

All three of us ordered off the Easter prix fix menu. After we ordered, we were greeted with a basket of warm bread followed by a basket of pastries. I went for the apple pastry – I doubt they were made in house, but they were delicious.

Of the four dishes on the menu, I went for the Brioche French Toast with coffee (oh, and I added a mimosa!). The dish was pretty much your average French toast with berries. It was supposed to be a berry compote, perhaps it was, but I’m not truly a French toast connoisseur. It might have been nicer with some cinnamon in the batter or something else to give it some pizzazz.

One of my friends also ordered the French toast, while the other decided to go for a spinach, Swiss, mushroom omelet. It looked lovely, but I forgot to ask her how she liked it.

Overall, our meal was nice and the setting was perfect for Easter Sunday in NYC. I’d definitely do the church/brunch double header again on a holiday, if I was asked.

After our meal, we decided to go on a little walk and do some window shopping. Before long, we found ourselves near St. Patrick’s Cathedral and the Easter Parade was in full force.

For those of who don’t know, the Easter Parade is much like the Halloween Parade where people go to see and be seen. For Easter, this includes making a wild and crazy Easter hat and walking down 5^th Ave showing it off and posing for photos. Quite the experience! The city closes down the street to traffic so people are able to easily (and safely) pose and snap photos. Some of my favorites are pictured below.

 (Yes, dogs area allowed to wear Easter hats, too.)

 (...and parrots. I have a hunch this is this guy's average daily dress.)

 Classy Miller Lite man bonnet

Ok, enough of the silliness.

I leave you with this thought, though our religious ideas and convictions might be different, I think the message of hope is one we can all identify with. This spring and summer, I resolve to hope and have faith in the universe, while still working on goals large and small. I hope you are able to do the same.

I’m wishing you and yours a Happy Easter, Happy Passover, glorious Sunday, or any other holiday or special occasion you might be observing today. May health, love, faith, and happiness be yours, always.

Sincerely,

The Hobokenista
@thehobokenista