The Metro New York Adventist Forum is a community worshiping together each Saturday in St Mary's Church (521 W 126th Street) Manhattan (New York City). While many members are Seventh-day Adventists (SDA), everyone is welcome anyone to join their worship services.
Their services include music, liturgy, prayer and either a speaker or a discussion. The Forum is a chapter of the Adventist Forums(website)[1], but unlike most chapters, their meetings are worship services and meet at the traditional worship time of SDA churches. They have not sought recognition as an official church by the local SDA conference, but do serve as a worship home for many area students and others who find our format filling a gap not satisfied by other area churches.
The members hold views ranging from conservative to liberal and discussions encourage free explorations of varying viewpoints and avoid condemning any honestly held belief.
History
editThe Metro New York Adventist Forum was founded in 1969 by a group of Seventh-day Adventist students attending NYC universities to provide a worship environment oriented to their needs. After a brief period meeting in members apartments, the Forum began meeting on the Campus of Columbia University. For nearly thirty years it met in St Paul's Chapel on the Columbia University campus.
In the fall of 1994 the Forum celebrated its 25th anniversary. As part of the celebration, we invited early members to submit some of their recollections of the early years. These were read at the celebration service.
One of the recollections read was from John Kelly[2], one of the earliest members of the Forum. It gives a particularly vivid image of the Forum's early years.