Dear Friends,
I look forward to catching up with many of you on Sunday. I have been easing myself back into the office and church over the past few days and have been delighted to see how much progress has been made on the Bicentennial Celebrations. I find that I get tired easily, and my voice in particular is not as strong as it was, but I am improving day by day. I have had some coaching to help me with my singing from our wonderful voice teacher, Giuseppe Spoletini, who has really encouraged me. Thank you, again, for all your good wishes and prayers for my full recovery; it has meant a great deal to me – more than you could possibly realize. I really feel that we are continuing to build a beautiful and beloved community here in this place. Next week, we shall celebrate the vision of that first, fledgling community, that met in a simple room on Broome Street and Broadway 200 years ago and who laid a foundation for us.
It is important to remember that the first gathering happened in ‘a room.’ No great edifice or church or shrine, but a simple room. In many respects, it is something to marvel at and not lose sight of, for the first followers of Jesus, for over 300 years, did exactly that – they gathered in rooms and homes, and even in the catacombs and cemeteries to worship and to pray. In so doing, they made those simple rooms sacred space by their very presence. And like the early Christians, our forebears at Saint Thomas started with humble beginnings treasuring the gospel and the sacraments that drew them together in a common life. Their faithfulness is what we celebrate as much as what we have achieved over 200 years. Long may that faithfulness continue.
I love the fact that the I asked Fr. Schultz to compose a special prayer for the Bicentennial. Here it is in traditional language. We will work up a contemporary language version next week.
In addition to our celebrations on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, I am heartened by the large number of you who have registered for our brunch reception on the Sunday. I want to encourage as many of you as possible to attend both choral services on Sunday, October 15. At 10am, we welcome back the Rector Emeritus as our preacher, and at 3pm the Sub Dean of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal will preach. The Noble Singers – our children’s outreach choir at the 9am service under the direction of Rebecca Kellerman-Filsell – will also sing an anthem at the 10 am mass. In-between the services, we have a tasty brunch prepared, and then here will be an organ recital before evensong on the Loening-Hancock Gallery Organ, which will be manually pumped for the occasion. If you have never heard that organ played in this way, you are in for a treat, for it is almost as if it becomes a living creature – breathing! It will be a fitting end to a wonderful extended weekend.
See you on Sunday!
Affectionately,
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
Dear Friends,
I am currently writing from Florida where the Choir of Men and Boys have spent the first part of their Southern Tour culminating in a beautiful concert at St. Boniface Church, Sarasota, under the Direction of Dr. Filsell and accompanied by Mr. Haigh, on Wednesday night.
I am always moved when I hear the choristers sing together in a new setting; I also love the opportunity to witness first-hand how our choir’s distinctive gift of music to the world is received both by those who hear the choir for the first time, alongside others who have been devotees of the choir for many years. Even when they are not singing, be it playing on the quartz sand of Siesta Key, or enjoying neighborhood restaurants and museums, locals have regularly been taking an interest in the visit of these ‘boys that love to sing’, and are cheered by their presence and communal purpose, rooted in faith and music.
Our next stage of the tour will take us to Nashville, Tennessee and finally Atlanta, Georgia.
If you live near Atlanta, we hope that some of you will be able to join us at the concert Sunday night, before our return to school and the forthcoming Bicentennial Celebrations in New York.
Mother Alison Turner
Associate for Children and Family Ministry and Choir School Chaplain
