Dear Friends,
The procession at Thursday’s Bicentennial Mass was so long that the front of it almost met the back of it! It is some time since we have had eight bishops in a procession! The choir and orchestra sounded glorious; Bishop Mary gave a stirring and thoughtful sermon; the flower arrangements were elegant; and the reception afterwards a truly joyous occasion for our parish family. Bishop Dietsche said some encouraging words as he gave a toast honoring our parish – its past, its present, and its future.
The Exhibition Art in the Service of Faith has been so professionally curated. The exhibition will be open until the end of next year; please take a moment to visit it.
We have been receiving lots of messages of good will from so many people who live far and near. There were people who had travelled from all over the United States to be with us on Thursday evening; Bishop Michael Marshall traveled 3500 miles to be with us! It is clear that our online community do feel that they belong to our parish family. Most Sundays, I meet someone who says that they are part of the on-line congregation. I note that they never say livestream viewer or listener, but congregation. Saint Thomas touches the hearts of so many people. This was one message I received this morning:
Blessings & best wishes to Father Turner & all at St Thomas’s Church for your Bicentennial.
Thank you for your inspirational worship, I watch every week from Sydney Australia.
The worship & example of St Thomas’s Church extends even to the ends of the Earth.
Thank you & may God bless your work
Together with messages of congratulations, we are also receiving gifts. Robert Del Gatto has given the Church a beautiful drawing by artist Jules Andre Smith of the construction of the Fourth Church that shows the temporary structure within. We are grateful for this beautiful archival gift and we have hung it on the Fifth Floor corridor.
There are many more celebrations to come during the year but this opening long-weekend will be remembered for years to come. I hope that you will be with us for our two choral services on Sunday – at 10am and 3pm. We will be having a tasty brunch reception in-between, and an organ recital at 2:15pm. Canon Wright, the Sub Dean of His Majesty’s Chapel Royal has just arrived in New York and brings us greetings from the Royal Household.
I wrote to you all a few days ago as the true horror of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel began to emerge. Here, in our own city, many people are frightened. As we celebrate our Bicentennial with joy, we still continue to pray for peace and for the innocent civilians caught up in this war; we pray especially for the release of the hostages and for their families who must be desperate. The Archbishop of Canterbury has released a statement on the conflict. We print it here in full:
Statement by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd Justin Welby:
‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee’ (Psalm 122)
Our grief and shock only grows greater as more devastating news and images emerge from the abhorrent terrorist attacks in Israel. The agonising suffering endured by those who were targeted and their families can scarcely be imagined. Our hearts are broken open by the grief of Israelis and our Jewish brothers and sisters around the world, for whom this trauma and loss stands in the dark and terrible shadow of the worst days of their history.
I beg that those who have been taken hostage are set free into safety, that they and their loved ones might be released from the horror of their captivity. The anger felt by the people of Israel at the cruelty they have experienced is entirely justified. Many around the world share in that anger.
But in the face of a ground offensive in Gaza, I plead that the sins of Hamas are not borne by the citizens of Gaza, who themselves have faced such suffering over many decades. The price of evil cannot be paid by the innocent. Civilians cannot bear the costs of terrorists. International humanitarian law recognises that, for the sake of everyone’s humanity, some acts can never be permissible in the chaos of warfare. I pray that Israel does everything it can to limit the harm caused to innocent civilians.
Over two million civilians in Gaza, half of them children, are facing a catastrophe. A humanitarian corridor and convoy are needed as rapidly as possible, as set out in the Geneva Conventions. I pray particularly for the Anglican-run Ahli Arab Hospital and all those caring for the injured, who need medical supplies and generator fuel.
I join with the US Secretary of State and others in urging the Israeli government to exercise their right of defence with the wisdom that might break the cycles of violence under which generations have struggled. Amidst the chaos and confusion of war, and as much as is possible, I join the calls for Israel’s military response to be proportional and to discriminate between civilians and Hamas.
Pray for the people of Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Pray for the future of the Holy Land. Pray for those who will weep, and fear, and die tonight.
Lord God, we pray, by your great mercy, defend your children from all perils and dangers of this night.
If you are able, please support the JMECA appeal for the Ahli Arab Hospital to continue providing life-saving medical care.
And here is the prayer I sent out the other day from the Book of Common Prayer:
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
