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New Jerusalem Community 50th Anniversary Celebration


Celebrate in the Virtual Portiuncula

Sunday, November 7 from 4 - 6pm

Our New Jerusalem Community 50th Anniversary Zoom sessions were recorded so the living legacy and fruit of our 50+ years would be available to all. Catch Up in the Virtual Kitchen* happened on Saturday afternoon, Nov. 6, and featured scores of people responding to the question, “What was New Jerusalem’s impact on your life?” and Fr. John Quigley’s remarks.


Contemplate in the Upper Room* happened on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 7, and included an extended meditation and prayerful remembrance of members who have passed and joined our “great cloud of witnesses.”


Celebrate in the Portiuncula* included a retelling of the history of New Jerusalem Community; remarks by Fr. Richard, and tributes to Sr. Pat Brockman, Fr. John Quigley and Richard.(*Kitchen, Upper Room, and Portiuncula were special places where we gathered at 745 Derby Ave., Cincinnati, OH, to catch up over food, pray and celebrate.)


Click the image below to see a program (PDF) detailing the movements of the New Jerusalem Community 50th Anniversary celebration on November 6 and 7, 2021.

NJ 50th Flyer

Our “Celebrate in the Portiuncula” portion of the program is available here in its entirety, including Fr. Richard’s reflections on the phenomenon of New Jerusalem, along with tributes to Fr. Richard, Fr. John and Sr. Pat Brockman, OSU.

Download this navigation guide, or enjoy the entire “Celebrate in the Portiuncula” experience.⬇

Follow this link to read the many lovely comments that people made using the Zoom chat feature during Sunday's program.

We had fun reflecting on the history of New Jerusalem with the help of these Jeopardy game questions. This game, developed by Chris Auer and Sean Reynolds, includes a number of questions and answers we weren’t able to include in the virtual program.

The full fifty-year history of New Jerusalem Community is presented here in the words of Richard, Joe Metz, Chris Auer, Bill Lonneman and Valerie Chronis Bickett. The five time periods were represented by the stages of the development of a TREE – SEEDS, ROOTS, TRUNK, BRANCHES AND FRUIT.

New Jerusalem History Tree
Seeds

Download #1
Seeds: 1971-72

Roots

Download #2
Roots: 1972-1975

Trunk

Download #3
Trunk: 1976-1985

Branches

Download #4
Branches: 1986-2001

Fruit

Download #5
Fruit: 2001 on...


Offering of Trees

Through the generosity of scores of members, former members and friends of New Jerusalem Community, one thousand trees have been planted through the Arbor Day Foundation in commemoration of the New Jerusalem Community 50th Anniversary.

The trees were donated in the name of New Jerusalem Community and to honor both living and deceased community members.

Fr. Richard reflects here on the history of New Jerusalem Community and how a remarkable set of circumstances converged at that time to make it a possibility.

These remarkable tributes to Fr. John, Sr. Pat and Fr. Richard were composed by Diane Laake, Trudelle Thomas (read by Fran Niehaus), and Gina Robbins Keith. An additional tribute to Richard was composed by Carol Metz and is included here as well.

New Jerusalem Entry #2
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