The Church of St. Luke in the Fields — Attraction in New York

I am a life long Roman Catholic, my entire family tracing back to my great great great grandmother have all been catholic. Naturally i was raised in a catholic school both elementary and high school. Therefore one can expect and understand that my mentality and political thinking would be conservative. After all its hard to separate your religious beliefs from the way you look at the world. I was very active at one point in my church, when i was twelve i began doing the annual Easter retreats which were a lot of fun, you made many friends and we formed several youth groups, which made our religion fun and those years i will always remember as the happiest ones. I was also involved in teaching Sunday school and the list can go on and on. However once the college years hit and once work wasnt an option but rather a necessity , i simply just didn't have the time to continue any involvement. its been eleven years since ive had any meaningful involvement with the church, but time no longer stood as my only impediment to return, as i grew older, i found myself disagreeing more and more with many positions taken by the catholic church, not to mention my out most horror and disgust with the many many proven guilty child abuse scandals throughout the world. I found myself politically voting a certain way just because of what the church said, but my heart knew it wasnt right. I was increasingly becoming disturbed with being a part of an institution that is excessively anti this and anti that. Inclusive to these dilemas, i was continuously questioning myself, that although i do agree veneration and honor and respect should be given to important spiritual figures within our faith community, i couldn't help see that many times i kept noticing God was no longer the central focus point, because too much time was being spent on other figures who frankly although i respect them, they are not God. My main concern wasnt so much breaking away from the church, but more so where do i go? i have over 20 years of catholic beliefs which i dont want to throw way because i genuinely do believe in them [although i do break away in their views of the Eucharist and Eucharistic adoration] I kept doing research on other denominations but frankly that wasnt much help because other denominations are even more conservative and less progressive than the catholic church, and other denominations have completely different beliefs than mines. And long behold, i found st lukes episcopal church. I informed myself as much as i could about the episcopal church and it was so refreshing and calming to see a church that is so welcoming, progressive, and isnt obsessed with being anti this and anti that. Most importantly, their beliefs are in harmony with mines. The church of st luke's itself is so simple, you can almost feel the peace of the sunshine radiating through the stain glassed windows. The neighborhood is very nice and luckily for me, its a 1 train swift ride. I was sitting in the back waiting for the service to start, and a nice lady who i cant remember her name approached me, she must be a frequent goer because she told me she had never seen me before and welcomed me, and told me not to worry to take it in slow and do as i feel comfortable. Ive never been to a service which was presided by a female priest, but it was a refreshing experience. I will definitely seek to become a member and call this my new spiritual home. I genuinely believe that at some point in your life, you will feel that void, and that need to return, and...

Concert Series: I recently attended the Baroque holiday concert. It was a little hard to sit through. The woman next to me fell asleep in the pew. It would be great to have a more lively and contemporary concert.

The Garden: delightful!

The Holiday Fair: very cute but really geared towards parents who have children at the school.

I’m single and live in the neighborhood. I’m hoping St Luke’s will open its doors (meaning appeal) to us single...

Most welcoming and hospitable church experience ever...I've been attending services at St. Luke's -- as one of my best friends has been a parishioner there for many years -- over the last decade and a half (special occasions, services, etc.) -- and have always felt, well, how can one put it? -- quite cared for. And what a beautiful, hypnotic and celestial voice...Mother...