About & Vision

Read about the Community in the Crossing in the news, discover the story behind the vision and the inspiration from around the world, read more from different church leaders about the importance of praying and working for the unity of Christians.

Check out some of our past events to see what we've been up to

Vision

We are called to love God and others in all moments and all contexts (Matthew 22:37-39). Community members adopt a Rule of Life, which aims to give us a common framework in how we do this, as each Member undertakes to shape their life around it. Residential and Local members share the same Rule, but its incarnation may differ.

The community draws its name from an architectural element of the Cathedral, the central heart of the cruciform design on the building. To be the Community at the Crossing, we must be rooted in the cross of Jesus, which is what will enable us in turn to go toward the other, to cross over.

The Community at the Crossing builds upon the model of intentional contemplative communities worldwide, drawing inspiration primarily from the Community of St. Anselm under the leadership of the Honorable Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and collaborating with the Chemin Neuf Community (a Roman Catholic community with an ecumenical vocation).

Read more about Ecumenism in the Chemin Neuf Community

September 24, 2023 - Holy Eucharist with Reception and Vesting of the Community at the Crossing

At this service, the Cathedral will receive and vest the first cohort of the Community at the Crossing, our new ecumenical community for young people. The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Justin Welby, the first among all the Bishops of the Anglican Communion, will be with us in person and will preach.

Watch the cohort's promises on YouTube

'The Spirit in our Midst' - Sister Hannah Spiers
Episcopal New Yorker, October 2023

Homilist: New Ecumenical Community Offers Hope among Christians
The Good News Room, OSV News, February 1

'The Church cannot flourish without religious community' - Archbishop Justin in NYC.

Watch the homily from Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby from the commitment service of the first cohort (2023-24) or read it here

A Word of Blessing from His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew

Letter Read at the Cathedral's September 8, 2022 Service

“What we would like to see and encourage you to aspire to, dear friends, is for your newly-planted community to become a door for the young men and women that it will shape through this initiative: a door to heaven and a door to the world; a door to the heart and a door to humankind and all creation; a door to the compassionate nature of God and a door to the communal nature of the Church.”

Read by the Very Reverend Archimandrite Nektarios Papazafiropoulos, Chancellor of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, representing His Eminence Elpidophoros, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America

Watch on Instagram

September 8, 2022

A Greeting from the Holy Father in Rome

“At the Crossing means a place of crossing and meeting between young people of all Christian denominations. My hope is this community will offer an opportunity to revive the desire for unity of Christians and of society in New York and even in the United States. The future of faith in our world passes through Christian Unity. Yes, we do not agree on everything. Yes, we have convictions that sometimes seem incompatible, or are incompatible. But that is precisely why we choose to love each other. Love is stronger than all disagreements and divisions. It brings peace…let us not forget that At the Crossing evokes the Cross of Christ. Jesus Christ is a bond that is stronger and deeper than our cultures, our political options and even than our doctrines. The Lord! Jesus the Lord! Look at Him who gave his life for us!”

Watch the whole greeting on YouTube

September 8, 2022

A Message from the Archbishop of Canterbury

“In the book of the Acts of the Apostles, at the birth of the Church, the followers of Christ committed themselves to prayer, to the breaking of bread and to the apostles’ teaching. Throughout the centuries groups of men and women have committed themselves to live in religious communities, to pursue these same principles in a huge diversity of ways. The religious life matters profoundly to the Church. It has always been the place where renewal begins - without communities of prayer of one kind or another, one doesn't see renewal. The Community at the Crossing is a sign of God's work of renewal in the world, in your city, in the Church.”

Watch the whole greeting on YouTube

September 8, 2022

Community at the Crossing: Opening Service

Join the Cathedral for the official launch of the Community at the Crossing, bringing together new faith leaders and seekers in transformative communal life. Tonight's gathering will include special video messages from The Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, and His Holiness, Pope Francis. This special service will be an ecumenical gathering in celebration of the installation of Chemin Neuf.

Coming Together in New York to Spur Christian Unity
Catholic New York, September 21, 2022

Pope sends message for launch of ecumenical community in New York
Vatican News, September 9, 2022

New NYC Catholic-Anglican community hopes to draw youth back to religion
National Catholic Reporter, September 9, 2022


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