Article by: Bart Jones, Newsday
“The worshippers sit in a circle facing each other instead of in rows of pews looking at the priest. There’s a 10-minute silent pause for contemplation. And when the service is over — on Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning — they share dinner together.
St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Carle Place closed two years ago amid declining attendance and what the bishop called a model stuck in the 1950s. He promised to reopen it ‘like a church in the 21st century.’
Now, says Bishop Lawrence Provenzano, that has happened. Two priests who spent 18 years leading the Episcopal cathedral in Los Angeles have moved east and brought some innovative ideas with them that might serve as models for other parishes.”