FROM THE RECTOR: CHARLES EDWARD JENKINS III, Bishop, July 27, 1951–April 9, 2021

The Right Reverend Charles Edward Jenkins III, X Bishop of Louisiana, died at home in St. Francisville, Louisiana, on Friday night, April 9, 2021. He was 69 years old and succumbed to pancreatic cancer. He is survived by his wife Louise Jenkins, their son Edward and his wife Beth, and their daughters, and his son Benjamin. Charles was a gifted pastor and intensely loyal to the church. He knew how to laugh and to tell and retell stories. He will be greatly missed by those whose lives he touched. I hear his voice and his laugh in my mind. I hear him saying the names of his wife, his sons, and the friends we shared. I visited Louise and Charles many times in New Orleans. My husband Richard Mohammed and I were guests at their home in retirement. So many will miss him so much.

I met Charles when I was a student at Nashotah House, and he was a member of Nashotah’s board of trustees. He was a member of the class of 1976; I was in the class of 1983. We shared many of the same teachers. Nashotah’s Chapel of St. Mary the Virgin truly was the heart of the seminary community’s life. It was at Nashotah that I began to appreciate the integrity of rite. It was a formation that I have carried to Indiana and to New York, where I succeeded another Nashotah graduate, my predecessor, Father Edgar Wells, class of 1960.

After two years at Incarnation, Dallas, Charles called and invited me to come to Baton Rouge for an interview. He had just become rector of Saint Luke’s. I was his first hire. Soon we were joined by another Nashotah graduate, John Senette, class of 1971. Charles and I both had Louis Weil as our professor of liturgy and the late James Griffiss as our professor of systematic and philosophical theology. John had been a student when Thomas Talley taught liturgics at Nashotah, and Arthur Vogel, later bishop of West Missouri, taught systematic and philosophical theology. It was great to be at Saint Luke’s with Charles and John. We had been formed for parish ministry by a younger generation of scholars. I learned so much from them and Father Ralph Webster, the Episcopal High School's retired headmaster who assisted at the parish. He was a gentle soul and much loved.

When I first got to know Charles, he consistently named patience as a priest’s best friend. That changed when Hurricane Katrina devasted New Orleans and, in particular, its African-American community. Charles’ ministry became a prophetic one. He would become known to a significant number of African-American pastors in the city. There’s a good article online about his life and ministry—with some great pictures. The burden of ministry in the aftermath of Katrina broke his health.

Saint Mary’s was important to him in retirement. He visited and preached many times. It was wonderful when he and Louise could visit together. Charles spoke more than once in retirement from the pulpit about finding Saint Mary’s to be a place of healing. One special service for me was Candlemas 2000. I had been rector for one year. Then-Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold was celebrant, and Bishop Jenkins was the preacher. It was a glorious evening.

Charles and I both grew up Southern Baptist and found our way to the Episcopal Church. While serving with him, he took me to a conference held by the National Association of Episcopal Schools in New Orleans. The speaker was the late Rabbi Edwin Friedman, whose work in Bowen Family Systems Theory we discovered at the conference. Both of us would pursue work in the theory in the years to come. While at that conference, I recall that we stopped in a drug store to get some scotch before heading to a Popeye’s on St. Charles Avenue, along with a priest from Mississippi, to grab some supper. There was a man with a gun in a holster waiting for his chicken. Charles made a quiet sign to me that it was okay—and it was. Charles was child of Louisiana—and knew his way around New Orleans. And now, Charles’s savior has welcomed him home. I hope to be in the same number when the saints go marching in. —Stephen Gerth

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR José, Ruby, Moddie, James, Jonathan, Ana, David, Thomas, Emerson, Christopher, Daphne, Rita, Marilouise, Quincy, Florette, John, Shalim, Abraham, Burton, Dennis, Emil, Ethelyn, Hardy, Margaret, and Robert; for all who suffer from COVID-19; for Matthew and Louis, priests; and Charles, bishop, for all those who work for the common good, for all the members and friends of this parish; and for the repose of the soul of Trevor Matthews. Grant that we may serve Christ in them and love one another as he loves us . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . April 11: 1872 Anna Hart Guion; 1877 William Greenwood Smith; 1887 Brendan Lehan.

IN THIS TRANSITORY LIFE . . . Trevor Matthews, the son of Mr. and Mrs. William Matthews of New York City, died suddenly this week. He was only twelve years old. Parishioner Robert Loper is a close friend of the Matthews family. Please keep Trevor, his parents, Robert, their family and friends and all who mourn in your prayers.

ALTAR FLOWERS FOR MANY DATES IN 2021 ARE AVAILABLE . . . This includes Sundays, April 18 and April 25, May Crowning (the first Sunday in May), and feasts such as Pentecost, Trinity, and our observance of Corpus Christi on June 6. The suggested donation is $250. Donors often give flowers in memory, thanksgiving, or celebration of people or life events they would like to pay tribute to. Please contact Chris Howatt, if you would like to donate.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, April 11, The Second Sunday of Easter, the Adult Education will not meet. The main doors of the church open at 10:00 AM and close at 1:00 PM. The preacher at Mass on Sunday morning will be the Reverend Dr. Peter Ross Powell. The service is played by Dr. David Hurd. Dr. Hurd will be joined by the cantor, Sharon Harms, soprano . . . Tuesday, April 13, Racism Discussion Group Meetings, 4:00 PM and 7:00 PM via Zoom . . . Sunday, April 18, The Third Sunday of Easter, Adult Education 9:30 AM, Holy Eucharist 11:00 AM.

THE FLOWER GUILD ASKS FOR VOLUNTEERS . . . On Sunday, April 11, this coming Sunday, following the 11:00 AM Mass, at around 12:00 PM, members of the Flower Guild will be dismantling many of the flower arrangements in and around the church. If you have some time to help out with this task, please join the members of the Guild in Saint Joseph’s Hall.

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Rita Abbott is a great friend of Saint Mary’s, who often worships with us during the week. She recently underwent an operation at the Hospital for Special Surgery and is recuperating at home. Please keep her in your prayers . . . In the “News Quiz” that appeared in the New York Times on Friday, April 9, the following question appeared, “New York City formally designated the square formed by the intersection of Broadway and Seventh Avenue as Times Square (after The New York Times) 117 years ago this week. What was the square’s previous name?”. Saint Marians and other readers of the Angelus surely know the answer.

MUSIC AT SAINT MARY’S . . . The setting of the Mass on Sunday morning is Missa Resurrectionis by Naji Hakim (b. 1955). This setting for solo soprano a capella was composed during Holy Week 1994. It is inscribed to Caroline Pozderic and was premiered by Swedish soprano, Kerstin Petterson, in September 1994. Liner notes on Ms. Petterson’s premiere recording of Missa Resurrectionis contain the following description: “In this work, the potential harmony of the modal or chromatic melodic line is firmly based on tonality. The absence of instrumental accompaniment answers a dual concern of economy and expression, the voice allowing to design, in the strongest manner, the meaning of the text which it must always serve.” At the head of the score, Mark 16:6-6 is quoted. “But he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.’” Naji Hakim is Lebanese by birth and French by training. At the Conservatoire National Superieur de Musique de Paris he was awarded first prizes in harmony, counterpoint, fugue, organ, improvisation, analysis, and orchestration. In addition, he has received first prizes in several prestigious European organ and composition competitions over the years. He was titular organist of the Basilica of the Sacré-Coeur in Paris from 1985 until 1993 when he succeeded Olivier Messiaen at l’Eglise Trinité and served there until 2008. Naji Hakim continues as a prolific composer, concert organist, and teacher. He is Professor of Musical Analysis at the Conservatoire National de Région de Boulogne-Billancourt and visiting professor of organ, improvisation, analysis, and composition at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

The musical offering during the Communion on Sunday is Look there, the Christ, our Brother comes with words by John Bennett (1920–1991) and music by William Albright (1944–1998). Bennett, poet and English professor, was educated at Oberlin College and the University of Wisconsin. His teaching career included appointments at several midwestern colleges. Albright, born in Gary, Indiana, attended The Juilliard School, The Eastman School of Music, and the University of Michigan where he later served on the faculty. He received a Fulbright scholarship in 1968 to study in Paris with Olivier Messiaen, whose influence combined with many others in fueling Albright’s “polystylistic” musical range. Bennett’s words are joined with Albright’s tune Petrus at #196 in The Hymnal 1982. The Hymnal 1982 Companion records that Petrus was composed in February 1983 for the “President’s Day” workshop of the New York Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. The composer says that the tune, written in one hour, is “a combination of minimalism and gospel-rock, both appropriate for an expression of joy.” The title, Latin for rock, as well as the name of Peter, relates to the statement of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, “You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.”

On Sunday, the organ prelude and postlude today are, respectively the Prelude and the Fugue in D Major, BWV 532, of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750). This is a youthful and exuberant piece, and sparkles with a joyful Easter spirit from the opening ascending pedal scale which launches the three-sectioned Prelude. The opening and closing sections of the Prelude are in a free fantasia style, while the center section features more ordered writing, and is marked Alla breve to indicate a feeling of two beats to the bar. The Fugue is built on a theme presented as a short figure repeated four times followed by a brief pause and the sequential repetition of a similar figure. From this simplicity of melodic material, Bach builds a bright and energetic piece, and not without a sense of humor.

More about the Cantor on Sunday Morning: Praised as “superb”, “luscious-toned”, “extraordinarily precise and expressive”, and “dramatically committed and not averse to risk” by the New York Times, American soprano Sharon Harms is known for fearless performances and passionate interpretations of works new and old for the recital, concert, and operatic stage. A member of the Argento Ensemble, Ms. Harms has premiered the music of some of today's leading composers and her repertoire spans a versatile spectrum of periods and styles. She has sung with Da Capo Chamber Players, East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Signal, International Contemporary Ensemble, Juilliard Center for Innovation in the Arts, Limón Dance Company, MET Opera Chamber Orchestra, New Chamber Ballet, Pacifica Quartet, Princeton Festival Opera, Simon Bolivar Orchestra, Talea Ensemble, and Third Coast Percussion, among others. She has also been a guest artist with the American Academy in Rome, Colorado College Summer Music Festival, Columbia University, Cornell University, June in Buffalo, MATA Festival, University of British Columbia, University of Chicago, University of Notre Dame, Radcliffe Institute, and Resonant Bodies Festival and a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center. Ms. Harms is soprano faculty for the Composer’s Conference at Brandeis University and was a visiting guest instructor at East Carolina University in 2017. She appears on the Albany, Bridge, and Innova labels. You are invited to go to www.sharonharms.com for more information.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR . . . Monday, April 26, Saint Mark the Evangelist (transferred), Mass 12:10 PM . . . Thursday, May 13, Ascension Day, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Sunday, May 23, The Day of Pentecost, Mass 11:00 AM.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . Beginning on April 18, and continuing until Sunday, May 30, we will begin a new adult-education series on Sunday mornings at 9:30 AM, To Read and Mark: How We Interpret Scripture and Why It Matters. The classes will be led by a new teacher each Sunday. We will not be focusing just on modern historical-critical methods of interpreting the Bible, but rather on the variety of ways in which Christians have used and interpreted the Bible over the centuries: to create art and music, shape liturgy, found religious orders, discuss morality, prepare baptismal candidates, and care for the newly baptized.

On Sunday, April 18, the Third Sunday of Easter, Dr. Mark Risinger will launch the series with his presentation, Understanding Biblical Narratives through Handel’s Oratorios. He’ll be focusing on the appearance of angels in the oratorios and the ways in which Handel depicts them musically, but he will also discuss some of the other stories, such as the plagues in Israel in Egypt and the judgment scene in Solomon. Mark was awarded a Ph.D. in musicology from Harvard University and is an accomplished singer—he is a member of the Saint Mary’s Choir—and a pianist. He teaches at Saint Bernard’s School here in Manhattan. He will provide examples of Handel’s music at the piano in Saint Joseph’s Hall. (The details of a possible Zoom alternative are still being worked out.)

I am looking forward to hearing more about these very different interpretive techniques and points of view, and I am very grateful that so many members and friends of the parish have agreed to share their time and expertise with us. Please join us. All are welcome. —Jay Smith

For all these classes, seating in Saint Joseph’s Hall will be arranged to maximize social-distancing. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide refreshments. All those attending the class must wear a face covering.

STEWARDSHIP CAMPAIGN 2021 . . . Our stewardship campaign has come to an end. We were not able to achieve our $400,000.00 goal, but we recognize that we are living in a difficult time, and we are all doing the best we can. We live in hope and trust in God. Still, we continue to ask you for your help. We would welcome your financial pledge if you have not yet pledged for 2021. and we are grateful to all those who continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously.

NEIGHBORS IN NEED . . . At our monthly Drop-by Days, we distribute clothing and toiletry and hygiene items to those in need in the Times Square neighborhood. Our next Drop-by Day is tentatively scheduled for Friday, April 16. Volunteers work from 1:30 PM until 3:30 PM. Our guests are invited into the church at 2:00 PM and we close our doors at 3:00 PM. We need eight (8) volunteers for each Drop-by. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Marie Rosseels, MaryJane Boland, or Father Jay Smith.

AIDS WALK NEW YORK 2021 . . . The New York City AIDS Walk 2021 will take place on Sunday, May 16. For the second time because of the pandemic, the Walk will be held as a virtual event. The Saint Mary’s AIDS Walk team invites you to join this effort and to provide financial support. To do both—to join and to contribute—you can click here. Despite the previous success of Saint Mary’s AIDS Walk team as fundraisers for the walk, we won’t be able to form a parish team this year. We hope to be back as a team in 2022, and even though we won’t have a full-fledged team this year, we encourage you to contribute to this vitally important cause.

As COVID-19 spread, GMHC adapted most of its services to virtual and created new programs where it saw its clients struggling. The COVID Destroyers Program began this past summer with GMHC staff and volunteers distributing masks and educational materials. Today, GMHC reaches more than 16,000 people in New York City and their services include mental-health support. With its clients among those New Yorkers most grappling with increased anxiety, grief, loss, depression, fear, and social isolation, GMHC uses phone and video-conferencing to continue to provide mental-health and substance-use counseling to hundreds of clients each week.

Saint Mary’s AIDS Walk team has been the most successful church group walking for many years. In 2019, the last year of in-person walking, our team ranked #4 out of all teams walking and raised $62,757 with the support of parishioners and friends and family from all over the country. We hope for an equal degree of success in 2022. Thank you to all those who have supported this outreach effort over the years.

WORSHIPPING SAFELY AT SAINT MARY’S: If you are at all unwell, please do not come to church. If you are experiencing symptoms, contact your primary-care physician and get tested. If you have a fever of 103.5, which is not being handled by an analgesic, and/or you are having difficulty breathing (by difficulty we mean you must stop talking in order to focus on your breathing), go to an emergency room immediately. That said, we are very happy to be able to welcome you to worship with us here at Saint Mary’s (11:00 AM on Sunday, 12:10 PM Monday–Saturday).

When you arrive, please fill out the contact sheet at the ushers’ table. Please take a seat in one of the open pews, and feel free to ask an usher, one of the brothers, or a member of the clergy if you have questions about seating, Communion, or safe-distancing. Face masks are required while in the church building. We know all too well that many of these precautions are tedious, but we accept them as a way to keep ourselves and each other safe and healthy. We continue to pray for those who are sick and for a swift end to the epidemic.

This edition of the Angelus was written and edited by Father Stephen Gerth and Father Jay Smith. Father Gerth is responsible for posting the newsletter on the parish website and for distributing it via mail and e-mail, with the assistance of Christopher Howatt and parish volunteer, Clint Best.