Our former Rector Bill Tully was fond of the slogan, “more than a church,” when describing St. Bart’s. With a preschool, swimming pool, restaurant, gymnasium, Crossroads Community Services, store, gardens, and more, “more than a church,” is a fitting descriptor. One day you can walk into the doors on Park Avenue to find you’re on a movie set, and the next day, a grand concert hall.
This weekend, St. Bart’s glorious church proper has been transformed into New York City’s Inaugural Empire State Rare Book & Print Fair. Artifacts on display include the original artwork for the cover of Charlotte’s Webb by E.B. White, a first printing of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling, a first British edition of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and a first edition Galileo by Galileo Galilei from 1635. The net value of the church and its contents has perhaps never been higher! Tickets are still on sale online and at the door. (Learn More)
In the ever-stunning serendipity of the church year, it is an especially fitting weekend, as today is the Feast of William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale in the Episcopal Church’s calendar of saints and martyrs. Ordained a priest in 1521, it became Tyndale’s obsession in life to translate the scriptures into English — in spite of King Henry VIII’s initial opposition to a vernacular Bible. After fleeing in exile to Germany, his New Testament eventually became the first to be mass produced in the English language. As the English equivalent of Luther’s Bible, only two of 18,000 copies remain.
After Tyndale was captured in Germany and tried for heresy, he was burned at the stake on October 6, 1536. After his death, his work was picked up by the translator Miles Coverdale, who completed Tyndale's translation of the Old Testament, together with a complete translation of the Psalms — one still regarded by many as unmatched in poetic eloquence and particularly conducive to musical settings. Worship with us in person or online at the 11 am service this Sunday and you will hear St. Bartholomew’s Choir sing a portion of Coverdale’s translation of Psalm 80 set to an Anglican chant composed by Ivor Algernon Atkins!)
In the same way that the church has for centuries influenced the development of art, music, and education, and peacemaking around the world, the influence of Tyndale's Bible on the whole of English language and literature cannot be overstated, and as Anglican Christians we are the inheritors of his rich (and always complicated) legacy. At its best it represents a vision of Christianity that was always about “more than a church” — one in which faith had something important to say at the heart of our shared cultures and common life.
The “Good Book” continues to guide the church and speak into our lives still today — always pointing to our greatest treasure. More precious than silver, more costly than gold, Christ the Living Word, whose power and presence saturates all of creation, is anything but rare to those with eyes to see. May the ultimate reality of God be at the center of our lives, as we strive to be ever "more than a church" — a sacred center for the life of the world God so loves.
