Dear Friends,
What a concert we had on Thursday! The choir of men and boys were superb, and New York Baroque Incorporated, with their period instruments, brought such color and vitality to those two wonderful compositions of Vivaldi. All of us were thrilled by the performance of Aisslinn Nosky in The Four Seasons. Congratulations, Richard Tanner, on your first concert at Saint Thomas Church as Organist and Director of Music; we eagerly look forward to four more concerts in December.
The concert was dedicated to the memory of former Associate Organist, Judy Hancock, who died last Friday. During her long life, Judy was considered one of America’s finest concert organists and faithfully served alongside her husband, Gerre, at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. She also held positions at St. James’ Church, Madison Avenue, St. James the Less, Scarsdale New York, Church of the Redeemer Cincinnati, and churches in Bronxville and Durham, NC.
A graduate of Syracuse University, Dr. Hancock studied organ with the legendary teacher Arthur Poister. From there, she went on to Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she earned the Sacred Music Master’s degree, and from which she received the Unitas Distinguished Alumnus Award. In 2004, Judy was awarded Doctor of Sacred Music by St. Dunstan’s College of Sacred Music, Providence, Rhode Island the same time that she and Gerre were appointed to the faculty of The Sarah and Ernest Butler School of Music of the University of Texas at Austin, where they both continued to encourage young people in their music-making until they retired in 2012.
Judy, of course, will be most well-known to Saint Thomas Church parishioners and Choir School Alumni because of her long tenure alongside ‘Uncle Gerre.’ She performed many recitals on the old Arents’ Organ with an impressive repertoire from the great organists of the French tradition (Tournemire, Vierne and Duruflé and Dupré) and the German tradition (Bach, Mendelssohn, Hindemith and Reger). Sometimes her recitals featured trumpet and strings, such as viola and cello. One of her most famous recitals featured “Two Organists at One Keyboard” performed with her beloved husband, Gerre.
Judy had a glittering international career as a recitalist, performing in Kings College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, and St. John’s College, Cambridge. She travelled with the Choir of Men and Boys on tour, and appeared at the National Convention of the American Guild of Organists numerous times.
In retirement, following the death of Gerre, Judy was a faithful member of our parish, loved attending our senior lunches, our concert series, and her warm and vibrant personality will be missed. The last several years she had fought the onset of Alzheimer’s, resulting in her needing more care. Her daughters, Debbie and Lisa, surrounded her with love and devotion until the very end. She is survived by them and her twin brother, Richard, and her younger brother, David.
Her funeral will be held at Saint Thomas Church on Wednesday, October 22, at 11am and we have invited alumni of the Choir School to join us and sing an anthem with the choir. Her ashes will be interred alongside those of her husband in the Choir of Saint Thomas Church. There will be a reception following the service; to help with catering we are asking people to register, so we can ensure that there is enough food.
Looking ahead, we have a visit this week from the Choir of Saint Matthew’s Church, Westminster, UK. They will sing with the Choir of Men and Boys for the Feast of Saint James of Jerusalem on Thursday, October 23 at 5:30pm and their Vicar, The Rev. Preb. Philip Chester will preach the homily. Our choirs will also sing together for Evensong on Sunday, October 26, at 4pm.
The Hobart Lecture held last Wednesday was a terrific success with the Nave very full and over 700 people live on-line. At the time of writing, 1800 people have viewed the lecture. A big thank you to our hard working vergers, facilities team, and communications team for a really professional evening. Father Gioia writes:
What a wonderful evening we shared at The Hobart Theology Lecture on Wednesday, October 15! We are deeply grateful to everyone who joined us for this rich and inspiring conversation with Pádraig Ó Tuama, author and poet-theologian, and The Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde, Bishop of Washington. Together we reflected on “Sanctuary: Space of Belonging and Thriving,” exploring how we can create spaces where all find welcome, purpose, and joy. You can revisit the lecture here.
This year, our Theological Education Program at Saint Thomas offers a renewed vision of learning as a path toward deeper community and fellowship. Our major themes for the year are The Eucharist as Antidote to Idolatry and The Gospel of Matthew, explored both in theology and in art. These will guide our shared reflection throughout the year.
The great novelty of this year’s program are The Saint Thomas Thursday Book Reading Groups: praying, breaking bread, reading, and reflecting together. This is more than a reading group. It is a midweek pause to nourish both body and spirit, to share a meal, to engage deeply with Scripture and thoughtful writings, to discover together how faith speaks to the pressing questions of our time, and grow in fellowship.
You can discover the full scope of our theological offerings in the Saint Thomas Theological Education Program brochure, available online here.
Printed copies are also available in the narthex and at the front desk.
To stay connected with upcoming events, lectures, and resources, I warmly encourage you to join our mailing list — the best way to receive reminders, handouts, and links to livestreams and recordings.
What a week it has been and we have much to look forward to as we continue to build a beloved community here in Midtown Manhattan.
The weather has become decidedly colder and I am pleased to tell you that the heating is now on in the Church! Soon it will be November – the month of Remembrance. If you wish to add a name to the list to be placed on the altar on Remembrance Sunday at 11am, please send the names (and dates if possible) to remembrance@saintthomaschurch.org. The names will also be read each Saturday at the 12pm mass during November.
Affectionately,
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
And is it Not Enough? By Malcolm Guite
And is it not enough that every year
A richly laden autumn should unfold
And shimmer into being leaf by leaf,
Its scattered ochres mirrored everywhere
In hints and glints of hidden red and gold
Threaded like memory through loss and grief,When dusk descends, when branches are unveiled,
When roots reach deeper than our minds can feel
And ready us for winter with strange calm,
That I should see the inner tree revealed
And know its beauty as the bright leaves fall
And feel its truth within me as I am?And is it not enough that I should walk
Through low November mist along the bank,
When scents of woodsmoke summon, in some long
And melancholy undertone, the talk
Of those old poets from whose works I drank
The heady wine of an autumnal song?It is not yet enough. So I must try,
In my poor turn, to help you see it too,
As though these leaves could be as rich as those,
That red and gold might glimmer in your eye,
That autumn might unfold again in you,
Feeling with me what falling leaves disclose.
