We’re Re-launching in Staten Island!

We’re so excited to be meeting in-person again at last!

In the past few months, both Vineyard One NYC and senior pastor Ryan Myers and his family have relocated to Staten Island, where we are re-launching the church. We had a soft launch at the house of Mary Lynn Errigo and Steve Rosen for the month of May, and now we are ready to meet at our new location, the historic Prince Bay Community Church, which is graciously renting space to us. We will also continue to host the service on Zoom, for our family members in other boroughs and other countries!

Meeting Details

Time: 10 AM

Location: Prince Bay Community Church at 239 Seguine Ave, Staten Island, NY 10309

Zoom link: https://us04web.zoom.us/s/9983878948

We hope you will join us on this and following Sundays, or on Wednesday evenings at 7 for our Zoom prayer night (same link as above). And we continue to ask for prayers and support as we adapt our ministry and seek the Kingdom of God in our new home.

In faith, hope, and love,

Carrie Myers

Spiritual Director and Worship Leader

Vineyard One NYC

 

August 2021 Update: Delta Virus Edition

Ah, summer in New York. The heat shimmering on the sidewalk, the kids splashing in public pools, the weddings in Central Park. For the last two months, we at Vineyard One NYC have celebrated summer and the waning of the covid virus by holding hybrid in-person + virtual meetings at the Errigo-Rosen home in Staten Island.  They’ve been a joy, with our attendees about evenly split between those on-site and those joining us via Zoom. We’ve connected with new visitors and old friends and seen God work in some amazing ways. We’ve been able to hug people we haven’t seen in the flesh for over a year.

Unfortunately, now we have the Delta variant, which can infect and be transmitted by even vaccinated people and is causing a resurgence of infections and hospitalizations.  Given this game-changer, we’ve made the difficult decision to pause our in-person gatherings for the time being. Even though everyone teen and adult that came in-person has been vaccinated, we don’t want to risk transmitting the virus to those in our circles with fragile health, not to mention children under twelve who are not able to receive vaccinations yet. Ultimately, in order to protect our church family and our communities, we think returning to exclusively online services is the best thing for now.

We continue to be so thankful for the technology that allows us to stay connected and for the flexibility and resilience of our church family all over the world. And for all who continue to support us through these rocky and uncertain times. And we pray for those who are ill and those who care for them, whether medical professionals or loved ones. (A quick PSA: Please get vaccinated if you haven’t already! This is a tangible, practical, quite likely lifesaving way to love your neighbor as  yourself.)

Our sermon series is “Inner Peace Through Friendship with Jesus.” This Sunday, August 15th, we’re talking about God’s generous sharing of his love and resources with us – and through us. We hope you’ll join us at 10:30 am on Zoom at  https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9983878948.

And, if you need a moment of quiet encouragement, please listen to the new contemplative reflection at soulspace.center on 1 Peter 5:7-10, “An Invitation for Restoration.” We hope you will find encouragement in Jesus’ promise to be with us in suffering and to take on all of our worries and cares.

Always in the hope of Christ,

Carrie Myers

Spiritual Director, Vineyard One NYC

 

 

Photo credit: Charles Parker from Pexels

 

What’s Ahead for Vineyard One: Finding a New Normal

Dear Family and Friends,

With vaccination rates rising and covid-19 infections and death falling to the lowest levels since a year ago, we’ve taken our first step towards returning to in-person services for the first time since March 2020! A few of us met in the backyard of the Errigo/Rosen home in Staten Island, and we Zoomed our service from there. We had some expected technical difficulties with wifi and sound (Zoom is just not meant for music!), but overall, the hybrid in-person/Zoom meeting actually went okay! And afterward, the kids got to swim in Mary Lynn and Steve’s pool, in spite of the freezing water.

This summer, we’re going to keep moving towards a new “normal” in a not-quite-post-covid world by having one in-person Sunday service per month at the Errigo/Rosen home. We’re still trying to figure out the best technological solution for bringing together people who are meeting in the flesh in Staten Island and people who are meeting virtually from the other four boroughs, 2 additional states, and four additional countries on any given Sunday. We’re looking at live streaming our services, with a chat feature enabled, so people can “talk” to each other during the service, and then opening up Zoom rooms at the end of the service for ministry time, contemplative prayer, fellowship, and children’s church. But we imagine that plan will evolve as we research and test our options.

We’re also still praying and discerning about starting something – we don’t know quite what – in Elmhurst, Queens. Perhaps starting a ministry or partnering with another church or organization that is already in the neighborhood.  Ryan and other leaders have begun hanging out in the neighborhood, talking to folks, seeing where God might be leading. We’re trusting God to help flesh out the details in his time.

One thing we do know for sure: our new normal will look nothing like our old normal! We can’t go back to a pre-covid reality. For one thing, we will not return to our old location, P.S. 132 in Brooklyn. For another, we will still have masking protocols for our meetings, especially for those who aren’t vaccinated, including children under 16, and for anyone who is feeling unwell or who has a health condition that makes them vulnerable to infection.

Whatever the specific shape of things to come, we are excited to discover with you what God is doing in our midst! We are thankful for the perseverance, generosity, and kindness our community has demonstrated during the pandemic, and for how God will continue to use us to love him, love each other, and love our neighbors in the year to come.

 

May God’s Peace Be With You,

Carrie Myers

Spiritual Director, Vineyard One NYC

 

Photo credit: Dale Brooks from Pexels

Finding Inner Peace in 2021

Here in New York City, we’ve had signs of spring: tree branches sporting a few leaf buds, 60 degree days, lots of sunshine. Then today, it was 21 degrees. So we may have to hold on for a few more weeks of winter!

At Vineyard One, we’ve been continuing our weekly Zoom church. We’ve become quite international in our scope! For a few Sundays now, we’ve welcomed friends from Germany, Columbia, and Ireland, as well as from all five boroughs of New York City, Pennsylvania, and California. We’ve found that the live Zoom format – particularly with breakout rooms for a social “Coffee and Bagel” time and for prayer time – has really helped us to stay connected as a community even though many of us haven’t seen each other in person for much of the past year.

Our focus for 2021 has been on seeking and maintaining inner peace – not an easy thing to do at any time, but especially during a pandemic. We’ve been seeking to experience the love of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit  – and through that, develop a deep and lasting interior peace and freedom. Our Scripture teaching, worship music, and contemplative prayers are all centered around this pursuit. Our first sub-theme, which we started in January and will continue for a few more Sundays, is “Inner Peace Through Divine Love.”

In the meantime, we continue to partner with our friends at Love of God Ministries. They just sent several barrels of supplies to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and St. Lucia, with three more barrels set to arrive around Easter. Our missions fund helps support this ongoing work at local women’s and children’s shelters. Our benevolence fund has also provided support to several in our community who have lost work or had extra expenses due to covid. We are so grateful to everyone who supports Vineyard One NYC and makes these services at home and abroad possible!

Finally, my partners and I at Soul Space have been continuing to release one guided contemplative prayer a month. Check out soulspace.center for the latest: a meditation on trust based on Isaiah 43:1-4. There is also a daily examen to help you find awareness of how God has been present in your week; and an imaginative prayer based on Matthew 11, inviting you to bring your burdens and worries before Jesus. We truly believe that contemplative prayer can help each of us grow into our true selves before God – to connect deeply with God as our source of life, love, and purpose and to find freedom and joy in that relationship.

When will we meet in person again? Much depends on how quickly the vaccinations continue, and whether they are sufficient to keep in check the various strains of covid that are out there. We’re tentatively hoping by the end of the summer we can start having a house-church-type gathering in Staten Island. We’re also seeking to begin or join some kind of community service effort in the Elmhurst or Jackson Heights area of Queens – perhaps ESL classes or a food pantry. We’re not sure yet, so we’re keeping our eyes open to see where and how the Spirit is leading and what opportunities might be in front of us.

Please keep us in your prayers as we explore, dream, and listen to the Spirit to see what might be in front of us! And please let us know how we might pray for you!

Carrie Myers

Spiritual Director

Vineyard One NYC

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is a strange Thanksgiving week as covid numbers skyrocket around the country and around the world. In our house, we are forgoing our usual gathering of twenty to thirty people and just celebrating with our family and the family that lives downstairs from us. There’s a sense of underlying sadness and uncertainty even as we look forward to a good meal (deep-fried turkey!) with people we love.

I hope however you are celebrating – ideally socially distanced, masked, and outdoors if not with your immediate “bubble!” – that you are able to enter into the spirit of gratitude for all the gifts of the year, tempered as they have been by the pandemic. In Sundays’ service, we opened up our Zoom call for people to share what they are thankful for this year.  Many people said covid has helped them become more dependent on God and more grateful for their loved ones. They were thankful for help received when they needed it – and help they were able to give when they had extra.

What are you thankful for this year? How has God been present to you in the midst of the pandemic? And what are your hopes for a new season?

My partners and I at Soul Space have put together two guided meditations that we hope will help you enter into the spirit of thanksgiving. The first meditation is on Psalm 100. It was written specifically for this Thanksgiving and invites you to reflect on God’s faithfulness even in the midst of struggle.  The second is a Daily Examen, a daily prayer practice that begins with gratitude and moves to building awareness of God’s presence in each moment of our lives. I hope that you will spend time with both meditations and that you will come away with increased peace and centeredness in God.

May you all have a blessed, safe Thanksgiving.

Grateful for all of you-

Carrie

Spiritual Director

Vineyard One NYC

 

Featured image by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels

Psalm 100 image by Janine Rohher @soulspace.center

News and Updates

Dear Vineyard One Family and Friends,

It’s been a long, strange spring and summer. Here in New York City, we are getting ready for public schools for re-open and our covid numbers thankfully remain low, thanks to social-distancing and mask-wearing.

Through it all, God has done great things in our community.

  1. Through our benevolence fund, we’ve been able to support families who have been without work during the pandemic. We’ve supplied food, expense money, and other necessities. We are also supporting a formerly homeless individual who, through the efforts and prayers of several people in our church, is now in a Teen Challenge rehab program.
  2. In August, we had a baptism service! Five people chose to take the next step towards following Jesus! We met outdoors at a backyard pool and rotated our five baptizees (I know this isn’t a word, but just go with it. :)) and their guests in and out so that we could maintain social distancing.
  3. The church has just purchased 8 dozen glass bottles and lids to be filled with cooking oil and given to our friend Atty. Atty, who runs Love of God Ministries, is planning to send 5 barrels of food and clothing to St. Lucia and the Dominican Republic later this year.  Our church family is contributing towards the cost of the bottles and the oil.
  4. Our food friend Stephanie Mayer, a frontline worker with an organization that serves the homeless in NYC, launched a family business that will help prevent human trafficking and provide supporters with work and marketable skills. Take a look at the Nary Resort website to read her inspirational story and to buy women’s clothing and cloth masks for men, women, and children!
  5. Through our partnership with Silver Springs Vineyard and Hudson Vineyard, we’ve shared: Wednesday night intercessory prayer nights, “Get Up and Move” exercise and accountability class, an Ephesians Bible Study, and three “Communication without Conflict” classes for couples. Beginning this week: a Women’s Coffee and Chat group on Wednesday nights and a Bible study called “Back to Basics: Galatians.” See our Vineyard United NY page for more information.
  6. While we desperately miss meeting in person, our online Zoom services and classes have opened up opportunities for people in other parts of the country and world to join us. We’ve been able to connect with people from other cities in New York, Pennsylvania, Florida, California, even Germany!
  7. Pastor Ryan led a small discussion group on the video series “The Color of Compromise.” This study looks at the Christian church in America’s long history of complicity in racism. As a church built from the diversity of God’s Kingdom, we continue to support immigrants, Black Lives Matter, and other movements that promote the God-given dignity of all people and work against structural racism and inequality.
  8. A new “Read, Pray, Obey” discipleship group also debuts this week! Participants will read key passages that tell the story of God, pray to hear how God is speaking to them through Scripture, and then take steps of obedience in response to God’s voice.

How has God been working in your life and community?

Would you like to support our work? Make a general donation to the church or direct it to our benevolence fund, and we’ll see that it gets used to support our ministries. Use this link to see our options for donation.

 

Celebrating Our New Partnership: Vineyard United NY

New York City is partially opening up this week, but we know many people are still hunkering down at home. We’re excited to share that we’ve begun a partnership with our sister churches to bring you more online opportunities for community, learning, and spiritual growth. Vineyard United NY.  It consists of us,  Hudson Vineyard, led by Pastor Paul Haviland, and Silver Springs Vineyard, led by Pastor David Kim.  In addition to our Sunday service at 10:30 am, here are the events we’re planning each week with our friends:

Sunday 7 pm: Easy Home Cooking with Pastor David Kim (Silver Springs) and enthusiastic foodie Sophie Chu (Vineyard One)

Monday 7pm: Get Up and Move – Exercise, encouragement, and accountability for those who want to get their bodies moving in lockdown. With fitness enthusiast Toni Ann DePrisco (Vineyard One)

Tuesday 7pm: Communication without Conflict – Proven strategies for couples. With Christian Counselor Craig Myers and Executive Coach Marsha Myers. (This class is currently full, but keep an eye out for future openings!)

Wednesday 7pm: Intercessory Prayer – Lift up the needs of our churches, our communities, and our world. Eexperience worship and prayer with the whole group as well as in small breakout rooms. With Mary Lynn Errigo (Vineyard One).

Friday 7pm: Back to Basics: Ephesians Bible Study – Go deeper into Scripture with Pastor Paul Haviland (Hudson Vineyard) and certified Bibliophile Larry Perez (Vineyard One)

Keep up-t0-date with Vineyard United NY at our new website, vineyardunitedny.com. We hope to see you at one of our activities!

And don’t forget to join us on Sunday at 10am for Zoom Church!

Zoom link:  https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9983878948

Easter Sunday – Breakout Rooms and a New Guided Meditation

 

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Share this traditional Easter greeting with us Sunday, April 12 as we celebrate the Resurrected Christ via Zoom at 10:30 am.

In this time of precautionary social-distancing, we’ve been encouraged to find real community online with our fellow Vineyard One members as well as new friends and visitors. We’ve spent much time interceding for those affected by the covid-19 crisis: people who have caught the virus, frontline and essential workers, and the vulnerable of society who have become even more so in this time of illness and economic uncertainty.

This past Wednesday, on our weekly prayer night, we tried something new: Zoom’s breakout rooms. We used them to get into small groups for more intimate times of prayer and fellowship. They were a hit, and we’re going to use them again this Sunday for prayer and ministry time.

On Easter Sunday, we look forward to joining together again as a diverse family empowered by the Holy Spirit and by the promise of new life in Jesus. We hope you will join us! Use this link: https://zoom.us/j/9983878948

We also want to make this Easter guided meditation available to you. We hope that letting the Holy Spirit guide your imagination while you listen to John 20:1-18 will bring you hope, peace, and renewed faith for the season.

Carrie Myers

Spiritual Director, Vineyard One NYC

 

*Meditation written by Janine Rohrer and Carrie Myers @ravishedbylight. Voiceover and music by David Buchs @sleepwithmusic.com

 

 

Good Friday News

Today, as we commemorate the passion of Christ, we have a few offerings to help us mark the day.

First, here is a guided contemplative prayer created by spiritual director Janine Rohrer, musician and composer David Buchs, and me. This prayer invites you to walk with Jesus through his experience of suffering, loss, and death in light of your own suffering and losses during this past month when the covid-19 crisis has been raging in New York City and many other places in the nation and world. It invites you to breathe deeply of God’s presence and partake of his grace even in this dark season.

 

 

Second, we are having a Good Friday Movie Watch Party! Jude D’Souza is inviting all of us to join him at 6pm sharp to watch “Risen,” a movie about a Roman soldier who is determined to disprove the rumors of a risen Christ, but instead finds his skepticism challenged by the truth.

 

 

Steps to join the Live watch Party

Please click on the address below:

https://s.kast.live/g/7dj62thvwl7

You will need to download and install the Kast app on your viewing device (i.e. PC, IOS device or Android). The app is free and easy to install. You will be asked to create a free account which itself is also very simple. Once the account is created and you’re logged in, please click on the ‘Vineyard One Party’

We will begin the movie at 6pm sharp!

We hope you find rest and peace in your encounter with God through your prayer time. And then join us tonight for the movie!

May Christ dwell with you today-

Carrie

Virtual Church this Sunday (Instead of On-Site Meeting)

Good morning Vineyard One Family!

God is with us.

I wear a necklace made out of patterned beads in Morse Code that spell out the words to Joshua 1:9 – This is my command – be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 

These are words that were spoken and prayed over me when I was ordained to become a pastor. These are words that have stuck with me for years – especially when times have seemed most difficult. I need the reminder that God is with me always.

God is with us right now – in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic. Deuteronomy 31:6 says the same as Joshua:  Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

Since God is with us, we do not need to fear anything – not man, not virus – nothing. Instead, we know that “there is no fear in love – God’s perfect love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). Because of God’s presence and love for us, we need not fear, but instead we have freedom to act in love to those around us. Now is our time to show those around us, especially those who are afraid and those who are most vulnerable, that God loves them and God is with them through this.

So out of love for our neighbors at PS 132, we will not meet at the school tomorrow for worship. We don’t want to bring anything into the school and we don’t want anything that has been brought to the school to come to us. That’s just not the loving thing to do – for us to put the children at the school at risk – or to put our Vineyard One family at risk.

(Side note: most of the advice we are getting is that it is wise for smaller churches like ours to meet rather than cancel. Now is the time when we need to be together and to worship our God. It’s only our brothers and sisters in churches over 100 people who should cancel their services. However, since the school is not a place that we own and have strict control over, and since there are hundreds of children in the cafeteria every day, and since it has been shown that the coronavirus can survive on hard surfaces for up to 3 days, it just is not wise nor loving to put people at unnecessary risk at this time, even for a small church like ours. If anyone wants to read the articles that I have read that lead me to this conclusion, please contact me directly and I’ll share with you.)

Therefore, tomorrow at 10:30 am, we will meet by Zoom video call! We are a manageable size so that we can meet together online and share together in worship and prayer. If you need instructions for how to join a Zoom call, they will be provided at the end of this email. If you know how to use Zoom, then simply join with this link tomorrow morning at 10:30 am.

Zoom link:  https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9983878948

For our Zoom church tomorrow, someone has already contacted me to share Psalm 91 as a good word for our church right now. Maybe you want to read and meditate on that Psalm today? Or maybe God is leading you to some different scriptures? Please come prepared to share the scriptures that God is speaking to you or the ones that he may be sharing with our church.

For today, I would encourage us all to

get some rest – take a nap,

wash your hands,

enjoy some time outside in the beautiful sunshine that we have,

wash your hands,

avoid crowds,

wash your hands,

spend some time catching up on your bible reading (for those that might have fallen behind),

wash your hands,

call your mom and tell her that you love her,

wash your hands,

check in with a neighbor who might be struggling,

are your hands clean?

remember to sneeze & cough into your sleeve,

hey! how about those clean hands of yours!,

look for opportunities to pray and to speak words of peace to others,

wash your hands,

limit the news that you take in

and wash your hands.

We’ve been talking about the story of God in the bible on Sundays. Again and again we have seen God say:  I will bless you and you will be a blessing. Vineyard One family, this is a word for us right now. God has blessed us with his loving presence, now let’s go be a blessing to those around us!

God is with us.

Grace & Peace,

Pastor Ryan

 

Zoom Instructions:

On your phone or tablet, download Zoom from the App store or the Play store

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zoom-cloud-meetings/id546505307

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=us.zoom.videomeetings&hl=en_US

Open the app

Click on “Join” (located at the top of the screen)

Enter the meeting ID:  998-387-8948 (in the field at the top of the screen)

Select Join Audio (located in the lower left corner of the screen)

 

On your laptop or desktop computer

https://youtu.be/UAa3MADuvsg

https://zoom.us/download

Click on the link:  https://us04web.zoom.us/j/9983878948

When prompted, download the Zoom application