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

 

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