FATHER POWELL ON RETIRING FROM HIS ACTIVE ROLE AT THE PARISH

I first visited The Free Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in June of 2002. I had no idea what to expect. I was curious. I’d heard fantastic tales about how Mass was celebrated here and I wanted to see if they were true. They weren’t. That’s good news.

The Mass was a recognizable Rite II, Eucharistic Prayer A, with lots of smoke, bells and wonderful music. I still remember Father Gerth’s sermon from that day. He talked about why clergy kiss the altar. He told us that it was added when the peace was taken away from the people. Liturgy is conservative and, in this case, it preserved something that was lost and we continue to do it, even as the peace has been restored. I knew I was in a church that took liturgy seriously. I appreciated that.

In 2002, I had just completed a Supportive Housing project for the formerly homeless, mentally ill, in Westport. I was emotionally and spiritually exhausted from the Capital Campaign and the politics of bringing this housing to an affluent Connecticut suburb. I was hungry for spiritual direction and in need of a liminal space.

One of the temptations for most of us in the so-called helping professions, is to climb up on the cross and be crucified. We’d begun work on this supportive housing process in 1995 and it was only finished in 2001. I felt uniquely responsible for its success and it drained me entirely. At the end of the process, houses bought, clients installed, funding assured, I felt exhausted and not elated.

Westport continues to be the only community of its size and affluence that we can find in the entire nation to provide emergency shelter, supportive housing and related services. The resistance to doing any of these things was strong, but we prevailed. My fervent prayer as the project came to its conclusion, was that I would be hired as a Homiletics Professor at one of our seminaries that was searching at that time. I wasn’t even seriously considered. I felt stuck.

I found a nurturing home here. For a couple of years, I would come here once a month and gradually it developed that I was here more than Westport. Without conscious effort on my part, I found a spiritual home.

This place has been a wonderful spiritual home for me, for us, and if you’re reading this, for you. I have felt embraced and included here in ways I could not imagine. The people here are as liminal as the space.

I am impressed by your willingness to struggle with hard questions about the Bible and therefore about what we personally believe. I rarely find in other churches the hunger for learning that I have found here.

I enjoy teaching lay people. I did not enjoy teaching seminarians. I was a teaching fellow at Princeton Seminary, and then an Instructor of Hebrew. When I left Princeton and became the rector of a small parish in the Diocese of Washington, I was appointed the Adjunct Professor of Biblical Languages at Virginia Seminary. Every morning, I faced a group of Episcopal seminarians trying to learn either Greek or Hebrew without studying. It became obvious to me that I am not cut out to be a professor. I took my role too seriously.

However, I continued to want to study the Bible. I have long realized that for me teaching about the Bible is the most effective way to study it. My focus on teaching the laity began in the 70s even while I was still teaching in seminary. Teaching you fed me. Your commitment to adult ed challenged and inspired me.

In leaving here, we are giving up a lot. We, and I, have gotten to know many of you and you have enriched our lives. I am unlikely to find a church home like this one again.

However, I leave here in a much different spiritual place than I came here all those years ago.

You and we face many challenges in the future. Barbara and I realize we are getting older and can no longer do the things that came easily to us even just a few years ago.

I will be spending the first Sunday of every month at Christ Church, East Norwalk. It’s a tiny congregation, fewer than 15 every Sunday, but I have enjoyed supplying for them for several years.

I will be spending the second Sunday of every month at Saint Andrew’s, Stamford. It’s a tiny congregation too, between 20 and 30 on a Sunday. It’s historically a Caribbean parish, Anglo-Catholic, but they have trouble finding priests that understand what being Anglo-Catholic means. I can do that for them. I’ve enjoyed supplying for them since the 90s.

I will be spending the fourth Sunday of every month at Christ & Holy Trinity, Westport. It’s a large multi-staff church. We’ve been members of it since the early 90s. I’ve known them for a very long time and through several rectors.

I imagine I’ll fill the third Sundays as well.

You face the challenge of continuing to minister to the community that has surrounded this parish since the area was called Longacre Square and Saint Mary’s was the tallest building on it. In the midst of worries about aging buildings, financial challenges and a growing secular, non-church going culture, you are called to preach the Gospel with joy and say Mass as celebration. The world needs a place where we know we can find God, and this has been, and by the grace of God, will be, one such place.

For us in the early years, this parish was a destination. Over time, and especially for the last four years that we’ve been in residence, it has become our spiritual home.

It is hard to leave a spiritual home. We do so reluctantly.

Father Gerth took me out to dinner in 2005. I wanted to do something to help Saint Mary’s. At that dinner at the Yale Club, I suggested to him that there were two things I was bold enough to say that I know how to do. I can teach and I can preach. If he wished, I would be glad to donate my time for both for as long as it was useful to Saint Mary’s. He graciously accepted and I taught for the first time in December 2005. It was a three-week introduction to Mark’s Gospel. It was the beginning of Sunday Adult Formation at least since Father Gerth had become rector. No one could’ve predicted that almost 20 years later, I’m still at it here.

I’ve learned a lot from teaching you. I will miss the opportunity.

I will also miss the discussions we’ve had at coffee hours. I fill in at churches in the summer so I’ve been to countless coffee hours. We have something special here. The diversity of this congregation is exciting and the conversations are always real.

I have enjoyed getting to know people who only appear on weekdays. There are regulars at the daily Mass and they count on Saint Mary’s for spiritual nourishment. It is a blessing that we offer Mass daily. I wish the blessing were more widely known. The need is certainly widespread if not universal.

This is not an absolute goodbye. If it makes sense to the clergy, I am available to come back for a special day or events. If that happens it will still not be the same as our regular worship with you. Leaving is a dramatic change in Barbara’s life and mine. It is a small change in your life. We are grateful that we have been able to spend some of our lives with you. — Peter R. Powell

Please plan to come to Coffee Hour this week, after Solemn Mass, where we will celebrate the ministry of Father Pete and Barbara at Saint Mary’s!

PARISH PRAYERS

We pray for the people and clergy of our sister parish, the Church of All Saints, Margaret Street, London.

We pray for those who have asked us for our prayers, for Liam, Penny, Priya, Jose, Angie, Angelina, Nicolly, Christopher, Wally, Donald, Harris, Rick, Ronald, Jose, Karen, Kate, Behnam, Duke, Russell, Duncan, Robert, Sally, Sandy, Audy, Orham, Ruth Ann, Henry, Lexi, Vicki, Georgia, Desarae, David, Steve, Beverly, Claudia, Maddie, Nettie, Chrissy, Tony, Sharon, Rick, Adair, Jan, June, Carlos, Pat, Liduvina, Quincy, Leroy, Margaret, and Robert; Suzanne Elizabeth and Laura Katherine, religious; Lind, deacon; and Robby, Jay, and Stephen, priests.

We pray for the repose of the souls of those who have died, especially, John, Thomas, priest, and Francis, bishop, and for those whose year’s mind is on April 27: Sophie Ewer (1911), William Weyburn (1915), Stephen Fiske (1916), Henrietta Williams (1934), Hugh Mollison Smallwood (1953), Virgil Evans Pyles (1965), Frances Flagg (1994), and Marie Clotilde Labastille Mueller (2011).

AROUND THE PARISH

Celebrating Father Pete and Barbara . . . On this Sunday, April 27, the Second Sunday of Easter, we will celebrate Father Pete and Barbara Powell at a festive coffee hour following the 11:00 AM Solemn Mass. Father Pete is retiring from his active role at Saint Mary's after having been part of our parish family since 2002 and teaching Adult Formation classes since 2005. Please join us to celebrate the ministries of these two beloved Saint Marians!

Volunteers needed for Easter clean up this Sunday . . . Many volunteers have been hard at work for the past few weeks readying the church for Holy Week and Easter, but as we approach the end of Easter week and close out the Octave, one more task remains: what goes up must come down and we will be bringing down the Easter decorations after coffee hour this Sunday, April 27. Can you help? With a dedicated crew, it doesn't take more than a couple hours to take down arrangements, clean vessels, sweep debris, and carry various supplies back down to the flower room. Every willing pair of hands makes a difference. Please contact Grace Mudd to say you will be able to help or if you have questions.

From Marie Rosseels on the Easter Garden . . . For the past five years, I have taken a childlike pleasure in creating a small Easter Garden somewhere in the church. Since there were no baptisms this Easter, I chose the baptistry as my location. While the garden looks a little different each year, there are a few things that always find their way into the setting. There is a real bird’s nest that we discovered in one of the Christmas trees some years ago, which is now an annual feature in both the crèche and garden. There is a small stained-glass cross that belonged to George Handy, a beloved member of the parish who passed away in 2012 at age 93. In addition to the Easter bunny, there are 10 other animals in the garden this year. Some of these critters come and go (literally, a frog and a chick have gone AWOL from the garden in years past); the newest additions are a white dove and a tiny salamander. If you haven’t noticed these details, please stop by the garden this week!

Confessions only by appointment this Saturday . . . During the Easter Octave, confessions are heard by appointment only. Saturday confessions resume on May 3 at 11:00 AM.

Adult Formation . . . Adult Formation is on Easter break and will resume next week on May 4, when Father Matt Jacobson will lead a discussion on the Acts of the Apostles. Adult Formation meets on Sundays at 9:45 AM in Saint Joseph’s Hall.

May Crowning and Annual Meeting . . . Next Sunday, May 4, is May Crowning! The Annual Meeting will be held in the parish hall after Solemn Mass. Please plan on attending.

Evensong & Benediction . . . E&B will next be offered on May 4 at 4:00 PM. Evensong is a sung Evening Prayer and Benediction refers to the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Click here to learn more.

AIDS Walk Update . . . So far, we have raised $4400 for this year’s AIDS Walk. We still have quite a bit to go to beat our effort in 2024. Last year we finished fourth among all teams and raised $52,005. To join our team or contribute, please visit our team page. If you have any questions, please speak to one of the team captains: MaryJane Boland, Clark Mitchell, and Father Matt. AIDS Walk 2025 is on Sunday, May 18.

Save the date: Sister Monica Clare on May 25 . . . On Sunday, May 25, Sister Monica Clare, CSJB, will be at Coffee Hour after the 11:00 AM Solemn Mass to present her soon-to-be-published book, A Change of Habit, which will be released on April 29. Sister Monica Clare was in residence at Saint Mary’s for many years and is a good friend of the parish. Click here to learn more about her order, the Community of Saint John Baptist.

Neighbors in Need . . . Donations of casual pants, such as jeans or khakis, are needed, as are sweaters, tops, rain jackets, and other light jackets. Shoes are especially in demand (i.e., sneakers, sandals, and practical shoes, but not high heels). Large sizes, for both men and women, are also helpful. The next Drop-by day will be on May 16. Please speak to MaryJane Boland or Marie Rosseels for more information.

Hospitality at Saint Mary’s . . . Are you willing to serve on a team to plan Coffee Hours and receptions? We need you! Please get in touch with Father Sammy Wood if you are able to help.

Would you like to donate the altar flowers? . . . There are many opportunities to donate flowers for Sundays in May. May 11, 18, and 25 are still available. We are also looking for a donor for Thursday, May 29, Ascension Day. Coming up in June, we hope to find donors for Pentecost (June 8), Trinity Sunday (June 15), and Corpus Christi (June 22). Please call the Parish Office (212-869-5830) or email Chris Howatt for more information and to reserve a date for a donation. The customary donation is $250.

THE DIOCESE AND WIDER CHURCH

Easter Message from Presiding Bishop Sean Rowe . . . The Presiding Bishop’s Easter message can be read here.

Blessing of the Bicycles . . . The Cathedral's 27th annual Blessing of the Bicycles takes place on May 3 at 9:00 AM. Click here for more details and to RSVP.

Faith in the Public Square . . . Wednesday, May 7, 7:00-8:30 PM (via Zoom). This three-session series brings together theologians and leaders to discuss theological questions that are immediate right now. The first discussion in the lineup, titled “Faith formed in Refuge: How exile and refuge influenced the spirituality of the Book of Common Prayer” will explore how the worship and belief of the Church of England, and thus of the Anglican tradition, was formed through dialogue with the Reformation traditions in Europe. A live discussion will follow, led by The Rt. Rev. Allen K. Shin, Bishop Suffragan, featuring theologians and leaders from various backgrounds. You can click here to register for this session and future. The speakers on May 7 will be:

Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch, Emeritus Professor of the History of the Church, University of Oxford

Rev. Dr. Euan Cameron, Henry Luce Ill Professor Emeritus of Reformation Church History Union Theological Seminary, New York City

Dr. Polly Ha, Associate Professor of the History of Christianity, Duke Divinity School

From the Margins to the Mainstream . . . The next Dialogues on Divinity offering at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine will be on May 12, from 6:30 – 8:00 PM. The Cathedral will welcome three leaders in interreligious dialogue for a panel entitled “From the Margins to the Center: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in Conversation.” The tragic events of October 7th and their aftermath have catapulted the engagement of Judaism and Islam into the center of dialogue with Christianity. Is it still possible to maintain good relations or are the three Abrahamic religions doomed to be locked in a widening gyre of enmity? Can the center hold? The conversation promises to be a meaningful exploration of the intersection of tradition, contemporary challenges, and shared values in a world that increasingly calls for interfaith cooperation. The speakers will be:

Rabbi Dr. Burton Visotzky, scholar of Midrash and Interreligious Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he serves as director of the Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue and as the Louis Stein Director of the Finkelstein Institute for Religious and Social Studies.

Emre Celik, Executive Director of the Peace Islands Institute New York and a Leadership Fellow at the Interfaith Center of New York.

The Rev. Eva Suarez, Canon for Community Engagement at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

The Dialogues on Divinity series seeks to address vital contemporary issues with a theological lens. It is presented by the Community at the Crossing, an ecumenical community for young adults, in residence at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. The series is co-sponsored by Graymoor Ecumenical & Interreligious Institute (GEII). Click here for tickets.

FROM DR. HURD: ABOUT THE MUSIC AT SOLEMN MASS ON THE SECOND SUNDAY OF EASTER

The organ prelude on Sunday is from the Orgelbüchlein (Little Organ Book) of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). This collection of forty-six organ pieces, mostly composed while Bach was in Weimar between 1708 and 1717, is a small fraction of the originally intended project which would have included 164 settings of chorales spanning the liturgical year. Nonetheless the Orgelbüchlein stands as an extraordinary body of shorter chorale preludes and a compendium of the compositional techniques pertinent to that genre in Bach’s day. In addition to serving as a practical collection of organ music for church services, the Orgelbüchlein has also been considered to be a treatise on composition, a faith statement of its composer, and a manual for instruction in organ-playing. Christ ist erstanden (Christ is arisen) is a three-stanza Easter chorale, found in The Hymnal 1982 at #184. Bach’s Orgelbüchlein setting, played for the prelude this morning, treats each stanza separately in three individual sections. A form of the chorale melody is featured in the uppermost voice of each section. The postlude is based upon the Easter hymn O filii et filiae (O sons and daughters). The melody of this hymn is thought to be of fifteenth century French origin. It is found in two different forms in The Hymnal 1982.  At #206 the hymnal presents an equal-rhythm plainsong-like form of the tune with stanzas most suitable for the second Sunday of Easter and the Feast of Saint Thomas (21 December). Lynwood Farnam (1885–1930) was one of the most highly acclaimed concert organists of his time. He was born in Quebec and, as a young man in Montreal, became organist at Christ Church Cathedral and taught organ at McGill Conservatory. After some years in Boston, Farnum was appointed organist at the Church of the Holy Communion in Manhattan, where he remained until his death. During that time, he toured extensively in North America and abroad, made radio broadcasts and, although he made no phonograph recordings, his playing is recorded on organ rolls which he made for the Aeolian company in 1930. His only surviving composition is his Toccata on “O Filii et Filiae” which he reportedly used to test the sonic capabilities of organs he was to play.

The setting of the Mass is the four-voice Missa secunda of Hans Leo Hassler. Born in Nuremberg and baptized on 26 October 1564, Hassler’s musical career bridged the late Renaissance to the early Baroque periods. His initial musical instruction was from his father, Isaak Hassler (c.1530–1591). Hans Leo left home in 1584 to study in Venice with Andrea Gabrieli (c.1532–1585) and become a friend and fellow pupil with Gabrieli’s nephew Giovanni (c.1554–1612). Thus, Hassler was one of the first of a succession of German composers to experience in Italy the musical innovations that were shaping what would later be identified as baroque style. Hassler was recognized in his day not only as a composer, but also as an organist and a consultant on organ design. Although he was a Protestant, Hassler’s early compositions were for the Roman church. His Missa secunda, first published in Nuremberg in 1599, is a model of efficient and concise text setting. The text is mostly set syllabically, and much of the musical texture is homophonic and rhythmically energetic. Often Hassler has the higher two voices and lower two voices singing phrases in playful alternation. These aspects all help to set forth the text with particular clarity.

Jacob Handl (1550-1591), also known as Jacobus Gallus, is credited with over five hundred compositions, both sacred and secular, including twenty Masses and hundreds of motets. Slovenian by birth, Handl’s compositions incorporate the influences of the leading Franco-Flemish and Venetian musical schools of his time. His motet Stetit Jesus from Opus musicum III (1587), sung during the administration of communion, sings the post-resurrection appearance of our Lord reported in John 20:19-20. Handl’s motet captures the drama of the narrative.

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We are very grateful to all those who make such donations and continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously.

Saint Mary’s is a vibrant Anglo-Catholic witness in the heart of NYC. With our identity in Christ and a preference for the poor, we are an inclusive, diverse community called to love God and each other for the life of the world.

This edition of The Angelus was written and edited by Father Matt Jacobson, except as noted. Father Matt is also responsible for formatting it on the parish website and distributing it via mail and e-mail, with the assistance of Christopher Howatt, parish administrator, and parish volunteer, Clint Best. If you have an idea for an article that you would like to publish in an upcoming issue of The Angelus, Father Matt would be happy to discuss it with you.