St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

Dear Gawain:

I am so glad I made it back to White Plains and be at St. Bart’s for Easter. Since I get news of the church weekly through email, I had of course taken note of the changes to the configuration of the altar and pews as well as the article in the Journal News back last fall. It looked lovely and tasteful and I was very curious to see it.

The New York Times

February 1, 2009
To Add Members, Church Subtracts Pews
By NICOLE NEROULIAS

WHITE PLAINS

WHEN the Rev. Gawain F. de Leeuw stands before his flock at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church here on Sunday mornings, he sees the pews as a quarter full, not three-quarters empty.

Five months after removing more than a dozen of the long, red oak pews — more than a third of those in the church — to bring the shrinking congregation closer together physically and spiritually, he is open to any other cost-effective ideas to make St. Bart’s a more welcoming place.