New Church Day 2025

The New Church Day Picnic and Pageant is a private event for the New Church community to gather and celebrate the beginning of the New Church. It is described as the day in 1770 when the Lord sent His twelve apostles out "to the entire spiritual world to preach the gospel that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns and that His kingdom will last for ages of ages" (True Christianity 791).

We are moving the New Church Day Pageant indoors, due to severe weather alerts for this evening (during our dress rehearsal) and tomorrow evening (during the pageant).
We will still have the picnic outdoors (starting at 6 pm) for those who would like to brave the weather. It may all be fine. The pageant will still be at 7:30 pm, but it will be inside the nave.

General

- 6:00 - 7:30 pm - Picnic
- 7:30 - 8:00 pm - Pageant
- 8:00 - 8:15 pm - Gifts
- 8:15 - 10:15 pm - Lighting and Music

Dress Code

You do not need to dress up for this event. It will be quite hot and humid so please wear whatever is comfortable (though inside the cathedral is air conditioned). A number of people enjoy wearing New Church colors (red and white).

Security

We want to welcome people who are coming for this event; we want to preserve a worshipful sphere during the pageant; and we want to keep people safe. We will have security stationed around the property, but we also ask you not to leave your valuables (including children) unattended.

No Road Closure
With the pageant moving indoors, we have decided that it's not necessary to close the road. You may park in any of the lots around the Cathedral. 

 

Picnic

Bring a picnic and eat and socialize with other people on the west lawn of the Cathedral, overlooking the valley. Feel free to drive to the parking lot near the lawn to drop off your things. If you are able-bodied, please do not park in the closest lot.

Free ice cream (from Tanner Brothers Dairy) will be available to all attendees (1 per person). It will be served from about 6:30 pm in the cloister area. Please do not take it inside.

Please put all of your trash in the trash cans around the area.

Pageant

Doors will open to the nave and preludes will start at 7:15 pm. The service will start at 7:30 pm. 

The pageant is a series of scenes from the book of Revelation. Some of the scenes can be scary to children. It lasts about half an hour.

The Service Will Not Be Live-streamed

The pageant will not be live-streamed because we use copyrighted recorded music. However, you can come and watch the service on the TV in the Social Hall if you can't find a good seat in the nave.

Offertory
This is a worship service so there will be offertory bowls which will go toward supporting the pageant.

Join in the Singing

There are two hymns in the pageant and also two short excerpts from Handel's Messiah. You are invited to sing along with all of it. There are learning tracks for the Messiah excerpts here and there will be sheet music available during the service.

We also have new learning tracks for the two hymns in the pageant on the Bryn Athyn Church Music YouTube Channel:

- "The Lord God Jesus Christ Doth Reign!"

- "Jerusalem, the Golden!"

Gifts

There will be New Church Day gifts for the children in our congregation from infants through 8th grade to celebrate that “the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ages and ages.” These gifts have been specially selected and will hopefully fill a special use in connecting your family to the New Church.
Gifts for all ages will be available for pickup in the Social Hall after the pageant (around 8:00 pm).
These gifts are for the grade that your child just finished.

All children (including visitors from other New Church congregations) who are present at the pageant can collect a gift. They must come to receive the gift themselves (or with an adult if necessary).

Anyone picking up a gift for a child, who is not present, must wait until all the gifts have been handed out.
Children who are part of our congregation that were unable to come to the New Church Day celebration, can pick up their gift on June 22nd or 29th, after the Cathedral Family Service. Andrea Cranch or Brooke Brown will be there to give your child their gift.
NOTE: Cathedral staff members do not hand out the gifts. If you have questions about the gifts, please contact Brooke (336-509-4970) or Andrea (215-828-1462).

Lighting and Music (8:15 - 10:15 pm)

After the pageant is over, you are invited to enjoy strolling around the grounds of the Cathedral, while classical music plays. Ordinarily people are not allowed on the Cathedral property after sunset, but on the 19th (and for Landmarks in Lights on the 24th) the Cathedral is specially lit and you are invited to stay till 10:15 pm. Once the last piece of music ends, we ask that you promptly exit the property. If the weather is not cooperating, we may have to delay or cancel the music.