Dear Friends of B.J.,
We know your lives have been seriously disrupted this year by the Covid-19 pandemic. The changes it brought about have heightened the need for the care and counseling provided by B.J. Weber and the New York Fellowship. I am pleased to say that the Webers have remained in New York through the crisis. We are grateful that B.J. and Sheila have remained healthy through the year and have been in a position to serve these sudden needs.
As you know, New York City was hit hard by Covid-19 early this year. By April, hospitals were overloaded with critically ill patients, while medical staff were still discovering how to treat the disease. An emergency patient care center was built in tents in Central Park. Many businesses closed, while workers everywhere lost their jobs and needed assistance. To B.J., the situation resembled the early days of his New York street ministry in 1979. Many more homeless and displaced people are on the streets, and B.J. hands out coupons so they can pick up a deli sandwich prepaid by the New York Fellowship.
We are fortunate that B.J.’s style of personal spiritual care continues unabated. B.J. offers interventions to address addictions, illness, marriage and family crises, meeting with those in need by telephone, Facetime, or Zoom. Of course, joyous occasions continue as well. The Webers hosted a five-person wedding on their back porch with B.J. as officiant, and B.J. recently led a retreat in a private home for a small group of young men. The Webers used the summertime for small outdoor gatherings, and B.J. still meets with individuals for counseling in socially-distanced environments. As many of us know from experience, B.J. is at his best one on one -- the caring listener with whom we share our most private thoughts and fears. As B.J. likes to say, he works “retail, not wholesale.”
The communities of New York City now more than ever need the spiritual nurture the New York Fellowship provides. To do this, we depend on faithful friends like you to support us, and to introduce new supporters as well.
Finally, we are pleased to announce that the New York Fellowship has launched a new website. It has an updated appearance, B.J.’s monthly devotional letters, video testimonies, and an online payment engine for supporters to become regular monthly donors. Please visit www.NewYorkFellowship.org and see our new look! We would deeply appreciate your becoming a regular monthly contributor, no matter how modest the amount--it truly makes a difference. Just click How to Give > Donate > Make it Monthly and enter a payment card. For larger annual gifts, please mail checks to the New York Fellowship at 232 East 32nd St, NYC, NY 10016, as this will save the PayPal fee.
You may have had your own profound season of life in NYC, or you may have had direct benefit from B.J. or Sheila’s involvement with your faith or family. We are grateful for your being part of the team that sustains them through these newest challenges in their 41st year of ministry.
Gratefully in Christ,
Robert A. Case,
Chairman of the board, New York Fellowship
P.S. If you haven’t already done so, I encourage you to get the Webers’ recent book FELLOWSHIP: Stories of Transformation on Amazon. It will inspire you!