Dear Friends,
I want to begin by paying tribute to the hard work of Father Moretz and the staff who have been preparing for the re-opening of the Church and the Parish Offices. The protocols in place follow current CDC guidelines for communities of faith and the mandated requirements of the State of New York. They have been reviewed by our neighbors at Trinity Wall Street and we are confident that they meet current standards of best practice.
It was a delight to celebrate mass with parishioners in the Chantry Chapel for the first time in four months last week. The wearing of masks is irksome, but necessary at the moment; as is taking name and phone numbers for those attending our worship. At this time, we want to look after one another. You will notice that, from this Sunday, the ministers are also wearing masks when they cannot maintain social distancing; this is following the latest guidelines from the CDC, the State of New York, and the Bishop of New York’s Office.
We are also pleased that people are returning to the church to pray during the week and lighting candles. In that instance, we are not taking contact details since they do not interact with others in the building. We continue to receive many prayer requests for daily prayers at 12 PM; please do send them in via the website.
A word about lighting candles. We are using the same very safe system that is used by St. Patrick’s Cathedral, so I checked with them how they are dealing with candle lighting when the sharing of lighters and tapers is discouraged. For the time being, there will be a hand sanitizer unit next to each candle stand. The stands will no longer be prepared with candles in the glass containers; instead, the person praying uses the hand sanitizer, takes a candle from the box, lights it from one already lit, and places it in the glass. The stands are regularly sanitized with a disinfectant spray by the sextons. If you would like a candle lit for a prayer intention, please email [email protected] and we will light candles for you in your absence.
The Search for a new Head of School is going very well and we have a strong and growing field of candidates complied with the help of our consultants, Carney Sandoe & Associates. We are also continuing the search for a Chief Advancement Officer so that our Office of Institutional Advancement can serve Parish, Friends of Music, Choir School, and the Alumni Association. Amy Cheresnowski has returned from Parenting Leave, following the birth of her second child, and is taking on a new role as Data Manager and Parish House Administrator. Lizette Hernandez will, therefore, continue to be my Assistant. After the Pandemic is over, we will have a lot of Strategic Plan work to continue and to develop further. To that end, we are going to be sending you some reflections on the Strategic Plan and the impact of COVID-19.
I am also delighted to share with you the news of the appointment of an Interim Director of Communications who will be working with our staff and volunteers. Improving communications is one of the key action points of our Strategic Plan, as found from our survey, focus groups, interviews, and parish meetings held last year. Blake Martin has been working closely with Avery Griffin in producing our webcast services over the past few months and will be based in the Office of Institutional Advancement, working closely with Adam MacDonald. Blake is already working with the Music Department, Concerts, the Vergers, and the Choir School. With so much being done digitally at the moment, we have an opportunity to consolidate our on-line presence and leverage social media so that the mission of the Church and its Choir School flourishes. Blake studied English at the University of Pennsylvania as his first degree, followed by an MFA at Columbia University in Film. He has worked for various media companies, including Google and Condé Nast.
His love of ‘telling the story’ has led him to produce and direct some extraordinarily beautiful short films. With a portfolio of clients as diverse as a children’s hospital and a dance company, Blake is eager to tell the story of Saint Thomas Church and its Choir School. He is inspired by the mission and tradition of Saint Thomas Church and we are all happy to have him as a colleague over this coming year. Over the next few weeks he will be helping promote the Digital Concert Series as well as overseeing a project to install a state-of-the-art camera system in the Church so that we can have live webcast services, concerts, and educational events. That project is being funded by the Merow Foundation in memory of John and Mary Alyce Merow. A subcommittee of the Building Committee will oversee this important piece of work to ensure that it meets the same high standards as our sound system and current audio-webcasting capability. A specialist consultant who works with Lincoln Center is advising us so that the system is also discreet, and has little impact on our beautiful building.
For those who practice making their confession or seeing a spiritual director regularly, the past four months have been very difficult. On the first three Saturdays in August, clergy will be available for spiritual advice, hearing confessions, healing prayer, and anointing of the sick from 10 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. If you wish to avail yourself of this opportunity, you will need to wear a mask; chairs will be placed at an appropriate distance. A reminder: now that the church is open Monday – Saturday from 10 AM to 2 PM – you can also make an appointment to see one of the clergy in the Resurrection Chapel.
Finally, congratulations to Bishop Andrew St. John who celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination and consecration as a Bishop last Wednesday, St. Mary Magdalene’s Day. Bishop Andrew was ordained in Australia by the Archbishop of Melbourne and by 18 other Bishops. Bishop Andrew celebrated a special mass with a limited number of people at the Church of the Transfiguration which was live-streamed to Australia. We wish him well and give thanks for his continued ministry among us.
Affectionately,
Your Priest and Pastor
