The New Church Day Picnic and Pageant is a private event for the New Church community to gather and celebrate the beginning of the New Church. It is described as the day in 1770 when the Lord sent His twelve apostles out “to the entire spiritual world to preach the gospel that the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns and that His kingdom will last for ages of ages” (True Christianity 791).

If you have never attended the picnic and pageant before but you’ve come to our other church services or you are connected with BACS or ANC, we hope that you’ll give it a try this year. It’s a great way to get together as a community at the beginning of the summer to celebrate the beginning of the New Church.

General

Schedule (Details Below)

– 6:00 – 7:30 pm – Picnic
– 7:30 – 8:00 pm – Pageant
– 8:00 – 8:15 pm – Gifts for Children
– 8:15 – 10:15 pm – Lighting and Music

Dress Code

You do not need to dress up for this event. It will like be quite hot and humid so please wear whatever is comfortable. Some people enjoy wearing New Church colors (red and white).

Security

We want to welcome people who are coming for this event; we want to preserve a worshipful sphere during the pageant; and we want to keep people safe. We will have security stationed around the property, but we also ask you not to leave your valuables (including children) unattended.

Road Closure

For the safety of walkers and to maintain a reverent sphere during the pageant, the Bryn Athyn Police will be closing a section of Cathedral Road from 7:00 to 8:30 pm. As you turn onto Cathedral Road, you may enter the large lot on the right to go around the closure. All parking lots will be accessible. The Cathedral’s main parking lot is still accessible for parking and drop-offs.

What if it rains?

Plans for inclement weather will be announced the day before based on the forecast. For updates, visit the New Church Day 2026 webpage.

Picnic (6:00 – 7:30 pm)

Bring a picnic and eat and socialize with other people on the west lawn of the Cathedral, overlooking the valley. Feel free to drive to the parking lot near the lawn to drop off your things. If you are able-bodied, please do not park in the closest lot.

Free ice cream will be available to all attendees (1 per person). It will be served from about 6:30 pm in the cloister area.

Please put all of your trash in the trash cans around the area.

Pageant (7:30 – 8:00 pm)

A little before 7:30 a trumpet sound will signal that it is time to move around the Cathedral to the East lawn for the pageant. If you’d like to sit to watch the pageant, please bring a blanket or chair.

The pageant is a series of scenes from the book of Revelation. Some of the scenes can be scary to children. It lasts about half an hour.

Join in the Singing

There are two hymns in the pageant and also two short excerpts from Handel’s Messiah. You are invited to sing along with all of it. We have learning tracks for the two hymns in the pageant on the Bryn Athyn Church Music YouTube Channel:
– “The Lord God Jesus Christ Doth Reign!”
– “Jerusalem, the Golden!”

Offertory

This is a worship service so there will be an offertory bowl which will go toward supporting the pageant.

The Pageant Will Not Be Live-streamed

The pageant will not be live-streamed because we use copyrighted recorded music.

Gifts for Children (6:45-7:15 pm: Infants to Pre-K; 8:00 pm: Kindergarten to 8th Grade)

There will be New Church Day gifts for the children in our congregation from infants through 8th grade to celebrate that “the Lord God Jesus Christ reigns, whose kingdom shall be for ages and ages.” These gifts have been specially selected and will hopefully fill a special use in connecting your family to the New Church.

Gifts for infants through preschool are available for pickup in the Social Hall prior to the pageant from 6:45 to 7:15 pm.

Gifts for Kindergarten through 8th grade will be presented immediately following the pageant on the East lawn.

Here are a couple of rules for how the gifts are given out:

1. These gifts are for the grade that your child just finished.
2. All children (including visitors from other New Church congregations) who are present at the pageant can collect a gift. They must come up to receive the gift themselves (or with an adult if necessary).
3. Anyone picking up a gift for a child, who is not present, must wait until all the gifts have been handed out.
4. Children who are part of our congregation that were unable to come to the New Church Day celebration, can pick up their gift on June 21 or June 28 after the Cathedral Family Service. Brooke Brown will be there to give your child their gift.

In case of rain, visit this page or the Friends of Bryn Athyn Church Facebook page (request to join required) for an updated distribution plan.

NOTE: Cathedral staff members do not hand out the gifts. If you have questions about the gifts, please contact Brooke (336-509-4970) or Andrea (215-828-1462).

Lighting and Music (8:15 – 10:15 pm)

After the pageant is over, you are invited to enjoy strolling around the grounds of the Cathedral, while classical music plays. Ordinarily people are not allowed on the Cathedral property after sunset, but on the 19th (and for Landmarks in Lights on the 23rd) the Cathedral is specially lit and you are invited to stay till 10:15 pm. Once the last piece of music ends, we ask that you promptly exit the property. If the weather is not cooperating, we may have to delay or cancel the music.