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 4 days ago 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 The Carnegie Room More info Learn more Load More

Associate Pastor Search The Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York is embarking on the deeply spiritual journey of discerning the future of our ministry and searching for two new associate pastors to serve our congregation. The Associate Pastor Nominating Committee (APNC) and Senior Minister, Rev. Thomas Evans , in partnership with the Presbytery of New York City, are guiding our Session through this important work. Associate Pastor Nominating Committee (APNC) Chair: Catherine Eubanks Members: Emily Abelson, Sarah Johnson, Sue-Peng Li, Matt Libbey, Chris Mason, Doug Watson 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. Associate Pastor for Children and Youth - APPLY HERE The Associate Pastor for Pastoral Care and Community Ministries - APPLY HERE UPDATES Information sessions will be offered throughout the search & updates will be posted here. 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 Share Your Voice with the APNC: Anonymous Feedback Share Your Voice - Anonymously As we continue our search for new Associate Pastors, the APNC wants to hear your perspective. Please take a few moments to share your thoughts, reflections, hopes or questions through our anonymous feedback form. Engage the APNC Directly The APNC is actively listening and we welcome your direct feedback and referrals. If you’d like to suggest a name for consideration or tell us what you believe is essential in our next Associate Pastor(s), plea Nov 23, 2025 Share Your Feedback: APNC Discussion Forums The Associate Pastor Nominating Committee (APNC) is eager to hear more from Brick members as we review Brick's current ministry and seek... Oct 7, 2025 Take the Survey: Associate Pastor Search The survey takes about 15-20 minutes to complete, and must be completed in one sitting. We are asking all members to complete the survey... Sep 8, 2025 The Brick Church Strategic Vision Listen to Rev. Dr. Thomas Evans discuss The Brick Church Strategic Vision as a preview of his 2024-2025 sermon series for Sunday worship. Our Purpose: To be a beacon of hope that shares God’s love in Jesus Christ. Our Mission: To lead, inspire and enable the public worship of God in the Presbyterian tradition. Our Vision: To be a church that is a ‘spiritual home’ reflecting the fabric of our City. Our Values: Traditional with an innovative heart united as one known for a gene Sep 23, 2024 TIMELINE Glossary of Terms APNC (Associate Pastor Nominating Committee) A committee of church members, elected by the congregation, tasked with leading the search process for a new Associate Pastor. They review candidates, conduct interviews, and make a final recommendation to the congregation. Call The formal act of inviting a pastor to serve a congregation, including a vote by the congregation and approval by the Presbytery. Congregational Meeting A special meeting of all church members called by the Session to conduct official business, such as electing the APNC or voting on a pastoral candidate. Discernment A prayerful process of seeking God’s guidance to understand the church’s needs, priorities, and direction during a pastoral transition. Examination (Presbytery) A formal process in which the Presbytery of New York City interviews and approves the chosen candidate’s theological and pastoral readiness to serve. Installation A worship service in which the Presbytery of New York City formally installs the new Associate Pastor, officially beginning their ministry at Brick Church. MIF (Ministry Information Form) A document created by the APNC describing the congregation’s mission, ministry context, and the associate pastor position. It serves as the “church résumé” for candidates. PIF (Personal Information Form) A pastor’s résumé, faith statement, and references submitted through the CLC system. Candidates use PIFs to express interest in open positions. Presbytery of New York City The regional governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that includes Brick Church and other congregations in the NYC area. It provides oversight, guidance, and approval throughout the search process. Presbytery Action The official action by the Presbytery of New York City to approve the call and authorize the pastor’s installation. Session The governing body of a Presbyterian congregation, made up of ruling elders and moderated by the pastor. The Session oversees the church’s ministries and must approve the MIF. Terms of Call The agreed-upon compensation package and employment conditions for a pastor, including salary, housing allowance, benefits, vacation, and study leave. Must be approved by both the congregation and the Presbytery.

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 are called to unity the world is fractured and so we pray that you will intercede and bring peace to—Sudan, Venezuela, Iran, Afghanistan, and so many more. We especially ask that you protect the civilians in all of these conflicts and help those who lead to do so with wise and clear hearts.   Two hundred and fifty years ago, our country aspired to create something new in the history of the world: a land founded upon the equality of all people and the hope of creating a more perfect union.    Be with our elected leaders—the mayor, the governor, and the President of the United States. Be with those who enforce the laws, that they may do so with justice tempered with compassion. Be with all the judges whose unenviable task makes the difference between a land that is unjust and a land that has lost its way. May they feel our prayers. May they seek only the truth and not be swayed by self-interest or by the powers that seek to tip the scales. We pray for peace and justice in the world.   Where you would have us listen, may our hearts be open. Where you would have us speak, may we only speak the truth and do so in love. And where you would have us sacrifice, may we be willing to do so after the manner of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord; whose act of love recreated one humanity by your grace and your love. Amen.

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 Psalms  by Leonard Bernstein. Written in 1965, it has three movements, each of which includes text from two different psalms, all of them sung in Hebrew. The first movement, centered around Psalm 100, “O be joyful in the Lord,” is indeed full of boisterous rejoicing. Its exuberance is actually a bit over-the-top, a bit manic, just a bit  much . It conveys joy, all right, but a kind of oblivious joy, a joy that doesn’t acknowledge the presence of sorrow, a joy that borders perhaps on overconfidence. With the second movement we get a cinematic cut to a different world: a soprano solo accompanied by harp. This combination of instruments and voice suggests a young King David singing and playing – perhaps suggesting the very moment where he sat down and composed the Twenty-Third Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd.” The music swells as the sopranos and altos join in, repeating the last line as a kind of refrain. But Into this peaceful, naïve word comes a violent shout from the tenors and basses, followed by ominous muttering. These are the words of Psalm 2, “Why do the nations so furiously rage together? … The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and his anointed.” The Lord’s anointed, of course, is David himself, and Bernstein suggest that there may be something autobiographical about these words. Then something extraordinary happens. While the tenors and basses continue furiously raging, the sopranos enter again with their opening melody. Bernstein writes in the scorethe heartbreaking phrase, “blissfully unaware of threat.” The competing visions of peace and violence don’t interact with each other; instead, they’re heard in parallel, superimposed one on the other. It seems like the Twenty-Third Psalm will win out, until at the very end we hear a chilling, ghostly death-rattle – the raging of the nationsreturning again in the organ and percussion, in the distance, without words, ending with a massive strike on the bass drum like a burst of gunfire. The second movement offers no resolution to this conflict, no answers given, but now we are very much aware of the presence and the power of evil in the world. The third movement begins with an extended prelude for solo organ in C minor – thesame key that Beethoven famously used for his most serious music, including his Fifth Symphony. This passage represents an idea that Bernstein returned to over and over again– the failure of high art to solve the world’s problems.  There is a famous quotation from Bernstein that gets posted online every so often: “This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.” It comes from an address Bernstein made at Madison Square Garden immediately after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, at a time when the nation was reeling. And Bernstein did indeed do his best to make music more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before, but he knew very well that those words were somewhat hollow. Bernstein dramatizes how pouring more intensity, more complexity, more intellectualism, more emotional grief, into art  fails  to break through. We try to emulate what we think of as the great figures of the past – Bernstein tries to measure up to Beethoven, and our present selves try to measure up to Bernstein – but we find we can’t. Bernstein’s anguished C minor music keeps losing energy, changing tempo, stalling out on painfully dissonant intervals in the organ. The breakthrough instead comes with a radical reframing, a change of key, and the words of Psalm 131, “Lord, Lord, I am not high minded; I have no proud looks.” At this point the tenors and basses sing a beautiful melody in G major that is then taken up by everyone. But it’s not really developed, in the sense that it doesn’t go anywhere. It’s not changed; it simply repeats, and as it is repeated, we live in this world of inner stillness and beauty, until the text runs out and the whole choir continues singing this melody together on a wordless “Ah” – the song of the heart. At the very end come the words of Psalm 133, “Oh how good and pleasant it is for kindred to dwell together in unity.” Bernstein’s music tells us that to live in a more perfect union requires neither empty toleration, nor partisan strife, but a faithful, active process of opposing hate with love, arrogance with humility, power with gentleness. This is the counterintuitive method that Paul instructs us. In Jewish worship, the text of Psalm 133 is used at the beginning of services, but Bernstein puts it at the end. Perhaps Bernstein is telling us that when we reach the end of this emotional journey in  Chichester Psalms , when we arrive at the final measures of music, it is just then, in stillness and peace, that our worship is able properly to begin.

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 deadline to be considered for the upcoming year. The deadline for completed applications is May 4th.  Please complete the confidential form here . With your application, a general financial disclosure will be requested. Artwork by Joni McKown Art.