St. Lydia’s
Brooklyn, New York
St. Lydia's is a church where life is lived out around the table. It’s a progressive LGBTQ-affirming congregation in the Gowanus neighborhood of Brooklyn working together to dispel isolation, reconnect neighbors, and subvert the status quo.
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Brooklyn, NY
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Average Weekly Attendance
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Ages
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Gender Diversity
Community
You’re looking for an experience of the holy.
One that is strong enough to lean on, deep enough to question, and challenging enough to change you. If you’re not sure what you believe, rest assured that neither are the folks at St. Lydia’s. They place practice before belief, trusting that eating, praying and singing together moves communities deeper into faith. Instead of trying to figure out what they believe, they’re trying to live what they practice.
St. Lydia’s is a church that gathers to share a sacred meal, as the first followers of Jesus did. Simple unaccompanied music is sung, scripture explored, and prayers offered, all in the context of a home-cooked meal.
Congregants tell stories because Jesus told stories, and stories help us know one another better.
St. Lydia’s approaches the Bible both spiritually and intellectually, and affirms the spiritual journeys of those of other faith traditions. They are also a queer church, embracing sexuality and all sexual orientations and gender identities, and hope that every person who joins for worship will bring their whole selves. At. Lydia’s, no one is barred from leadership because of their gender or sexuality.
What is St. Lydia’s up to?
Currently, St. Lydia’s hosts vibrant weekly Dinner Church and monthly Waffle Church services at a storefront in Brooklyn. They are also hosting the Creative Bond arts residency program, curated by Deborah Chi, featuring workshops, salons, concerts, and lectures from local artists of all disciplines.
To read more about their practices of welcome and hospitality, check out their blog, especially the core practices booklet.
