Music Ministers Melissa Brassard Wilson Family Sacred Music Intern Beginning her studies at the age of 5, Melissa is an accomplished soloist, accompanist, and chamber musician from the Los Angeles area. She graduated from Oberlin College and Conservatory with a Bachelor of Music degree, studying piano and organ performance. Melissa was the recipient of the Music Teachers' Association of California’s Memorial Music Scholarship, a finalist in the 2021 Rudolf Serkin Piano Competition, and a recipient of the Colburn Merit Scholarship. She has served as organist and accompanist at the Church of Saint Clarence, North Olmsted and First United Methodist Church, Pasadena. Melissa’s previous teachers include Jonathan Moyer and Alvin Chow. Dr. Raymond Nagem Minister of Music Raymond Nagem is Minister of Music at The Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City, and a member of the organ faculty at Manhattan School of Music, where he teaches organ literature, service playing, and improvisation. He completed his D.M.A. at The Juilliard School in 2016, where he was a student of Paul Jacobs. A native of Medford, Massachusetts, Ray attended the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School and began organ lessons there with John Dunn. He earned his B.A. from Yale University in 2009, studying the organ with Thomas Murray, and his M.A. in 2011 from Juilliard. Prior to his appointment at Brick, he served for eleven years at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where he was Associate Director of Music and Organist. His album Divine Splendor, recorded on the Great Organ of St. John the Divine, is available on the Pro Organo label. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring of 2020, Ray started a weekly online recital series, “Tuesdays at 6,” featuring a diverse range of music spanning the entire organ repertoire. In his spare time, he enjoys running, cycling, and crossword puzzles. Liz Richter Director of Children’s Music Ministries Liz Richter is a musician and music educator who graduated with a Bachelor or Music from Westminster Choir College. She is the music teacher at the Brick Church School. She previously worked as the music teacher at multiple preschools on the Upper East Side. She is also the owner and director of Eastside Westside Music Together which is an early childhood music program on the Upper West Side. Liz grew up singing in church choir from an early age where her mother was the Music Director in Garrison, NY. She has sung professionally in choirs at Alice Tully Hall, Carnegie Hall, The Kimmel Center with Orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra and The Berlin Philharmonic. Once moving to NYC in 2016, she joined the professional choir at Christ Church NYC where she sang under Steve Pilkington for several years. She also was the assistant director of the children's choir at Christ Church under Amanda Smith. Wilson Family Sacred Music Internship Thanks to the generosity of Don and Lynn Wilson and their steadfast devotion to music at Brick, Brick Church and the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music established the Wilson Family Sacred Music Internship in 2013. This internship provides an opportunity for a graduate student at the ISM to participate in our music ministry during the academic year. As part of an intensive, on-site learning experience, the intern shares in organ playing and choral conducting duties. The program also supports an undergraduate intern from the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music in Ohio during their winter break in January. Our semi-weekly Newsletter delivers Brick Church news to your inbox. Sign Up Here (O pt out anytime) Subscribe Thanks for submitting!

Women's Association “Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” — Philippians 2:4 Through fundraising events organized by The Brick Church Wome n's Association we're able to provide grants to eight outreach partners, and offer scholarships to Brick Church members’ children and children of the sexton staff . Thank you so much for your continued support of our mission and ministry . No events at the moment Fall Fling Join us at the Fall Fling for a terrific evening of cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and fellowship with fellow members! Learn More Brick Church Fair A major activity of the Women’s Association is the organization and execution of the annual Brick Church Fair. This fundraiser enables the Women’s Association to pursue an ambitious program of member and community support through benevolence, volunteer, and scholarship programs and to support fellowship events and worship-support services within the church. There are 50 members who serve on the Women’s Association Board. The Brick Church Fair is a two-day event in November. Learn More Dinner Dance & Silent Auction Join The Brick Church Women's Association for an evening of dinner, dancing, and giving. Attire is black tie for this formal dinner and includes a cocktail hour, sit-down dinner, dancing, and opportunity to hear from our outreach partners. The event is organized by the Dinner Dance and Silent Auction committee. Learn More Annual Luncheon and Meeting All are welcome to attend the Women’s Association’s Annual Meeting in the Sanctuary and Luncheon in the Garden. The luncheon is organized by the Fellowship and Events committee. Learn More Parents' Morning Out Moms, dads, and grandparents with children ages 3 months to 3 years are invited to join other parents, grandparents, and their children for fellowship Tuesday mornings from 9:30 to 11:00 AM in the 3rd Floor Living Room. Learn More Our semi-weekly Newsletter delivers Brick Church news to your inbox. Sign Up Here (O pt out anytime) Subscribe Thanks for submitting!

About Us Our Mission Statement The fundamental mission of The Brick Church is to respond to the word of God as found in the Old and New Testaments. The B rick Church must continue its historic mission to lead, inspire and enable the public worship of God in the Presbyterian tradition in the city of New York. Our response can be witnessed in the transformed lives of our members as we celebrate the Good News proclaimed by Jesus Christ. We are committed to supporting spiritual development, Christian education and witness to our community, which will be evidenced on a daily basis not only among church members but also in our outreach to the broader world. Adopted by Session November 15, 2003 Pillars of Our Community In 2019, Brick Church engaged in a Mission Review which identified the following as the Pillars of Our Community: Worship , Serve , Learn , Connect . In light of the Mission Review, the Strategic Implementation Committee identified the following goals for long term planning in 2021: Spir itu a l Vitali ty Strengthen spiritual vitality to be better ser vants of Christ Steward sh ip Protect the longev ity of the church through improved s tewardship Outreach Extend our r each into our community to expand the church's footprint and gr ow its membership Nurture Show forth the love of Christ through compassionate nurture for the community at every stage of life Education Reinforce our commitment to education from the Day School through Adult Education 1/8 Our semi-weekly Newsletter delivers Brick Church news to your inbox. Sign Up Here (O pt out anytime) Subscribe Thanks for submitting!

Volunteering at Brick Church offers you a chance to connect with our vibrant community and give back in meaningful ways. We invite you to extend a warm welcome to all who enter our doors by engaging in our community and congregational care opportunities. Register He Christians believe that God created us for life together and that the Christian life is most faithfully and joyfully lived in the community of faith that is the church. This community sustains, nourishes and challenges us to greater and steadier faithfulness to Jesus Christ. If you wish to explore membership, you are invited to attend one of our series of three New Member Meetings.

Revelation 21:10, 22:1-5 In the first few chapters of the Bible, we discover part of God’s plan for humanity. Abel keeps flocks, Cain works the soil and builds a city. A few generations later, Jabal becomes the father of herders and Jubal the first musician. The rich cultures on this wonderful planet are one of the most delightful and enthralling aspects of humanity. Quickly these cultures became nations, and the grand story of the proliferation of peoples has also inevitably led to war. We don't want to fight but by Jingo if we do We've got the ships, we've got the men,  we've got the money too We've fought the Bear before,  and while we're Britons true The Russians shall not have Constantinople! Sung in the pubs of Britain during the Russo-Turkish war in the late 1800s, this song contained a minced oath, “By jingo.” A minced oath replaces a taboo phrase with another—something like saying “heck” instead of “hell.” This song gave birth to the phrase  jingoism , which refers to excessive nationalism with a propensity to use violence and other extreme measures of coercion in order to favor the more powerful nation. It is also noted by a disproportionate positive view of everything that represents one’s country. In our country, this took the form of Manifest Destiny, believing any means necessary was acceptable to extend from sea to shining sea. Perhaps today North Korea is the clearest example—who has turned their propaganda machine into an art form. In fact, the bulk of the Bible in certain ways is a historic account of nations and empires using their deep-seated beliefs of superiority to subjugate Israel based on the will of the deity they happened to worship. There are also clear accounts of holding Israel responsible. This is true of Christians as well. It turns out “by jingo” is a minced oath for “by Jesus.” Christians many times in history have validated aggressive wars in tragic irony by the name of the one known as the Prince of Peace. “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ” Psalm 2 It is a source of severe frustratio n and anger for God to see the divine intentions twisted into protectionism and a warped sense of superiority. Tragically, according to the Geneva Academy, there are 110 armed conflicts around the planet today. With the distortion of the gift of nations, it see ms that God’s plan would be to eliminate any such thing in heaven. I must admit the thought saddens me. My love for nations and their cultures was passed on by my parents from the very beginning. In fact, I just discovered the full depths of my father’s passion to meet new peoples. Last week after my sermon, my mother called and told me, “ Your father met the Guarani people .” Long before De Niro did it in the movie  The Mission , in 1960 my father scaled the Iguacu Falls by himself and convinced one of the Guarani people to take him on a boat so he could get a perfect view of the falls from above! Whether he was doing Irish step dance, listening to the Pakistani Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, or reading  One Hundred Years of Solitude  by the Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez, he found tremendous joy in different languages, different geographies, and different peoples. From my mother it comes through in her decorating and her cooking. In fact, for Wendy and my rehearsal dinner, we had a progressive meal of sorts through the different rooms of her house. In the Brazil room, a black bean dish known as  feijoada ; cheese fondue in the European library; various Asian cuisines in the Indonesian living room; and clotted cream, scones, and tea cakes in the Westminster dining room. Because of this wonderful country of ours, right here we have a cornucopia of cultures! As Wendy and I have forged a life together, exploring the local cuisine and culture has been our passion. Whether it was loaded baked potato soup in Idaho, BBQ in Alabama, Low Country Boil in South Carolina, or homemade pastrami here in New York, these dishes literally gave us a taste. The regional accents, dress, and local idioms make every town special. It has been thrilling to see how all God’s people create a unique and wonderful life in this country. And then, of course, the historic spots around this planet—Petra in Jordan, Bodleian Library in Oxford, Tulum in Mexico, Ipanema Beach, the Pão de Açúcar, and the Corcovado in Rio—have given me a glimpse of the gift of nations which has immeasurably enriched this planet. But unity and healing, Revelation tells us, requires God making all things new. Which may mean leaving behind the wonderful cultures humanity has created, perhaps for a greater good. And yet this final vision of history has a surprising message. For the Christian view of the afterlife has a particular character not shared by other world religions, for example, Buddhism. The Buddhist strives for an absolute release from want and desire leading to  Nirvana , in which the individual becomes something like a drop of water finding its home back in the ocean. Certain attachments—even the attachment to your own personhood—are part of the process of escaping  Samsara , the wheel of woe. In the Christian vision, rather than returning to a collective of sorts, the uniqueness and personhood of the individual continues. But it’s not only people that continue. An intriguing phrase, seemingly without much consequence, caught my attention in our reading: “ …and the leaves of the tree [of life] are for the healing of the nations.” The end of history is not the obliteration of distinct identities, but their perfection. This makes heaven a much more interesting place. This was promised in the Old Testament, “ All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. ” Psalm 22:27–28 The promise to make all things new does not mean what it appears. Rather than the Greek word  neos , the author uses  kainos .  Kainos  is not newness from nothing, but renewal and perfection. This comes through the Tree of Life. John tells us it produces twelve different types of fruit, one each month—the celestial version of the fruit-of-the-month club. With perpetual variety and nourishment, the nations will “turn over a new leaf.” Isaiah’s prophecy so many thousands of years before is fulfilled, “ …and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”  Isaiah 2 But continue they shall, at least in the form of their distinctive cultures and gifts to humanity. They will no longer compete for resources, will no longer see one another as the enemy or inferior; they will celebrate and rejoice in their own uniqueness while being enriched by others. I’ve begun to make my list of what I would love to perfect during my time, God willing, in heaven: the pleasure of reading lovely Chinese calligraphy, listening to transcendent European music, speaking the exquisite language of Portuguese while feasting on spicy Ethiopian cuisine. The more I learn of the history and traditions of other peoples, the more I am amazed at God and deeply saddened at how tragically we have turned this gift into war. Yet I am confident, and I trust and believe in these words of Revelation, that the leaves of the Tree of Life will heal the nations. Amen.

Shared during Sunday Worship on May 25, 2025. Heavenly Father we thank you for all that is good in our lives: for our daily food and drink, our homes and families, and for our friends. For minds to think, hearts to love, and hands to serve, we give you thanks.  For health and strength to work, for leisure to rest and play.  Hear us now, Almighty God, as we pray silently our individual prayers of Thanksgiving:   God of peace, on this Memorial Day Weekend, we pray for those who have served our nation, and especially for those who have laid down their lives to protect and defend our freedom.  And we pray for those they have left behind.  We pray for those who have fought, whose spirits, bodies, and minds have been scarred by war.  We pray for those who serve us now, especially for those in harm's way.  Shield them from danger and bring them home.  Lord, hear now our silent prayers of intercession:   We pray to you, the Maker of Heaven and Earth, for this congregation, for those who are present, and for those who are absent.  Wherever we wander in your spacious world, teach us that we may never journey beyond your loving care.  To you, the Healer and Head of the Church, we pray for ourselves; for the forgiveness of our sins, and for the grace of the Holy Spirit to amend our lives.  We pray for our families, friends, and neighbors; that, being freed from anxiety, we may live in love, joy, peace, and health.  Lord, hear our silent prayers of petition:   Oh Lord, may the peace you left us, the peace you gave us, be the peace that sustains us and the peace that saves us.  Amen.