In this week’s news…
- The Rector’s Message
- Update on the Choir School
- This Week’s Services
- Adult Education
- Sunday’s Virtual Coffee Hour
- Children and Families’ Zoom Gatherings
- Evening Prayer and Meditation
- Drive to Digital
The Rector’s Message
Dear Friends,
Today’s news includes a wonderful report from the Interim Head of School, Ms. Amalia Francisco which you can read below.
For the past ten months we have been blessed with the presence of Sr. Marie Promise Atelon, SSM. Sr. Promise now the Reverend Sr. Promise, has become an important part of our family. Her gentle disposition, her depth of prayer-life, her sense of humor, and her soft-spoken Creole-French accent have brought us much joy. During her Wisdom Year, Sr. Promise has engaged in all aspects of our parish life and has given much to us. Having a professed religious walking alongside us these past months has taught us a great deal. She is the first ordained black woman to have ministered at the altar of Saint Thomas Church, and I know how much that has meant to many of you. Now, she is going to take a well-earned silent retreat and contemplate her future before she completes her studies at the seminary and prepares to be ordained as a priest. I truly hope that Sr. Promise will always see Saint Thomas as having a part in her life, and I hope it will not be long before she is back with us on a Sunday or during the week. In the meantime, please join me in giving thanks to God for Sr. Promise, whose faithfulness and humility have inspired us all.
Last Sunday we had an extra service of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, and your emails have shown that it was well-received. This Sunday, we shall enjoy a celebration of Choral Mattins. Once a mainstay of our Sunday morning choral worship 50 years ago, it is now rarely celebrated. The the parish became considerably more Eucharistically-centered under the rectorship of Father John Andrew (although the practice of daily Holy Communion was well established when he came). At my last post in the U.K., I enjoyed a Sung Eucharist and Mattins every Sunday morning, followed by Evensong. The Cathedral Choir or a visiting choir sang all three services all year round.
Since Mattins was sung at 11:15am (or 11:30am on a major feast day) and Evensong at 3pm, there was an amusing anomaly for the priest who was officiant. He or she would regularly sing “O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, who hast safely brought us to the beginning of this day” as the tower clock chimed noon, and less than four hours later sing, “Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night.” Many a visitor would raise an eyebrow and ask why our days were so short! With the loss of so many weekday and Sunday evensongs with our choir, we hope that this Sunday’s worship will give us comfort as we hear the beautiful cadences of Archbishop Cranmer’s prayers, and Miles Coverdale’s most exquisite translation of the psalms. I wonder if we should explore how to have Mattins more regularly going forward?
Finally, the protests for Black Lives Matter continue in Manhattan and now, around the world. I am writing this part of my letter on Friday, June 19, or ‘Juneteenth,’ and I have been listening to the news about this anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the United States. I have been fascinated by the debate in the U.K., including in Oxford University, concerning statues of British people who were once part of the slave-trade or whose colonial involvement led to the suppression of indigenous peoples. I do not think that we can or should re-write history, indeed, insuring that our children are taught history is crucial, but I do not think it is wrong to question the prominence of statues of famous people who supported oppression, violent acts, or prejudice. Protesters in Bristol pulled down a statue of a former slave-trader and threw it into the harbor (echoes of the Boston tea-party?). It has been fished out now but the city council have decided it should be returned to a museum. That, to me, seems like a good compromise.
In Hull, where I grew up, you can visit Wilberforce House, the home of William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was the principal voice for the abolition of the slave trade in Britain. With the support of Thomas Clarkson, Olaudah Equiano (a freed slave), and many others, saw the Act of Parliament passed in 1833. When I was a boy, the house was simply an historical relic – filled with Wilberforce’s furniture, and always ghostly quiet. Now, it is a museum on the history of the slave-trade with interactive exhibits and constantly filled with hordes of school children learning about their country’s past and the legacy of racism through British white supremacy and colonialism. Wilberforce was an evangelical Christian and, like John and Charles Wesley, put his faith into practice, even when that made him unpopular. You may be interested to know that we have a statue of Wilberforce on the tower of our Church, on the West 53rd Street side, where he stands next to Abraham Lincoln – two great emancipators looking down. Around the corner, we have two other images – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Mary McLeod Bethune. We learn much from our history but our history also informs our present.
A parishioner sent me these words from one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s speeches. They have been quoted in the news recently, and I have been reflecting on them this week.
“Certain conditions continue to exist in our society, which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.” (Other America speech, 1967, Stanford University)
Note: Pamela Lewis, our Head Lector and a member of the Vestry, has written an additional article for the Living Church which explores the meaning of history and our various monuments. You can find this article on its web-based publication Covenant if you click here.
Update on the Choir School
Dear members of the Choir School community,
As the world tackles the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Choir School has faced challenges alongside schools across the nation and the world. Like many others, as the crisis worsened in New York City, we made the decision to send the students home with their schoolwork and their school-issued laptops in order to keep the community as safe as possible: the boys began returning home on March 13th, and all boys had left the school by the end of the day on March 15th. None of us could have imagined then what the rest of the spring term would look like!
With the boys at home, the faculty spent several intensive days practicing our distance learning skills, learning to use Zoom and Microsoft Teams as our primary platforms, preparing a distance learning academic schedule, and working around the clock to adapt the curriculum to fit the “new normal.” We launched distance learning on March 18th, deciding on a fairly full daily schedule of synchronous, or simultaneous, online classes held over Zoom with all students engaged with their peers and their teachers. Despite the rigors of this scheduling model, both the boys and the teachers proved more than up to the challenge. The boys showed up to each and every Zoom session, worked hard both in class and out of class, and were able to meet or exceed the benchmarks for an essential set of skills in each grade level. While not the same as if we had ended school together, the teachers anticipate minimal disruption to the boys’ transition into their next grade level in the fall. Indeed, many teachers highlighted that they had learned new skills throughout our distance learning program and, although virtual reality is not an ideal teaching space, felt that they had grown as teachers by passing through this crucible.
A recent gift to our choristers.
Right away, we knew that it would be important to do whatever we could to maintain not only our strong academic program but also the boys’ intensive musical studies. The boys continued their instrumental, vocal, choral, and music theory studies beginning in the first full week of our distance learning program. Despite the limitations of Zoom, the faculty were creative and thoughtful in designing activities and work in which everyone could take part effectively. Just as they would have done on campus, all students continued to participate in “lunchtime recitals”: we hosted six over the course of the semester, virtually gathering a large group of the students, parents, and faculty together to listen to these communally-given concerts, with boys performing their solo vocal or instrumental pieces from their living rooms-sometimes with parent accompaniment. These recitals were such a hit that a number of boys asked to perform twice. When the ABRSM board of music examiners announced that they would not be holding examinations this spring, the music faculty sprang into action, devising a system of music juries held over Zoom by which the boys would be able to show off the musical skills and knowledge that they had been building all year. In choir, although singing together is nearly impossible due to the limitations of any online platform, Dr. Filsell met with the boys weekly and worked on building their individual choral skills as well as thinking about choral music as musicians and as composers: whenever we can next sing in church, he is looking forward to putting together a Coronavirus Mass with the best choir boy compositions!
Most importantly, as our world moved online, it was crucial to our school to work hard at maintaining the close-knit sense of community and brotherhood that the school fosters. This was our guiding principle from the beginning of our planning for distance learning, and our emphasis on building a sense of community allowed us to reach out in ways we had never thought to do before. Each grade level had two advisor periods built into their academic week; in addition to the group discussions and games that typically took place in those advisor meetings, we also held a number of all school gatherings and set up individual and group conferences for boys with our school counselor and housemothers in that time. The faculty also offered a wide range of extracurricular community-bonding activities throughout each week, including self-care bingo contests, online chess tournaments, Friday night Netflix parties, Sunday game nights, daily “read alouds” of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia series, athletic competitions, and even a coordinated care package. The parents took part in weekly Virtual Parent Teas, and a small group of faculty members who were still on campus gathered together-socially-distanced, of course-to eat one or two Chef Heidi-prepared meals each week, as well as participating in a few virtual happy hours! All of this time spent together even while we were apart allowed our community to come through this experience with a new appreciation for and understanding of each person who makes up the fabric of our collective lives.
These community activities culminated in a series of successful events closing out the 2019-2020 school year. Following the completion of our academic classes at the end of May, the school decided that, while we could not compensate for the hiking, boating, tennis, and swimming it typically provides, we would offer a virtual version of the boys’ yearly Camp Incarnation experience. The teachers designed a series of activities that the boys could do at home, including some Camp standbys-like Dr. Gilbert’s ever-popular paracord bracelet-making elective-and some new favorites, like building Rube Goldberg machines, doing a virtual Escape Room, and playing a musical Jeopardy game with our voice teacher. While Virtual Camp was optional, nearly every student chose to come to at least a few sessions-to rave reviews!
We also held online versions of our Camp Awards ceremony, at which every boy receives awards-some silly and some serious-and our official 8th Grade Graduation ceremony. Graduation took place on the morning of June 6th over Zoom, offering an opportunity to make use of the virtual space differently. In addition to the usual slate of group musical performances (this time achieved through a pre-recorded virtual choir performance by the graduates), speeches honoring each graduating boy, and “Ora Labora” renditions, the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 allowed the graduates themselves more of a platform to make the ceremony their own. Each boy chose to perform or present something, ranging from singing tear-jerking musical theater renditions to playing a movement of Beethoven on the piano to reciting a Latin poem to putting together a photo slideshow of memories from their time at the Choir School. With around 100 people on the Zoom call, including many far-flung family members of the graduates, we were thrilled to share this experience with so many of the people who are most important to each graduating student. While far from typical, I am certain that no one will ever forget part one of the graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020: we hope part two, taking place in person whenever it is safe to do so, will be just as memorable. The final event of the 2019-2020 school year, for all students and parents, was a lovely Goodbye Toast in which we could once again honor the graduating boys and our departing Latin teacher, Miss Ratze, as well as celebrate the remarkable achievements of our entire community throughout this difficult year.
Congratulations to the Class of 2020
While the school’s planning for Fall 2020 is ongoing, we are keeping the health and safety of our community at the center of all of our decisions. We hope to be back together in the fall as long as that is safe, and we will do everything in our power to make a return for all of our students, faculty, and staff possible.
As Interim Head of School, I feel incredible gratitude to all members of our community for their truly inspiring response to the global pandemic unfolding around us: to the teachers, for their unwavering dedication to the boys and their hard work creating a new school experience at the drop of a hat; to the parents, for their constant support of and partnership with the school in educating their children throughout quarantine; and, most, of all, to the students for their seemingly-bottomless reservoir of good humor and their mature model of resilience for us all in the face of unspeakably difficult circumstances. The unfailing network of love and sense of community that the Saint Thomas Choir School provides is second to none, and I have no doubt that our connections with each other have helped us all get through this challenging time in our school, our nation, and our world. The boys-their kindness, their talent, their tenacity, and their sense of justice-give me hope for a better future, which I know that they will all be ready and able to help build.
Sincerely,
Amy Francisco
Interim Head of School
This Week’s Services at St. Thomas Church
Sunday, June 21
Choral Mattins with Eucharist for the Third Sunday after Pentecost
Video Webcast available at 8am and then on demand.
Monday, June 22 – Saturday, June 27
Shrine Prayers (Intercessions) and Mass
Audio Livecast at Noon
Thursday, June 25
Evening Prayer and Meditation
Via Zoom at 6:30pm
Sunday, June 28
Solemn Eucharist for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Video Webcast available at 8am and then on demand.
Submit your Prayer Requests here.
Adult Education at Saint Thomas Church
Theology Class
Sunday, June 21, 10:00-11:00am
A study class on the English and Greek texts of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians.
RSVP here.
Friday Online Bible Study
Friday, June 26, 1:30-2:30pm
A study on the Gospel of John with Fr. Bennett.
For more information about these activities, all on the Zoom platform, please contact Fr. Cheng for the Theology Class, and Fr. Bennett for the Friday Bible Study.
Online Coffee Hour, June 21 at 12:30pm
This coming Sunday, we will continue hosting our Coffee Hour via Zoom. This meeting will start after the webcast of the service on Sunday, June 21 at 12:30pm and will last no longer than an hour.
It will start with checking in and conversation. We will include a time for Breakout Rooms, which will allow for smaller groups to talk together. The hour will be moderated by Fr. Moretz., who you can also contact for login information.
Please click here to learn more about Zoom, an extraordinary tool for communication and community.
Children and Families’ “Sunday Zoom!” Gathering
Our Young Teens group FAITH ALIVE meets on a weekly basis and will meet again on Sunday, June 21, at 9:30am.
Our Nursery and Sunday School families meet for their regular weekly Sunday Zoom! this Sunday, June 21, at 10:15am.
If you know a child or family that would like to participate, in any of these gatherings, please email Mother Turner for the required invitation codes.
As we discover new ways of being a church community during in this new chapter of our lives, we are circulating an additional weekly newsletter for families Be Faithful, Be Creative and Be Connected.
If you know a family who wishes to be added to the distribution list for children and families, please also contact Mother Turner.
Evening Prayer and Meditation
Saint Thomas Church continues to host on Zoom a regular 6:30pm Thursday service of Evening Prayer and Meditation that you can join online, led by Father Adam Spencer, Associate for Pastoral Care, and Sister Promise Atelon, Deacon and Seminarian.
Please join us for these times of peace and prayer together.
For log-in access to these worship services, please contact Fr. Spencer.
Concerts at Saint Thomas
We are doing something new.
This fall, Concerts at Saint Thomas will premiere digital presentations through our online platforms. This effort is being supported by our fundraising initiative “Drive to Digital”- a direct appeal outside of all other funding efforts for the capacity to ‘broadcast’ our concerts online. Please join us in funding this brand new endeavor as we relay to you, our loyal audience, a series you have come to know and love.
To find out more, follow this link.
