The Rector's Message for the Week of August 23, 2020

Rector Turner
The Reverend Canon Carl Turner

Dear Friends,

It’s been quite a week! The search process for a new Head of School has a great deal of momentum and the search committee is working very well together, ably assisted by our consultant from Carney Sandoe & Associates. I was delighted to talk to several alumni this week and hear firsthand how the school changed their lives and how important it still is to them.

At the same time, we have begun meeting candidates for the new post of Chief Advancement Officer. This also fills us with confidence as we look to the future, albeit through the lens of COVID-19.

The Rector and Mother Turner on their wedding day, August 18, 1990

In the middle of all of that activity, Alison and I quietly celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. We should have been on vacation, but like so many others, found ourselves celebrating from home.Alison bought me a book that she knew would make me smile; ‘Saints & Holy Places of Yorkshire – a Pilgrim’s Guide to God’s Own County’ (my home county in England, where Father John Andrew grew up). Yorkshire does lay claim to some remarkable historical moments and famous saints – Constantine was proclaimed Emperor there, the Synod of Whitby was presided over by St. Hilda, the Venerable Bede wrote his ‘Ecclesiastical History’, some of the largest abbeys and Churches in England are to be found there, including York Minster (the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe), and William Wilberforce led the campaign for the abolition of slavery.

As I thumbed through the pages of the book, I remembered nostalgically my first visits to some of those great churches and ruined abbeys. When I was an undergraduate in Durham, my college had an annual pilgrimage to one of the ruined abbeys or monasteries of Yorkshire or Northumberland. We would pack into the bus everything we needed for a High Mass – vestments, candles, incense, even the choir! It was very special celebrating the Eucharist in the ruin of a place that once was filled with sacred song.

The sacredness of place has become even more precious during the pandemic. The lockdown has prevented so many of us from traveling, and so many of us from visiting those places that are steeped in prayer and history.

I received my copy of ‘The Walsingham Review’ today, and I read about how silent the shrine has been during months when the village is generally teeming with pilgrims and tourists. Father Kevin Smith, the Priest Administrator, writes movingly about the importance of sacred spaces, and how important such spaces are in a world that seems to become ever more ‘virtual.’ He writes,

“Shrines and places of holiness powerfully remind us of the purpose of life and the destination of our earthly pilgrimage. Our churches remind us and our communities of the presence of God who dwells among us, and who has let his glory be seen in the face of Jesus Christ, born of Mary.

The Latin motto of the Shrine is “Domus Dei, Porta Coeli” which translated means House of God, Gate of Heaven. It is a motto that expresses in very few words how places like Walsingham touch the hearts of so many. They are words which also apply to our own more local places of pilgrimage, not least our parish churches, houses of God set apart in our communities for his glory and praise that have the power to inspire us to serve him more faithfully in our daily lives.”

Those words remind me of the words at the heart of our mission statement that have remained a constant over the period of the pandemic, and continue to be at the heart of our life going forward: “to worship, love, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Alison and I may not have been able to celebrate our anniversary in the way we had anticipated, but I thank God that we were able to find his presence in the stillness and sacredness of our beloved Saint Thomas Church, where we quietly renewed our vows with Bishop Andrew St. John before the High Altar last Tuesday. We are truly blessed to have our own ‘House of God and Gate of Heaven’ on Fifth Avenue.

Affectionately,

Carl

Your Priest and Pastor