Lifestyle & Culture

Church Invites, Supports NYC Collegians

The preacher and an usher greeted people filing into Grace Church on a Sunday summer evening. The evening service was for those who are regulars at that West Village congregation, but also had a special purpose.

“We cater to students who want to be close to God,” said the Rev. Mary Cat Young, a chaplain with Canterbury Downtown.

Canterbury’s main office is at Grace Church, near the intersection of Tenth Street and Broadway. The organization aims to provide a place for students from New York University, The New School, Fashion Institute Technology, Cooper Union and other Manhattan campuses to worship and connect with other faith-minded people during what Young calls a “transitional period” in their lives—in a big city where so much seems rushed.

The city is so “go, go, go,” Young said. “[With Canterbury], they have a chance to sit and eat.”

And to reflect and recharge, Young said.

The evening services don’t just target students already affiliated with a church. It also aims for those who have no religious experience.

According to a March 2014 Pew Research Center report, “Millennials in Adulthood: Detached from Institutions, Networked With Friends,” 29 percent of 18- to 33-year-olds were not affiliated with any religion. By comparison, 21 percent of people aged 34 to 49 and 16 percent of people aged 40 to 68 had no religious affiliation.

Young said she relies on Facebook, Twitter, Faith Street and other social media to help spread the word about Canterbury and what it does, and to inspire younger adults’ religious curiosity.

She also relies on students to tell their peers about what they get from being involved in Canterbury, which celebrates its 10th birthday in September 2014.

“It’s something that grounds me in both my academic and personal life,” said Taylor Johnson, 20, a New York University musical theater major who was raised in an Episcopalian household.

“It gives me peace and connects me with a great community,” said Kira Haag, 21, an NYU Chinese language major who became a Christian three years ago.

She was one of two students at a July 2014 Canterbury service  that attracted 20 people. (During the summers, fewer students and others attend services, Young said. During the school year, students make up about a quarter of the people attending Grace worship services).

That July evening, Young led the worship service. The usher read scriptures. Accompanied by a piano player and guitarist, the group of 20 people at the service sang hymns. The people prayed and participated in communion, dipping bread into a silver goblet filled with juice to represent Jesus Christ’s body and blood.

The service is “traditional … almost ancient” in its worship rituals, Young said.

The sermon she preached had been about what a good seed that is planted in good dirt produces. And she talked about what bad seed brings.

That sermon and her other sermons for younger people are part of her work to “nourish this generation,” Young said.

After the sermon, there is nourishment for those at Grace who want it; dinner is available in a church dining room.

“Breaking bread together is a great way to invite more people,” Young said.