Rev. Drew Field
West Side Executive Pastor

Drew Field was a founding member of Redeemer, in 1989, and joined the pastoral staff in 1995. After five years, he and his family moved to California to plant a church in Silicon Valley, where he and his wife Donna raised four children: Timothy, Sarah, Elizabeth and James.

Drew returned to New York City earlier this month with Donna and their youngest child, James, after serving as executive pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia.

As Executive Pastor of the West Side congregation, Drew supports and guides the West Side staff to help all of the ministries thrive, including the new sites launched over the next decade. “You should see me on Sundays and also behind the scenes,” Drew says, “as an advisor, coach and champion for our great leaders."

Drew and Donna love to explore new places and are looking forward to showing James the highlights of the city, like the 79th St. Greenmarket, and discovering new favorites.

The West Side Café will resume again in the fall.

The West Side Café is an open space for seekers, skeptics and those considering Christianity to engage with and process the Christian faith. Each week will involve a short presentation and discussion addressing topics of interest and claims of the Christian faith. For more info, visit redeemer.com/wscafe.

In the poignant and haunting NY Times article “Lonesome Town” that’s as relevant today as it was when published in 1997, the writer describes New York City as

a city of self-involved, solitary souls, a place where career overshadows community, where next-door neighbors are complete strangers and where good will takes a back seat to instant gratification and self-preservation (and therefore) loneliness is ...the dark underbelly of New York's worship of status and achievement.

The combination of small apartments, long hours, frantic lives and idolatry (“worship of status and achievement”) contributes to shallow relationships and hollowed out lives. This is one reason that we launch 7-week small groups every fall, which we call Beta Groups. We are hoping to create 25 new groups this fall, led by about 50 lay leaders.

I write to ask you to consider hosting and leading a group, or to recommend someone to do the same. This fall, hundreds of people new to the city and to Redeemer will be looking for a place to build community and grow in their friendship with God and others. Beta Groups are the primary place we make space for these folks, so please pray about and consider being a part of this initiative!

To lead or host a Beta Group, or to recommend someone to lead, please fill out this form.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. —Hebrews 10:24-25

In Christ,

Have questions about Beta Groups? Stop by the Beta Group info table at Coffee Hour this Sunday, 7/31
We will be having an info kiosk after each service this Sunday to answer any questions you may have about Beta Groups. Meet some of the Community Group staff at Coffee Hour on the 5th floor to explore what it means to lead a Beta Group or be part of one. We hope to see you there! For more information about Beta Groups, visit redeemer.com/beta.

No Sunday elementary classes in August
Beginning on Sunday, August 7, there will be no Sunday elementary classes for children K-5th grade. Elementary classes will resume on Sunday, September 11. We encourage children to follow along during the service using our children's worship guide available at the entrance to the sanctuary.

Ride with #TeamHFNY!
Registration for Hope for New York's Charity Bike Ride on Sept. 24 has begun! All levels of riders are invited to ride and fundraise for the poor of NYC. Info session on August 9. Learn more at hfny.org/bikeride and check out photos from last year’s ride.

Safe Families for Children // Attend Training to Support Local Families in Crisis
Monday, July 25 from 7 to 9:30 p.m.
Volunteers will learn about ways to get involved in supporting families in need by hosting children, supporting hosts, coaching families, and more at this overview training from Safe Families. RSVP here.

Do For One // Attend Orientation on Supporting Adults with Disabilities
Monday, July 25 from 6:45 to 8:45 p.m.
Volunteers will learn about issues people with disabilities face, and how they can personally respond to these issues by getting involved. RSVP here.

W83 invites you to participate in an interactive art project 
Now through August 25
"Making Place" is an interactive art project exhibiting the collective memories and places of meaning in our Upper West Side neighborhood. We invite you to take pictures of places on the UWS special to you in themes of Change, Beauty, Joy, Love or Loss and label it with #MakingPlaceUWS on social media (Instagram, Twitter). Your images will be collectively displayed as part of this exhibition, which will run July 21 - August 25 in the W83 Gallery. Share as much or as little as you would like about the significance of the place. Please include the location's name and cross streets. For more details, please email W83.Gallery@redeemer.com. 

Divorce Care Groups
Men: Wednesday, September 14, 7 to 9 p.m. 
Women: Thursday, September 22, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Beginning in September, the Diaconate will open two Divorce Care groups, one for men and one for women. The groups are for individuals in any stage of divorce and seek to provide mutual support and a fresh start through Scripture, prayer and a divorce recovery workbook. More info here and contact Marie to register.

The summer is a great opportunity to reflect on how we may be called to rise and serve our church and neighborhoods in the coming months.

As we look to deepen our West Side community this fall through Beta Groups, Father, we pray:

• that our congregation would continue to grow in our passion for God and compassion for others.
• for new leaders and hosts to rise who have a desire to see our community strengthened and deepened.
• that those who are new to our community would experience the love of Christ through being known and cared for.