Welcome to Brick Church Brick Church’s history is effected by the history of our country and in knowing our past we can better understand our present and more consciously shape who God wants us to become tomorrow; to shape a future in which we are more faithful to the call of Christ to love God with all our hearts and our neighbors as ourselves. Click here to read more about our new ministry theme, America at 250: Our Founding Values, Their Scriptural Roots, and the Challenge of Living Fully into “All Are Created Equal" from Senior Minister Thomas Evans. We are a community growing in love for God, one another, and the world. Please join us! SU N DAY Sunday Worship Service 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM The Sanctuary 1140 Park Avenue New York, NY 10128 15 MAR Third Grade Bible Ceremony 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM The Sanctuary 1140 Park Avenue New York, NY 10128 29 MAR Palm + Passion Sunday and Palm Processional 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Children's Palm Sunday Processional + Craft Fair at 10:45 AM The Sanctuary 1140 Park Avenue New York, NY 10128 Announcements Helen Watson Buckner Scholarship - Submissions Due May 4th The Brick Church Women’s Association funds a scholarship program to assist Church members and Church staff, with financial help for an accredited degree granting program. The grants are “quality of life” scholarships, given to help with the cost of items such as books, fees and transportation. All applications will be considered, and information is confidential. Grants are not automatically renewed. If you have received a scholarship in the past, you must reapply by the deadl Mar 5 Register for Spring Musical Theater After-School! Registration is now open for Spring Musical Theater classes! Featuring artists from Brick Church Community Theater, these performing arts classes will help students increase their confidence, build self-esteem, and explore self-expression in a supportive environment. Feb 12 Purchase Easter Lilies for the Sanctuary Submit by Tuesday, March 31 The Women's Association is collecting donations ($30 suggested), to purchase Easter Lilies for the Sanctuary. Make your donation to be included in the Order of Worship on Easter Sunday. Feb 9 2025 Mission Review Update Summary This past fall, the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee undertook a mission review to help guide a search for two new full-time Associate Pastors. It sought in particular to assess the congregation’s current identity, needs, and direction since the last mission review, done in 2018-19, and who God is calling us to be now. The Committee’s process included administering a 98-question survey to the congregation administered by Holy Cow! Consulting which resulted in completed Feb 3 APNC Call for Pastor Nominations: Two Associate Pastor Roles The Associate Pastor Nominating Committee (APNC) has worked prayerfully and thoughtfully to define two roles that reflect both the strengths of our church and the opportunities for where God is calling Brick to grow next. Children’s, youth, and family ministries stand as some of Brick’s strongest assets and most vital growth opportunities, and the Associate Pastor for Children and Youth will hold primary responsibility for building upon these programs to shape a vibrant, Feb 3 N.Y.C.P. Toiletry Drive Join us in making a difference! As part of our Annual Day of Discipleship, we are hosting a toiletry drive for the New York Common Pantry. Help us meet the needs of our community by donating travel-size antiperspirant/deodorant, hair combs, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and adult socks. Please note that if you prefer, you can also contribute non-perishable food items (no glass packaging, please). Donations can be dropped off at the church until the morning of the Day of Disciples Feb 2 Return of the Church Mouse Program The Church Mouse Program will be starting up at Brick again this year to support Brick members at boarding school and college. If you have a child who is at boarding school or college and would like them to receive a care package from the Brick community, please fill out this survey by February 10. Our goal is to send one round of packages before spring break, and another during exam period. We will be gathering in the Carnegie Room after church on Sunday, February 22 to as Jan 12 Confirmands’ Souper Bowl Sunday Please bring some extra cash to Sunday Worship on February 8th to donate and support our Confirmands' annual Souper Bowl Sunday. During this event, Confirmands research organizations that serve people in need and then have a debate on which organization(s) should receive the funds. Thank You! Jan 12 Welcome Kingsley Wood! We are delighted to welcome our new Wilson Family Sacred Music Intern, Kingsley Wood! Kingsley will be with us for the month of January. Hailing from Leonia, New Jersey, Kingsley is an organist, pianist, and vocalist. He is currently enrolled in his fifth year in the dual-degree program at Oberlin College, where he studies organ performance with Professor Christa Rakich, as well as mathematics. He is presently serving as organist at the First United Methodist Church of Elyria Dec 30, 2025 1 2 3 4 5 Brick Links Login Watch Calendar Join Give We can't wait to greet you! 1/7 Learn More

Featured Events Lectionary Bible Study for Men & Women (Weekly) Mon, Jan 05 Zoom More info Learn more Tuesday Night Dinner Party (Weekly) Tue, Jan 06 The Brick Presbyterian Church More info Learn more High School Youth Group (Monthly) Wed, Jan 14 Associate Pastor Manse More info Learn more Men's Bible Study (Weekly) Thu, Jan 15 The Session Room More info Learn more Women's Bible Study (Weekly) Thu, Jan 15 The Session Room More info Learn more Sunday Evening Conversations with Rev. Dr. Tom Evans Sun, Feb 22 Session Room More info Learn more Tenet Vocal Artists: TENEBRAE Fri, Mar 13 The Chapel More info Learn more Why does Theology Matter? Sun, Mar 15 Third Floor Living Room More info Learn more Third Grade Bible Ceremony Sun, Mar 15 The Sanctuary More info Learn more Family Fellowship Sun, Mar 15 Watson Hall More info Learn more Tenet Vocal Artists: TENEBRAE Fri, Mar 27 The Chapel More info Learn more Children's Palm Sunday Processional + Craft Fair Sun, Mar 29 The Sanctuary More info Learn more Palm + Passion Sunday and Palm Processional Sun, Mar 29 The Sanctuary More info Learn more Maundy Thursday & Tenebrae Service Thu, Apr 02 The Sanctuary More info Learn more John Stainer's The Crucifixion | Good Friday Fri, Apr 03 The Sanctuary More info Learn more Easter Services Sun, Apr 05 The Sanctuary More info Learn more Easter Egg Hunt Sun, Apr 05 The Garden More info Learn more Pioneers Earth Day Sun, Apr 12 Church of the Living Hope Inc. More info Learn more Load More

Read Sermons & Prayers America at 250: We the People Deuteronomy 1:9-17, I Peter 2:9-10 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8b The biblical notion of “we the people” began as Israel was journeying through the wilderness, making their way to the Promised Land. Moses was wary of bearing the burden of the people all by himself, so through God’s command and Moses’ instruction each tribe selected leaders from amongst them. This was on the governance sid Sermons & Prayers Rev. Dr. Thomas Evans 1 minute ago 6 min read Prayers of Thanksgiving, Intercession, and Petition Shared during Sunday Worship on March 8, 2026. God of all creation, your word declares how good and pleasant it is when kindred dwell together in unity. We feel the power of this truth every Sunday morning when we gather to sing hymns of praise, to bow our heads as one in prayer to you. May you give us keen eyes to see the holy in others and offer a word of thanksgiving to bridge the gap of separation. We now give thanks for the unity we know with one another. Though we Sermons & Prayers Rev. Dr. Thomas Evans 4 days ago 2 min read A More Perfect Union The kind of unity that Scripture has just described to us is not an anything-goes, throw-up-your hands sort of tolerance. It’s not the sort of equivocation that pretends evil doesn’t exist – Paul is very clear on this – nor is it the sort of nihilism that claims truth can’t be known and personal opinion is all that matters. As our readings today tell us, unity requires justice, and it requires us not to match evil with evil. In a moment, the choir will sing Chichester Sermons & Prayers Dr. Raymond Nagem 4 days ago 3 min read America at 250: All Are Created Equal Genesis 1:26-28, Romans 8:18-21 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8b We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. (Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776) It was about a year ago that I set out the list of Sermons & Prayers Rev. Dr. Thomas Evans Feb 22 6 min read America at 250: The Rule of Law Deuteronomy 5:6-21 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8b Just as the Constitution of this United States established our country under the rule of law, so did the 10 Commandments establish the descendants of Abraham as the nation of Israel. Before Abraham’s descendants moved to Egypt because of a famine, they were a small tribe of people. So, the only laws they knew were the ones the Pharaoh for Sermons & Prayers Rev. Dr. Thomas Evans Feb 14 6 min read The Divine Goodness Displayed, in the American Revolution Reading of Rev. John Rodger’s Sermon from December 11, 1783 (edited for length) A Sermon preached in New York, December 11, 1783 Appointed by Congress as a Day of Public Thanksgiving throughout the United States By John Rodgers, D.D. Founding Pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York New York: Printed by Samuel Loudon “ The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. ” The subject of this divine poem, from which I have taken my text, not o Sermons & Prayers Rev. John Rodgers Jan 29 9 min read A Prayer of Petition Shared during Sunday Worship on January 25, 2025. Gracious and loving God, we come before you, trusting you to open our hearts and prepare our lives to receive Christ anew. Prepare us to recognize your presence among us. Teach us patience when waiting is difficult, courage when hope feels fragile, and faithfulness in all the ways you call us to serve. Help us set aside the distractions and fears that keep us from trusting your promises, and draw us deeper into your peace. Sermons & Prayers Chris Randall Jan 23 1 min read Prayers of Thanksgiving, Intercession, and Petition Shared during Sunday Worship on January 25, 2025. Holy Creator, whose warmth sustains us through the deepest cold: we thank You and praise You for the gifts of creation, redemption, and daily provision. We acknowledge Your presence here and everywhere—Your constant generosity, Your enduring love, and Your sovereignty over the source and purpose of all things. We rejoice in the joy found in Your presence, for it is a joy that becomes our strength. We are grateful for the lig Sermons & Prayers Frank Strock Jan 23 2 min read The Wonders of Life: Keep the Flame Lit Isaiah 6:1-8 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. Psalm 8:3-5 “ If we really understood the Mass, we would die of joy. ” — St. John Vianney (the Curé of Ars) “ And though all that remains of the Temple is one wall, still to stand and pray Sermons & Prayers Rev. Dr. Thomas Evans Jan 15 7 min read 1 2 3 4 5 More Transcripts

Deuteronomy 5:6-21 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God?  Micah 6:8b   Just as the Constitution of this United States established our country under the rule of law, so did the 10 Commandments establish the descendants of Abraham as the nation of Israel. Before Abraham’s descendants moved to Egypt because of a famine, they were a small tribe of people. So, the only laws they knew were the ones the Pharaoh forced on them. These commandments were meant to create a just society, unlike that which they had known under the Pharaoh’s rule. You shall not kill. The Pharaoh would kill whenever he decided it was best. But human life belongs to God. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Traditionally, you might remember that commandment as  you shall not lie , as if this commandment were about telling children to always tell the truth. And of course, children should tell the truth. But this commandment is about something much more fundamental to a just society. Notice the wording. The Hebrew could have simply read, “ You shall not lie .” But instead, it reads “ Bear false witness .” That is, you shall not go before a judge and tell a lie in order to get your neighbor imprisoned. This commandment is about preventing unjust imprisonment. And then there is the commandment concerning the Sabbath: “ On the seventh day you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt. ” This commandment is about a call to worship God, but it is also a gift of rest. Under Pharaoh’s rule, you would be worked seven days a week—and sometimes worked to death. Rest is a divine gift from God. Throughout history, we see this need to reassert the rule of law and reforge a just society. Five hundred years ago, there was a movement in Europe. The human tendency toward tyranny had once again reared. Not only the tyranny of the king, but the tyranny of the church. These dual powers were unjustly ruling people’s bodies and people’s souls. And when eventually some of them landed on this continent, and by the late 1700s, they sought to create a church that would protect itself from the tyrannical powers they had fled—and from the tyranny of the human heart—by limiting and separating power. In this new church, there would be no pope who could declare God’s truth all on his own. No one could dictate what another person should believe. “ God alone is Lord of the conscience, and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men .” (Westminster Confession) In this new church, there would be no bishop ruling over congregations and telling them who their pastors would be. “ The election of the persons to the exercise of this authority, in any particular society, is in that society. ” (Book of Order) In other words, you—the people—vote for your pastor. In this new church, the pastor of the local congregation would not have authority to control what happened in the church. Rather, the people—all of you—elect elders from among yourselves to make the governing decisions for your congregation. Not the preachers. But the people of this new Presbyterian church did not want these principles woven only into their community of faith. They wanted them woven into their society as well. If you look at the founding values of our country and those of our denomination, you will see a great deal of resonance. In 1788, one year before our country ratified a Constitution, Presbyterians gathered in Philadelphia. They were led by Presbyterian pastor, U.S. congressman, and Princeton University president John Witherspoon, and by our founding pastor, John Rogers. In fact, John Witherspoon was a professor of James Madison at Princeton. Madison even stayed an extra year to learn Hebrew and political philosophy from Witherspoon. We can see Madison was clearly influenced by these ideas in the Constitution. That wonderful Ken Burns documentary about the founding of America pointed out that these founders were attempting to do something rarely, if ever, tried before in the history of the world: replacing a monarchy with a democracy. But the influence goes back much further than the Reformation. The roots begin in the 10 Commandments. The founding principles of our denomination, the Constitution of the United States, and the Ten Commandments all establish a people by the rule of law. And just as Deuteronomy recognized that even the king had to follow the law, and just as the pastor must follow the Book of Order, the principle within our land is that the law applies equally to everyone. Of course, it was not only Presbyterians saying these things. John Adams declared that America must be a government of laws. Alexander Hamilton argued that the Constitution places the law above rulers. But the laws on their own are not enough. They have never been enough. For four hundred years, the descendants of Abraham had been enslaved in the land of Egypt. They knew what it was to not receive the fruits of their labor. They knew the whip. They knew what it was to be worked to death. They knew tyranny and injustice, and they knew the false gods of the Pharaoh. But then, with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great power and profound compassion, the Lord delivered them and brought them to a land of promise. But before God allowed them to enter into the Promised Land, they were brought to Mount Sinai, where they received this profound gift of the Law, the greatest gift any people had received up to that point in history. For God knows the human heart. And the human heart, as history shows us, yearns for freedom and justice—but tragically, when we get it, all too often we become the tyranny we sought to escape. Knowing this about the beloved human creation, God gave Israel a tool to learn how to live better, to learn how not to repeat the enslaving tendencies of the Pharaoh. This is why we see a certain phrase repeated throughout the early books of the Old Testament. God reminds them, remember, you were slaves in the land of Egypt. Remember. Remember. Remember. Remember what it was like in Pharaoh’s land, under Pharaoh’s thumb. So Deuteronomy tries to prevent the repeat of a Pharaoh-type person. The seventeenth chapter notes that even the king must obey the law: “ [The king] shall read in it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, diligently observing all the words of this law and these statutes. ” So the law must apply to everyone equally. Tragically, even as our denomination was founded upon the just rule of law and the shared created nature of all humans, we did not apply this equally to all people. Tragically, even as our country was founded as a land of freedom and equality, it didn’t apply equally to everyone. So even though the law moves us forward to justice, it is not enough. It will never be enough, because the human heart is broken. The founders of our country knew this as well. “ Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. ” — John Adams (1798) Two hundred fifty years ago, this nation was founded as an inspired experiment, and ever since it has been filled with triumphant successes and tragic failures. Back then, it was a call for freedom and independence, but I believe hope for our country now lies on a different path. When I was taught to memorize the 10 Commandments, the first one was “ You shall worship the Lord your God and serve only him .” But later I learned the Jewish people count them differently, and that difference is fundamental—and, I think, better. Their first commandment is not an instruction, but a reminder: I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. This tells us the nature of the lawgiver—that the rules that follow are based on a God of freedom. A God of freedom who acts in history to bring justice and hope to the downtrodden and the oppressed. And it is on that basis that God wants the people to listen. The Pharaoh’s laws were enforced through fear, for the benefit of the Pharaoh and for the monuments to his legacy—the pyramids. But God’s laws are given not for the benefit of God, but for the benefit of the people, out of love. The Lord Jesus showed us how far we should go to reflect this love. He charged us to love everyone. Our society is trying to teach us to hate each other and to presume that those who think differently than we do are evil and selfish. Jesus taught us that we all have sin inside of us. He reminded us, before you try to grab that splinter out of your neighbor’s, get the log out of your own. But he not only talked about this, he went out and he lived it. And so many years later, Abraham Lincoln reminded us: “ I am tolerant of all religions… and as far as my system of religion goes, it is the doctrine of doing to my neighbor as I would that he should do to me. ” — Abraham Lincoln The gift of the law is profound, but the gift of love is what will change the world. I pray that each of us will take Jesus’ words to heart and love our neighbor and love our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Amen.

Genesis 1:26-28, Romans 8:18-21 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8b We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.  (Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776) It was about a year ago that I set out the list of founding principles upon which to preach during the 250th anniversary of our country. At the time, these topics seemed rather straightforward and simple to preach, and I typed up some notes. Late Monday, I pulled them out and realized that today’s topic far outstrips what I could possibly address in a single sermon. In fact, I think it contains something of the glory of humankind and the tragic narrative that carries through all of history. The foundation of our equality is given to us from the account of creation in Genesis. We are God’s creation. Because we are made by a holy and perfect God, we are endowed with worth. In fact, all of God’s creation has intrinsic value since God declares all of it “very good.” But on its own this fact does not necessarily make all of God’s creation equal. It is also in Genesis that we learn something unique about humans; we were created in the image of God. Humans not only have the divine imprint as does all creation, but we have the divine within us, a holy spark, a spirit. This realization was a great leap forward for humankind. Up to this point it was simply assumed that God liked some people more than others; that there were superior and inferior people. Listen to a few of these quotes: “From the hour of their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for rule.”  Aristotle —  Politics , Book I “The drunkard in the gutter is just where he ought to be. ” —  What Social Classes Owe to Each Other  (1883) William Sumner “If they are not sufficiently complete to live, they die, and it is best they should die.”  Herbert Spencer—  Social Statics  (1851) But Genesis tells us that every single human being to ever have lived has that holy spark. Furthermore, God has made each person not as from an assembly line. In Psalm 139 we hear, “ you formed my inward parts… I am fearfully and wonderfully made. ” This suggests that God crafts human beings with tender care. And the apostle Paul tells us each one of us is given a gift of the Spirit for the common good. We all have something important to contribute that is uniquely our own, and we all share a holy nature, and finally and most importantly, God thought each and every one of us was of sufficient worth to die for. “ For God so loved the world! ” John 3:16, and in Romans Paul declares, “ one act of righteousness leads to justification for all. ” Indeed, all of us are created equal, but then the world works hard to change that. Even people of profound insight have failed to live into these truths. Jefferson himself called slavery a hideous blot and moral depravity but failed to free those 600 men and women he enslaved. This is the internal struggle that we all have to a greater or lesser degree. As the Apostle Paul lamented: “ For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ” (Romans 7:18-19) “All are created equal.” While Jefferson claimed that this truth is self-evident, and I believe it is, what we mean by equal is much more complicated. Certainly, we are not all equal in ability, because if we were, I would be playing for the New York Knicks as their starting point guard or acting in the latest  Mission: Impossible  movie. We are not all equal in intellect, nor are we all equal in the station of life into which we enter. The concept of equality is not simple or self-evident from the world in any empirical sense. In fact, it is the nebulous nature of it that enables the rational human mind to be taken over by its animal and sinful nature. And so we see, all throughout history, societies claiming their God-given rights in heroic determination. But all too often they become corrupted by power and consumed by revenge. The French Revolution became the Reign of Terror. The Russian worker emancipation became Stalinist totalitarianism. The Khmer Rouge of Cambodia sought agrarian equality and turned it into mass genocide. What is needed, then, is a system of thought and a foundational undergirding that completely eliminates any patriarchal notion that people are better off being controlled by somebody else. And this not only applies to the heinous sin of slavery, but to virtually every interaction that we have on a daily basis with people. The challenge is to take this notion of equality and embed practicality into our system of government. This was the intention of pastors like John Witherspoon in teaching James Madison moral and political philosophy. It was the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, contemporary with the American Revolution, who I believe gives the strongest argument. It is founded upon our uniqueness as a species. Animals can only act according to instinct and are governed by their natural impulses. But humans are endowed with reason; we can act contrary to our inclinations. Kant argues that our rational capacity gives us inherent dignity and intrinsic worth. And because of this (and this is the critical point), we can never have any moral justification for treating another person as a means to an end. People are ends in and of themselves. This means not even lying to somebody, even if we think we’re trying to manipulate them into doing something that’s good for themselves, because it is robbing them of their own autonomy and stripping them of their dignity. Since all are endowed with this unique capacity of rationality, we must have complete and utter freedom to exercise it. This is the most powerful and dangerous gift God has given the human species: free will. With that free will we can do great evil. But without free will we cannot do good; we would only be animals acting on instinct. But free will gives us the chance to trust and to love. This freedom is embedded in our constitution as Presbyterians: “ God alone is Lord of the conscience and hath left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men .” Each person must be free to choose faith or not. This freedom and equality of persons has been embedded in our country through the First Amendment. Since God has given us free will and rational capacity, we must have the right to exercise that through freedom to choose our religion, through freedom to vote, and through freedom to speak what is on our mind. These are the foundational laws in our land that recognize the equality of persons. Thus, when we denied the vote to women, to the enslaved, and those without property,we failed to fully recognize their humanity and therefore their equality. These freedoms respect each person’s sacred spark and offer dignity through self-determination. We know that God created all people equally and granted them the right to life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As we look back on the history, we see that virtually every people that knew this not only moved us forward as a species but also held us back. And it makes me wonder about our time. For surely, we’re not wiser than Thomas Jefferson, we don’t have keener insight than the apostle Paul, and most of us will never know the faithfulness of Abraham and Sarah. We conclude this week the same place as last week. In light of the inherent worth of every single person, God calls us to action, and so we look to Jesus. We look at His example that shows us how to treat others with dignity and respect. You remember that tax collector, Zacchaeus; nobody liked tax collectors in those days. But Jesus gave him dignity by sitting at a table with him while acknowledging him as a fellow son of Abraham. You remember that woman that the crowd wanted to stone for breaking the law; Jesus stepped in the middle, risking His own life to preserve hers. You remember the Syrophoenician woman, a foreigner; she needed help for her daughter, and Jesus gave it. All are created equal, all are cherished by God, and God gave each person freedom so that they would be free to love. Jesus showed us how to make these concepts reality. With God’s help, may we go out and do the same. Amen.

Deuteronomy 1:9-17, I Peter 2:9-10 What does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? - Micah 6:8b The biblical notion of “we the people” began as Israel was journeying through the wilderness, making their way to the Promised Land. Moses was wary of bearing the burden of the people all by himself, so through God’s command and Moses’ instruction each tribe selected leaders from amongst them. This was on the governance side. In the sacred sphere, the temple was ruled by the priestly class, and they reserved sole authority for the remission of sins through ritual sacrifices. It is through this that change began. When Jesus of Nazareth died on the cross, this was understood to be the  one sufficient sacrifice for all time . The priests were no longer needed to mediate between God and people. The change was so profound that 1 Peter 2:9 refers to the people as “ a royal priesthood .” Each person now was viewed as a priest and a king! This is how it was in the church for the first few hundred years. But  over time  and especially upon the establishment of Christianity under Emperor Constantine in  325 A.D. , a priestly class emerged again. For the next  hundreds  of years, the Western church came to understand itself as the sole dispenser of God’s divine grace through the sacraments. To manage control, the church codified the process of becoming a priest, banned certain classes from serving in the priesthood—such as women—and eventually formed boards of  the  Inquisition to root out heresy. The Reformation was largely a rebellion against the entrenched authority in the Church. Through certain readings of scripture, authority of the king and the priest was thought to be ordained by God and therefore could not be contested by the people. It was the power of Scotsmen like Presbyterian minister John Witherspoon that helped empower the colonists to rebel. We spoke about him a few weeks ago. He was a professor of James Madison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, a member of the Second Continental Congress, and eventually served on over one hundred congressional committees. He was born in Scotland and, when he came to America, brought with him Scottish Common Sense philosophy. Its ideals are founded upon natural law and natural rights, and therefore the people have the right to rise up against their oppressors. We can easily see these Scottish notions woven into the fabric of our country through Witherspoon’s influence on James Madison, his pupil and architect of the Constitution. But Scottish Common Sense philosophy also had common sense. It did not have a utopian notion that if suddenly the people had the opportunity to do everything, the world would fix itself. No—part of Witherspoon’s Calvinism included a strong doctrine of the sinfulness of humanity and our ability to rationalize and abuse power. Thus, the people governed, but they did so with an eye toward minimizing the power of any one individual, so as to preserve the power of the people. This was over and against the Anglican Church and what it was advocating. Unsurprisingly, being the Church of England, some of them advocated for Christianity to be the official religion, for the people to be taxed in order to finance the church, and they emphasized an episcopal form of church government, which appoints bishops with explicit sacerdotal and governance rights that the people do not have. On the other hand, embedded in our historic church principles—written in part by Brick Church’s founding pastor, John Rogers—not only does it tell us that God alone is Lord of the conscience, which I have told you many times, but it goes on to say: Therefore, we consider the rights of private judgment in all matters that respect religion as universal and unalienable. We do not even wish to see any religious constitution aided by the civil power further than may be necessary for protection and security, and at the same time equal and common to all others. As a result of John Witherspoon’s and other Presbyterians’ influence, there was a sentiment back in the motherland that the Presbyterians were to blame. In fact, Joseph Galloway, a former colonial leader, said, “ the rebellion is a Presbyterian war .” Prime Minister Horace Walpole, in 1774, famously remarked, “ Cousin America has run off with a Presbyterian parson .” Finally, it is thought that King George III called it “ that Presbyterian rebellion .” As we have come to understand our history, we can now assess the power of the notion “We the people,” through a Christian lens, and its repercussions for our faith today. It begins most powerfully with your divine right to speak directly to God. We need no mediator other than Christ our Lord. This means that no other person has the ability todictate or control your eternal fate. That is between you and God. Next, we see how “we the people” practically manifests in our congregation. You,the people, elect the leaders over you, namely the elders. This is drawn from the tradition that Moses began in our Deuteronomy passage! There is a foundational belief that the community, discerning together under the Spirit, is wiser than any one individual. There is a compelling example pointed out in the book  The Wisdom of Crowds  by James Surowiecki. He tells the true story of a county fair contest in which the people are invited to guess the weight of a large steer. All types of people participated—from little children walking by, to veterinarians who worked with these animals daily, to farmers who lived alongside them, to average fairgoers like you or me. When all the guesses were averaged together, the crowd as a whole was closer to the real answer than any one individual—better than the veterinarian, better than the farmer. But this approach is not mere practicality. It is something that we Presbyterians believe God folded into the fabric of creation. Since we are all bearers of God’s image,we are all owed the dignity of a voice, and we all owe others a listening ear. And we believe this because this is what scripture tells us. And the fight for the power of the people to be able to read the Bible and have accurate translations was so critically important that people risked everything; people like William Tyndale. A fifteenth-century unknown priest and scholar, William Tyndale, was educated at Oxford and Cambridge; he was influenced by the Renaissance and wanted to translate the Bible into English. He was denied this right by the church and so decided to flee from England to Europe. His translation was smuggled back into England through Germany in bales of cloth and goods. Eventually, he was deemed a heretic. It was not simply the act of translating the Bible into English that got him into the deepest trouble, though it was banned. It was certain choices of translation that are particularly germane to our topic of “We the People.” The Greek word  presbuteros  was traditionally translated as priest, but Tyndale chose elder. The Greek word  ecclesia  was traditionally translated as church, but he chose congregation. The Greek word  metanoia  was translated as do penance, whereas he chose repentance. Let’s take these one at a time. Perhaps that word  presbuteros  sounds somewhat familiar to you, since we are in the Brick Presbyterian Church. Our church—Presbyterian—is named after the fundamental understanding that the elders, that is, the people, have authority. The church at the time was threatened because translating  presbuteros  as elder rather than priest meant the New Testament was not talking about priests—that is, a specific class of people who had sole rights for remitting sins. An elder has no sacerdotal authority, no high priestly calling that only he or she can fulfill. Next, this was compounded by translating  ekklesia  as “congregation” rather than “church.” “Church” referred to the institution, giving the church institution the power rather than the congregation—that is, the people. Finally, Tyndale translated  metanoia  as “repent” rather than “do penance.” Penance was a specific process codified by the Church and validated through priestly instruction. You would go to the priest, confess your sins, and they would give you the pathway of penance to have those sins remitted. Repentance, on the other hand, is something individuals do. Tyndale’s translation of the Bible into English codified the power of “we the people” into Scripture, using proper and accurate translations—rather than the power of the priest and the institutional church. Tyndale is owed our deepest thanks. He lived as a fugitive for years in Antwerp, continuing his translation of the Hebrew Scriptures until, in 1535, he was betrayed by an agent, Henry Phillips. Phillips had found himself in Europe after having absconded with his family’s money. He was paid a hefty sum to pose as a Lutheran sympathizer and ingratiated himself with locals and eventually betrayed Tyndale. He was arrested near Brussels, imprisoned for over a year, and in 1536 William Tyndale was tried for heresy, defrocked, strangled, and burned at the stake. His last words were, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.” The power of prayer cannot be overestimated. A few years after Tyndale’s murder, Henry VIII authorized a translation into English, known today as the “Matthew Bible.” It is clear this translation heavily relied on Tyndale’s work. Tyndale gave everything so that today you and I can read a Bible that discloses God’s true intentions. Each one of you, all of us, are a “ royal priesthood ,” given the power of priests and kings, with the profound privilege to go directly to God and given the profound responsibility to lift up our voice. Amen.