Mission to Metropolis

Religion | Eric Metaxas and other New York Christians speak the language of the city to reach a lost tribe: America’s cultural elites | Marvin Olasky

Eric Metaxas (James Allen Walker for WORLD)

NEW YORK CITY—Ameeting begins at the Union Club in Manhattan, one of those elegant places with a rotunda, columns, three-tiered crystal chandeliers, marble floors, oil paintings in gilt frames of distinguished-looking gentlemen, and gold and blue swag drapes. Two hundred guests sit on upholstered empire chairs as host Eric Metaxas admonishes them: "This is a traditional club with traditional rules. Also, I might add, no spitting."

One month later the meeting is at the University Club, another uptown institution with chandeliers and oil paintings. Some journalists stereotype evangelicals as hicks who spit, people who do not belong in elegant settings—but 240 evangelicals and friends of evangelicals, most in dark suits or serious evening wear, are here to hear Francis Collins, the physician-geneticist known for leading the Human Genome Project, talk about his life and his faith.