The Rector’s Message for the Week of October 5, 2025

“Architecture was, as always, the beginning; but it was far from being the end. Stone carving came to floriate shaft and cornice, pinnacle, panel, and niche; Sculpture to crowd every aperture with saints and angels; Painting and gilding to make all burn with radiant fire; Glass-making to pierce the opaque walls and set there fields of apocalyptic glory; Needlework to hang rich arras over cold stone, to clothe altars, shrines, and priests in iridescent vestments; Mosaic to sheet arch and vault in burnished gold and azure and vermilion; Metal work to fashion screens and candelabra of iron and bronze and brass; Joinery to raise wainscot of intricate tracery; Goldsmithing to furnish shrines and reliquaries and sacred vessels of precious metals and precious stones; Poetry to create great hymns and canticles; Drama to build up a supreme ritual; Music to breathe the breath of divine life into all.”

From ‘Church Building – A study of the Principles of Architecture in their relation to the Church’ by Ralph Adams Cram.

Dear Friends,
On Sunday, we keep the anniversary of the Feast of Dedication of Saint Thomas Church. Now, strictly speaking, it is not the actual date of the original dedication service – that happened on St. Mark’s Day, that happened to fall in Easter Week, 1916. You may wonder why it took several years from the completion of the church building to it being consecrated by the Bishop. Canon Law states that no church building can be consecrated or dedicated until all costs associated with its building have been paid and, in 1913, there was still a debt of $150,000 owed. The current church cost an incredible $1,171,906.44 (I love the fact we record that 44 cents!) – a huge sum in the early 20th century, but one that would have spiraled out of control if the church had been built only a few years later because of the effects of the First World War and the Great Depression that followed.

The first service held in our current church was on Saturday, October 4, 1913, and that’s why we keep the anniversary of the dedication of our Church building on the first Sunday of October, even though we know the date of the actual consecration.

This Sunday will mark the beginning of our 2026 Annual Appeal. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to celebrate. However, we live in turbulent times, my friends, and places of worship have become targets for extremists and angry people. A few days ago, on the high holy day of Yom Kippur, a synagogue in Manchester, UK was attacked; only last week, a Mormon Church was attacked and set alight; children worshipping at mass at the beginning of term at Annunciation Roman Catholic Church were killed and harmed…over my eleven years we have seen these attacks on places of worship around the world grow in number, and that is why many places of worship, especially in great cities, have had to increase their security and police presence. At the same time, and not to minimize the awfulness of some of the stories we have heard in recent years, we find ourselves called, as Christians, to bear witness to our faith and to the redeeming love of Jesus Christ.

As I prepare my sermon for Sunday, I have been reflecting on those beautiful words of Ralph Adams Cram quoted above. At the same time, I am reminded that the building, no matter how beautiful it is, can only be a church when it is inhabited by people of faith – a beloved community, reaching out and bearing witness by worshipping, loving, and serving Our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great parish history, the late Canon Robert Wright writes about the sermon preached by Bishop Greer at the consecration service on April 25, 1916:

He took for his text James 1:22, “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only.” The Christian Church, the bishop told the congregation, faced the challenge of taking “it’s old historic creed” and making it alive in every aspect of life, not merely the personal but the social, the national, and the worldwide. Only in this way will the church regain “its own distinctive work and mission,” one “that will differentiate it once and for all from every other social organization on the face of the earth.” The Church, Bishop Greer maintained, was intended to be “an incarnation in the world, the incarnation of God, and so continue in the world the Incarnate Jesus Christ.”

Those words are prophetic! Dr. Stires and the Vestry of 1905, following the disastrous fire, made the bold decision not to take advantage of the fire to relocate the church to the growing, more populous northern parts of the city, but stay on the corner of Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street. Ironically, Canon Wright, in his parish history, describes the ‘oasis’ effect of the church becoming surrounded by businesses and hotels. Now, we see that ‘oasis effect’ allows us to be an oasis of prayer at the heart of Manhattan!

Now, in 2025, we continue the life and witness of the Incarnate Jesus Christ through our mission and ministry in ways which Bishop Greer could not even comprehend. The choir stalls have carvings of contemporary items – a motor car, a steamboat, an airship; but my favorite is the telegraph wires! Now, with the advent of the internet, Bishop Greer’s words come to fulfilment as Saint Thomas reaches out to people (as Fr. Gioia so often puts it when he welcomes people to evensong) “all over the globe!”

Let us give thanks for our church, our unique choral heritage, our programs, and our ministries, and all the signs of growth and depth that we are experiencing. Most of all, let us give thanks for one another – a vibrant community of disparate people from all over the world that have chosen to be part of the beloved community that is Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue.

I write to share the news that our Assistant Organist and Associate for Musical Studies at the Choir School, Maks Adach, has been appointed Organist and Master of the Choristers at St. Paul’s Roman Catholic Church in Greenwich, Connecticut. In this new role, Maks will lead a groundbreaking initiative to establish a choir of girls and men in the English choral tradition as part of Bishop Frank J. Caggiano’s program of liturgical and musical renewal in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bridgeport. He has also been tasked with creating a new Center for Sacred Music, dedicated to sharing the beauty of Catholic sacred music with communities who have never experienced it before.

Maks joined Saint Thomas in February 2022, and from the beginning, his musicianship, energy, and devotion to the Choir School have been evident as he has taught the boys in their musical studies. He has shaped the musical formation of our choristers, accompanied the Choir of Men and Boys with artistry, and contributed faithfully to the worship life of this parish. His work has strengthened the fabric of our choral tradition while inspiring those around him by his dedication and good humor.

Of his time here, Maks writes:

“My time at Saint Thomas Church has been the highlight of my career thus far. I first entered the church in 2007 as a chorister of the London Oratory when we sang for High Mass during our tour of New York City. I vividly recall the beautiful green vestments, a stirring sermon by Fr. Jonathan Erdman, and the fiery sound of the Arents organ. From that moment on, I knew that if I were ever to move to the United States, this was the place where I would want to work. These past four years have been an extraordinary experience. I’ve grown so much as a musician and learned lessons I will carry with me as I begin a new and exciting project in Greenwich. I will deeply miss Saint Thomas, especially the boys I’ve had the honour of educating and mentoring in the study of music. Sarah and I will look back on our time here with great fondness, and we will be looking on as the Parish and Choir School continue to labour amid the golden grain of the harvest field!”

Though his new post is an exciting step, we will feel his absence keenly. Maks’ work at Saint Thomas has left an enduring mark on our community, both through his teaching and through the countless services in which he has led us in prayer through music.

Maks is a very faithful and devout Christian who has worked closely with Mo. Turner to nurture the theological and spiritual formation of our choristers. One of the highlights of the last few years for me was the chance to assist at Maks and Sarah‘s wedding at Exeter College, Oxford. It was a musical feast!  All of us have loved Maks’ enthusiasm, his conscientious approach to everything, as well as his sense of humor. This is the perfect time for him to embark on a new adventure, and I am delighted that he will be working with a priest who was formerly a choral scholar and then Lay Vicar at Exeter Cathedral when I was Canon Precentor; Maks will be nearby in Connecticut, so I look forward to seeing them often and collaborating with his own musical program.

Richard Tanner writes:

“Having previously enjoyed having Maks as a colleague, in 2011/12 at The Royal Naval College Chapel in London when I was Director of Chapel Music and he was Organ Scholar, I have long known about his many wonderful qualities. The opportunity to work alongside him again at Saint Thomas Church has been a great thrill to me, and it has been marvellous to see how he has progressed since we first met. The excellent quality of his organ playing since my arrival in New York a month or so ago has not been a surprise to me, however I have been delighted to discover what a fabulous, thoughtful and caring teacher Maks is. As a newcomer to the Choir School, it became instantly clear to me that the impact that he has made in the training of probationers has been immense since his arrival in 2022. He will be greatly missed by the community of Saint Thomas Church and Choir School, but I know that he will achieve great things in Connecticut, and I look forward with eager anticipation to experiencing the fruits of his work there over the coming years. I am delighted that Maks and Sarah will only be a short distance away from New York and I wish them all the best in their new home.”

Of his new appointment, Fr. Michael J. V. Clark, Pastor of St. Paul’s, writes:

“Maks will be undertaking a groundbreaking initiative to establish a new choir for girls and men in the English choral tradition… We believe in the real power of beauty to transform lives of Faith, and we are grateful to our friends at Saint Thomas’s for insisting on the highest standards over many generations. Such a sacrifice, though perhaps unseen and unknown except by God, permits the flourishing of a new tradition in our time and place.” We will have opportunities in the coming weeks to thank Maks in person and to celebrate his ministry among us. For now, I invite you to join me in offering our gratitude and our prayers for Maks and his wife Sarah as they prepare for this exciting new chapter.