2013-2014 City
Rhythms Recap

This year, the Center for Faith & Work launched City Rhythms, a series focused on exploring a wide spectrum of the key industries and sectors contributing to the overall flourishing of New York City. The specific goals of the series are:

 

1. to explore how each particular vocation is important to & contributes to the overall flourishing of our city,

2. to invite a deeper awareness and appreciation for fields outside our own,

3. to demonstrate the interconnectedness of all fields in regards to seeking renewal in our city, and

4. to provide the necessary space and structure for attendees to process his/her own work in light of how God is sovereignly at work in our city.

The series began in September, highlighting the fields of Fashion & Finance.  James Herring, managing director at a NYC financial institution, and Fiona Dieffenbacher, director of the BFA Fashion Design program at Parsons The New School for Design, shared their questions of calling and identity that can be particularly challenging in these fields. Additional events for the month included tours of Manhattan’s financial and fashion districts.

October brought a focus on Art & Architecture with Mason Jar Music’s Jon Seale presenting his unique approach to collaboration and the communication of beauty, and Acoustic Associate Joe Solway of Arup who provided a fascinating behind-the-scenes peek into the long-awaited Second Avenue subway project.

Our winter events included evenings focused on the Food and Marketing/Advertising industries respectively, and we were pleased to begin working with our “resident chef,” Katy McNulty, an entrepreneur and founder of The Pixie and the Scout, a custom caterer committed to “cooking and eating toward the future of food.”

In January, we introduced monthly theological reflections for each industry given by CFW Executive Director David H. Kim. These talks are available on the faithandwork.org website and have provided a theological perspective related to the respective areas of work explored.

The series resumed in the spring with March’s focus on Theater. This event featured a performance by Tony Award Nominee Elizabeth A. Davis and an illuminating panel of theater producers, marketers and experts in the field. April featured the Film industry through a conversation with Rachel Chanoff, curator for various film festivals in our city.  We were also excited to premier CFW’s Artist-in-Residence Ben Stamper’s newly commissioned work Presence: 5 Haikus for 5 Boros, and a theological response to the film by Baylor professor, Joe Kickasola. The series concluded in May with a celebratory focus on urban planning via the work of City Planner Jonathan Keller.

Overall, the series engaged over 700 participants and highlighted 10 distinctive industries in the City.  We hope that through the exploration of all these important sectors, God’s love for this city becomes even more evident, as he calls us to re-imagine our own work in light of his larger redemptive purposes.