Amy Butler

[Chris]

Amy Butler is the presumed new senior pastor of historic Riverside Church in New York City.
http://calvarydc.org/a-special-time-of-prayer/

Isn't Amy still one of this board's members?

[Ed Pettibone]

Ed: Amy is quite comfortable with historic Churches, Her current church in D.C, was where the ABC-USA was originally formed in 1907 under the banner of The Northern Baptist Convention

You can find a picture of Calvary B.C., with a sign on the church building confirming this, in the Postcards Section of this site. Part of the 2007 combined CBF/ABC-USA meeting was held in that building

[Sandy]

I would guess that pastoring a historic church, especially depending on where it is, would be a difficult task that would require someone with a lot of patience. Whenever the opportunity presents itself, I'll visit a historic church for the experience of worship in their building, and because, as a historian (with degree), there's always something to learn. I've been to services in some grand space, including Riverside Church and Calvary Baptist.

I think sometimes it is hard for churches who have ministry and evangelism as part of their DNA to recognize their role in "preservation", especially when attempting to maintain a large, aging church facility is a much more expensive option for a congregation that is smaller and completely different from the one that built the original building. Calvary has done an excellent job preserving the historic character of their building while at the same time developing space the congregation doesn't use for other uses by the community, and probably has more people coming and going from there every day than it did even in its membership heyday. All I saw at Riverside was the sanctuary, lots of empty seats, but you wouldn't want to change the worship area. I'm guessing the rest of the building is used by the seminary, perhaps always has been.

I know Riverside is also UCC affiliated, but they call pastors the same way Baptists do, and it took them a long time. Maybe its because it is an intimidating pulpit, with two seminaries virtually on the property, but I wonder if men have less of an attraction to historic churches because the prospect for growth is not great. Calvary was pastorless for quite a while before they called Amy Butler. Could be an ego thing?

[Dave Roberts]

I have met Amy and heard her speak on a couple of occasions. She is quite competent, even in figuring how to preserve (and rescue) aging structures. I wish and pray for her nothing but the best at Riverside.

[Tim Bonney]

I know of Rev. Butler by reputation. She looks like a good choice for this unique pastorate.

[Haruo]

Riverside is the church the Rockefellers built for Harry Emerson Fosdick, I think. So yes, it's historically significant. I'm pretty sure it was the church my "Uncle" Fritz and Flo Fisher were members of. (Fritz Fisher was a seminary buddy of my dad's. He was rendered paraplegic or quadriplegic or something in a swimming accident—I think somebody dove, or as much of the country says "dived", into his neck while he was swimming in a pool—and he worked in NYC for the MMBB. We visited them a couple of times when I was a kid, but I don't remember if we ever entered their church building.

[Haruo]

I don't think she's a member of BaptistLife.com, at least not currently. She is ALin's hero, but they're not the same person. Fwiw.

[Chris]

[Haruo]

I am not sure about "nose-dove", Chris, but where I come from it was no more "correct" to say "I dived into the water" than it was to say "I drived down the wrong side of the street". It's like British spelling eccentricities: "kerb" is no more nor less "correct" than "curb", but in the US, at least by Americans who are decent spellers, it will get you looked at funny.

And if your argument for "short-LYVED" were watertight, you'd say "I LYVED in Virginia much of my life." And how do you say "livery"? These are matters of custom, not "rightness vs. wrongness", and customs vary from place to place and time to time. In Seattle in the early 1960s one dove. (Btw, how do you feel about "strove mightily" vs. "strived mightily"; again, both are "correct", but my impression is the -ove variant is doing better where striving is concerned than with diving, though of course as noted above not nearly as well as with driving, where I'm pretty sure -ove is the "standard", "correct" version everywhere. (Everywhere English is spoke, that is. )

[Sandy]