Program / Mission
(Please check the calendar for times.)

At The Church of the Village, we envision our community being followers of Christ through a variety of dynamic worship experiences, educational and missional opportunities, small groups, special events, and social gatherings. Through our programs, we strive to realize this vision for our new church: to be a tirelessly caring community, rallying around victims of injustice and oppression in our community and throughout the world; to educate ourselves and others on current social justice issues and actions we believe must be taken to protect the dignity of all people; to continually explore and celebrate the wide range of cultures, traditions, and languages that are part of The Village, and to invite people of all backgrounds to be a part of our community of faith and mission.

While we are constantly seeking and exploring new ideas for program and mission opportunities, some of our established programs are listed here.

Bible Study & Faith Sharing
The purpose of our Bible Study and Faith Sharing gatherings is to engage people in a process of spiritual and radical discipleship formation through a relational and dialogical study, which includes reading, reflection and discussion of the Bible and other sources related to being progressive disciples of Christ.

We currently offer a Wednesday evening study in English at the West location and in Spanish at the East location.

Children’s Ministry
In our Children’s Ministry, we seek to provide children of our church and community with a nurturing, safe and learning environment to explore their faith, encourage their growth as whole people of God and experience the love of God in community. A children’s moment followed by Sunday School is included in Sunday morning worship every week, and special events for children are occasionally held in conjunction with the Sunday afternoon service. Additionally, children serve as acolytes during worship, and have worked on short-term activities such as fundraisers for mission projects.

Hope for our Neighbors in Need
Hope for our Neighbors in Need is a feeding, information, referral and empowerment ministry of The Village Church, through which we identify and respond in a qualitative manner to the critical needs of our neighbors in both the East and West Village of Lower Manhattan.

Presently, the core of this ministry is our feeding program. We now serve lunches to our neighbors 3 days a week: in Tompkins Square Park on Saturdays, and at the West Village building on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Other ways we have assisted our neighbors in the past have included a creative writing group, voter registration assistance, and periodic listings of other services available throughout the city.

Kairos Café
Kairos Café is a monthly open mic gathering of poets, musicians, and performing artists who seek to share and inspire visions of peace, love, and social justice. Our vision is to create a space for the creative exchange of ideas, and reach out to those who do not feel comfortable in organized religion, yet at the same time have a love of God. Featured performers have come from within The Church of the Village congregation as well as from the surrounding Village and New York City community.

Kairos Café meets on the second Sunday of every month, 4 pm at the West Village building.

Praise Dance & Joyful Noise Tap-dance Choir
Dancing before the Lord is part of our ministry! We include dance during our worship service on special occasions during the church year. The Joyful Noise Tap-Dance Choir and the Praise Dance Choir add exuberant and meaningful expression to our services; children and adults invited to participate, dance training not necessary.

Youth Drummers Choir
This special program is geared towards the Church’s youth. The choir meets every Sunday at 12 noon at the East Village site. If anyone is interested in joining the group, please contact Milagros Ricourt at her email address: ricourt@lehman.cuny.edu