Christ Church Riverdale in the Bronx experienced 13 percent growth from 2017 to 2021, and now it is adjusting to life after COVID. “There’s no magic bullet for growth,” said the Rev. Emily Anderson Lukanich, rector. “We experienced the growth from 2017, but with a change in leadership.”

Christ Church’s strength, Lukanich said, is that the parish reflects its surrounding borough. “We are an incredibly diverse group. Multi-language is reflective of our community, and we look very much like our community.”

Longtime parishioner Demitrio Acot agreed. “In a time of declining church participation and overall apathy, I believe we are sustaining and growing because we create real value for families and individuals. Our themes of diversity, welcoming without judgment or guilt, sense of family, and genuine support and care are just some of the reasons why people are proud to call Christ Church Riverdale their spiritual home.”

Acot added: “As a long-standing member of the Christ Church Riverdale choir, I believe we truly do our best to enhance the service and raise the worshiping experience of our fellow parishioners. The camaraderie throughout the years has been very important to me personally.”

The parish also reflects diversity in age, Lukanich said, from the “very little ones to our oldest member who is 98.”

Christ Church sponsors a generation-spanning Sunday school because “churches are one of the last places where generations sit next to each other,” Lukanich said.

The parish has a strong history of 160 years. Its well-known parishioners included Mayor Fiorello La Guardia and the New York Yankees’ legendary first baseman Lou Gehrig. Richard M. Upjohn was the architect of the Gothic Revival building, which was designated a New York City landmark in 1966.

“We are building on solid foundation,” Lukanich said. “Christ Church has been an anchor in the community for many years.” An AA group has met at the church for 80 years.

Christ Church, like most of society, is different post-pandemic. “We don’t have as many bodies in the pews, but we have a lot of people online,” Lukanich said. “The congregation is still engaged, but in different ways. We are connecting more organically, less programmatically.”

An inaugural post-lockdown step was to host small parties at the rectory. “It’s a mix of active members, newcomers, and some we haven’t heard from in a while,” Lukanich said. “It’s a great way to get to know each other. Small parties allow people to connect.”

Among the congregational events that haven’t changed are coffee hours and shared meals. “My people like to eat,” Lukanich said, laughing.

A long-standing favorite tradition, halted during the pandemic, has returned — the international dinner. “We brought it back after pandemic,” Lukanich said. “At the international dinner, everyone brings a dish from their country of origin. It’s potluck, it’s a small fundraiser. The parish hall is decorated with flags, and we invite community members.”

Christ Church maintains a long-standing relationship with Riverdale Community Center and neighboring churches for social ministry. It also works closely with the Northwest Bronx Clergy and Community Coalition.

The church’s ministries range from feeding people to teaching. Christ Church’s food pantry “started with canned goods in a closet and now we do it once a week,” Lukanich said. “We have a group that works with a school specifically for English-language students.”

The church opens its doors and its “huge parish hall” to the community, she said. Arts groups, music programs, and children’s theater are among those it welcomes. “We have music concerts four times a year, and that’s the place where I see the community come back,” Lukanich said. “We invite artists in. They know that when they come, they are welcome; when they call, we will help them. They might not know we are an Episcopal church.”

The goal, she explained, is “to reestablish our ties to the community. We can’t always help the people across the world, but we can worry about the people closest to us that it affects.”

“I think we are going through our challenges just like other parishes,” Acot said. “It’s not necessarily changes that have affected the church growth, but more of a sticking to our values, our commitment to our church, and — in effect — our commitment to each other.”

St. John’s Park Slope describes itself as the second-oldest Episcopal church in Brooklyn, and adds: “But don’t let our age fool you, we’re just getting started.”

The Rev. Ben DeHart — a native of Princeton, New Jersey, who previously worked in Manhattan and Birmingham, Alabama — was called as rector more than a year ago. “Restarting churches is what we need to do,” he said.

Bishop Lawrence Provenzano of the Diocese of Long Island agreed: “Fr. Ben DeHart has come to St. John’s with great enthusiasm, vision, and a working ecclesiology that fits perfectly into a renewed sense of mutual responsibility and interdependence within the congregation, the deanery, and the diocese.”

DeHart looks at St. John’s as a “198-year-old startup,” and he says church attendance has been steadily rising. “We have more than doubled,” he said. “It’s been a great time.”

St. John’s location is a key to its growth,” DeHart said. “Brooklyn is the borough of churches. We are showing people where they can be hooked in.”

The parishioners of St. John’s mirror the diversity of Brooklyn, he said. “We talk about diversity, we talk about inclusion, but we mean it. This church reflects Brooklyn.”

In addition to its multicultural members, St. John’s boasts age diversity. “We have a decent amount of boomers, 20s, 30s, 40s,” DeHart said. “We are reflecting Brooklyn society.”

“Fr. DeHart’s starting point, with this most diverse congregation, is built upon almost a decade of reconstruction and renovation, both to the physical plant and the spiritual life and focus of the people,” Provenzano said. “This growth in ministry is an example of the cooperation and shared vision of the people of this diocese. The population of Brooklyn alone is almost 3 million people. The ministry field for our congregations is that population, not merely the people who attend liturgy on weekends. The right combination of liturgy, preaching, pastoral care, and teaching, along with care and action in the neighborhoods we serve, is growing the church in new and faithful ways.”

While St. John’s maintains customary church offerings like Bible study, altar guild, children’s ministries, and music programs, it has developed two community-based options: summer hangs and an innovative hiking club. Both were born from congregants wanting to extend their camaraderie beyond Sunday mornings.

“Most of the ministries happening at the church are likely expected for any congregation, but the hiking club is unique,” said newer parishioner Micah Goldston. The club began as the idea of a parishioner, and DeHart gave her “the freedom and space to organize and offer the outings to the congregation.”

The summer hang began as a way to welcome DeHart. “One memory that continues to bubble up for me is the first of many Saturday barbecues in the courtyard this past summer, the rector’s first summer at St. John’s,” Goldston said.

“There, on a humid, sunny Saturday afternoon, surrounding a couple of tables, were individuals representing four generations — kids and teenagers, young adults, midlife adults and retirees — different ethnicities, and various socioeconomic backgrounds. Some people had been at the church for decades, others only a few Sundays. While no sacraments were offered, communion among believers was experienced that day.”

DeHart believes in the power of social media. “I don’t think social media is the end-all or be-all,” he said, “but it’s a start.” St. John’s maintains a presence on Instagram with 5,600 followers, and a Facebook page.

Texting is another strategic communications method. When newcomers visit, “we text or email that day,” DeHart said. “It is great engagement. And the message is short and sweet: thank you for coming.”

Another growth element is branching out into the Park Slope area and broader Brooklyn. “We try to work in the community,” DeHart said. The Park Slope Neighborhood Association meets at the church, and he connects with firefighters and community groups. “We get Park Slope people to come by.”

Although he had not begun his ministry at St. John’s during COVID, DeHart knows “the pandemic was not a great time for the church.” One constructive change resulting from the lockdown was moving the Sunday service one hour earlier, to 10 a.m., which helped boost attendance.

DeHart described St. John’s as high church, which he considers an important point. “I really care about the preached word,” DeHart said. “That exists to proclaim the good news of the gospel. Everything reflects the good news of the gospel.”

Goldston agreed. “While there’s nothing wrong with emphasizing social-justice matters within the church, I believe the rector’s weekly emphasis on the ‘Balm of Gilead’ is a message that people need in their lives, and that’s a large part of why people come back week after week.”

DeHart admitted the Park Slope church has faced some issues. “We’re a church that has been in the red for 20 years. There is no endowment, no back account. That has made the people of St John’s more aware.”

Like many churches, St. John’s must address deferred maintenance. One current project is to rent the rectory as a revenue source. “We promised a balanced budget,” he said. “We have to rent the rectory.”

DeHart has the confidence of his bishop, who added: “St. John’s in Park Slope is an example of how faithfulness to a vision of ‘the church being the church’ focused on care for the wider community, ministry growth based on the sacramental and liturgical needs of God’s people, preaching and living the gospel in real time, proper stewardship and use of buildings and other resources to support a vision for ministry grows the church.”

The Closing Eucharist of the 81st General Convention was both a hello and a farewell — hello to Sean Rowe as the newly elected 28th Presiding Bishop-elect and a farewell to retiring 27th Presiding Bishop Michael Curry.

“It’s a great day in the kingdom,” Rowe said in his sermon, using a phrase he has favored throughout his 17 years as a bishop.

“The early church is struggling,” Rowe said about the day’s Epistle reading, Ephesians 6:10-18. “Paul is undertaking his third mission to Ephesus,” followed by his trip to Asia. “Paul being Paul, he just keeps talking, he keeps bringing the good news.”

Comparing St. Paul’s time to today, Rowe said, “The powers of evil are real in the world. We are living in a world where these are very much alive.”

Calling the Episcopal Church “small,” Rowe said, but “We’re not struggling to survive.”

“We are standing firm in the midst. We are holding fast to LGBTQ.

“We are not backing down on our proclamation of the gospel because other people understand it differently or are bigger or think they are more powerful or louder.”

But, he said, “The battle is not yet done.” He believes the church must face the sin of racism and “the internal strife that divides us.”

He asked, “If we can’t figure it out in here, how can we carry it out in the world?”

Rowe cited church processes, a topic he has addressed previously at this General Convention. “How about our attachment to the ways that no longer serve us?” he asked, citing the “idolatry of structures and practices that exclude and diminish our witness.”

“We have to get it together,” he said. “We need to let go of our grievances. We need to have hard conversations with love and respect.”

Rowe honored the retiring Presiding Bishop. “Thanks be to God, the church in our day has been given Michael Bruce Curry. Through our brother Michael, God has shown us again what the power of love can do.

“Michael Curry’s legacy of love and the legacy of God in Jesus Christ is ours and we must hammer out the dents in the armor.”

The service began with the Prayer of the Four Directions, led by the Rev. Leon Samson of the Episcopal Church in Navajoland. With the congregation facing each direction during the prayer, Sampson said, “Bless us all from the east, south, west, north, below us, above us, and within us. Amen.”

The Eucharist concluded with a stirring and reverent singing of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

Continuing with the commitment to the church’s diversity, the prayers, music, and intercessions were presented in English, Spanish, and other languages.

Rowe was elected the 28th Presiding Bishop by the House of Bishops on June 26 and was overwhelmingly confirmed by the House of Deputies. He will assume his new position on November 1.

From honoring two members to calling some liturgical text “cringey,” the House of Deputies addressed six business items during its 90-minute evening session June 27.

• Deputies authorized Resolution A112 for the use of Expanded Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, but not without discussion.

The Rev. Scott Gunn of Southern Ohio spoke against the resolution. “There are seven current daily lectionaries. We absolutely do not need another lectionary. We already have confusion. We have too many. Clarity is kindness. Less chaos, more formation.”

Bruce Gardner of Atlanta disagreed. “We may have all those lectionaries, but they may not meet the needs of diverse populations. Some language is not helpful.”

• Deputies overwhelmingly approved Resolution A114 to authorize the use of Expansive Language Versions of Eucharistic Prayer C, with all comments in support.

“It’s been controversial since 1979,” the Rev. Jacob Pierce of North Carolina said. “Many love it, many don’t.”

• Speakers addressed the “cringeworthyness” of the Good Friday text as they approved Resolution A115 authorizing the use of alternative texts for the Good Friday liturgy.

“The anti-Jewish bias in our liturgies is subtle but it is there,” the Rev. Miranda Hassett of Milwaukee said.

“Good Friday, the most somber day of the year, is also the most dangerous day of the year for our Jewish cousins,” said the Rev. Gia Hayes-Martin of Southern Ohio. She said this resolution “corrected some language that is just cringe.”

“As a priest whose wife identifies as a secular Jew, this is deeply problematic and cringeworthy,” said the Rev. Dr. Daniel London of Northern California.

There was no objection to approving Resolution A117, which withdraws the Rev. William Porcher DuBose from the Lesser Feasts and Fasts calendar. The Rev. Philip Dinwiddie of Michigan called DuBose a “committed and unrepentant white supremacist.”

• Deputies expressed deep gratitude to Paul Neuhauser and Steve Hutchinson of Utah for their years of service to the Episcopal Church.

The Rev. Steve Pankey of Kentucky was elected Vice President of the House of Deputies on the second ballot on June 27. He was the only one of four candidates to endorse President Julia Ayala Harris, who was handily reelected on June 25.

“I am humbled and honored to be elected the 16th vice president of the House of Deputies,” he said immediately after the announcement of the election results. “Thank you for trusting me with this office. I promise I won’t let you down.”

He added, “Our beloved Episcopal Church is in exceedingly good hands with President Julia Ayala Harris, Presiding Bishop Curry, and Presiding Bishop-Elect Rowe. I can’t believe I get the chance to work with them.

“Let’s be about sharing the love of Jesus with one another and with a world that desperately needs it.”

Pankey is rector of Christ Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He served on Executive Council from 2020 to 2022 and is on the Standing Commission on Structure, Governance, Constitution, and Canons.

At a Thursday morning candidates’ forum, Pankey said he wants “to follow God’s call in service to the church.”

He cited his extensive committee work. “That is what I do. That’s important. But more important is who I am. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I am committed to deep listening, compassionate leadership, and standing with those who have been on the margins for too long.”

He said collaborations “have allowed me to speak hard truths when necessary.” For example, he is the rector of “a ‘purple parish.’ I have learned to keep people who might disagree with one another living in community, loving another, moving forward in common mission.”

Pankey has pressed for a job description for the vice presidential post: “Make sure that everything about this role, this very limited role, is in the canons so that everyone knows what the responsibilities are.

“One of the most important things we can get started in the next 30 days is an evaluation process,” he said. “I can learn from the hard lessons President Ayala Harris has been through these past two years. We can move forward. Constant communication is important.”

Three other deputies ran for the post: the Rev. John Floberg of North Dakota, the Rev. Charles Graves IV of Texas, and the Rev. Ruth Meyers of California.

On the second ballot, deputies cast 415 votes, with these results:

• Pankey, 442
• Meyers, 278
• Graves, 71
• Floberg, 21

The incumbent vice president, the Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, opted not to run for reelection as she challenged Ayala Harris for the presidency. Ayala Harris was re-elected on the first ballot.