FROM THE RECTOR: SERMON FOR THE BURIAL OF EDGAR FISHER WELLS, JR., priest & rector, August 21, 2021

No words in John’s gospel are ever very far from the verb “believe.” So, today’s gospel lesson from John’s account of the supper before the Passover, we read, “Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms . . . And when I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:1–3).

I have a hunch that Father Wells’s faith journey was underway before he had any idea that it was possible for God not to be a part of people’s lives. He grew up in the church. He and Father Joseph Zorawick, retired rector of Christ and St. Stephen’s Church, sang together in the boys’ choir of the Church of the Resurrection here in the city. I think it is fair to say that Father Wells never ventured far from knowing his Lord.

I enjoyed reading the remembrances in the service bulletin very much. It’s true, as Dr. Henry Cooper wrote, he and Father Edgar Wells were “two boys from the Bronx.” But Father Wells was born in what was, until 1977, the Polyclinic Hospital, on West 50th Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues. It was converted to apartments after the hospital closed. Father Wells was born a half-mile from here—a ten-minute walk from the rectory.

Since his retirement at the end of 1997, he lived in Manhattan Plaza—a little closer to the hospital than the rectory—a nine-minute walk according to Google Maps. Manhattan Plaza opened in 1977, the same year the Polyclinic Hospital closed. His apartment there was the opposite of the rectory. It was a large studio apartment in a relatively new complex. It overlooked the playground between the two towers. It had good afternoon light. He enjoyed retirement. He had friends in Canada, England, and Australia that I was privileged to meet. He found a church home at St. Edward the Martyr. He was very fortunate in his companion, Evan Wong, who gave so much of himself to care for Edgar as his physical and mental capabilities declined late in his life. Evan’s heart and compassion are genuine.

It was a brave Edgar Fisher Wells, Jr., who followed the direction of his bishop, the Bishop of Chicago, James Montgomery, who knew the situation at Saint Mary’s, to take the call to become the eighth rector of the parish. Bishop Montgomery had confidence that Father Wells was the right man for the job—and he was.

In 1979, some of the trustees expected Father Wells to return Saint Mary’s Masses to The Anglican Missal—basically, the Pre-Vatican II Roman Rite in English. Because ordination was opened to women in 1976 and enshrined in the 1979 Prayer Book, some parishioners wanted to take Saint Mary’s out of the Episcopal Church. Father Wells would have none of it. He was a life-long Anglo-Catholic. For him, that necessarily meant he was an Episcopalian and intensely loyal to the ministry of this church. I am not sure Saint Mary’s would have survived the 1980s had Father Wells not been willing to serve. He was in many ways a true son of Nashotah House Seminary, founded on the frontier in 1842. The seminary is still called “the Mission” in the area between Madison and Milwaukee. There he was formed to go where he was needed—and he was needed here.

Less than a dozen issues of the parish magazine Ave have not been located and scanned for our website. But unfortunately, the issue that contained Father Wells’s final sermon is among them. Father Jay Gordon shared this excerpt with me, “In retrospect, I don’t imagine there has been a period in my life when I have experienced more fear than I did during those first few months and years of my ministry in this place. And within myself, there was a sense of impending doom that made me wonder whether I might perish as well.”

As the years passed, Father Wells came to believe that the Holy Spirit was doing new things, good things, among us Anglicans. He was not alone, but his leadership led to this congregation’s generous welcome of the Right Reverend Catherine Scimeca Roskam, bishop suffragan of New York, as celebrant and preacher for the Feast of the Presentation six days after her ordination to the episcopate.

Over my years here, I have heard from many about the quality of his pastoral care and compassion for people whose lives were challenged by circumstances often beyond their control. For example, he had no hesitation in caring for and burying people who had HIV or drinking from a chalice that people with HIV had shared.

Father Jay Gordon shared with me some notes about Father Wells’s life. He made a note of Edgar’s intention of having his ashes interred at the cathedral. He saw his choice as a sign that “they would know the eighth rector of St. Mary the Virgin was loyal to the Episcopal Church.” Father Wells had told me the same thing when I became rector, and he wanted to go over plans for his funeral—during my first year as rector.

A large part of his growth and happiness happened because he confronted alcoholism. It gave him a new spirit, new perspective, and new hope. He had known too many clergy colleagues who were closeted homosexual men who died from drinking. He seized the grace that came his way to be free. I was glad to see Father Gordon quote these words from Father Wells about the redecoration of the church’s interior, “these hallowed halls never looked so beautiful.”

In July 1997, Father Wells wrote to the parish to announce his retirement. “Eighteen and a half years ago, I was pessimistic in the extreme where the future of this parish was concerned. Eighteen and a half years later, I am filled with optimism, and I know that optimism is shared by a majority of those who worship here . . . The remaining months of this year promise to be full ones indeed where our life on 46th Street is concerned . . . And for me, they will be filled with the joy of what it has meant to serve at St. Mary’s, knowing that throughout these years, God has led and protected me in my ministry here and trusting implicitly in his guidance in all that lies ahead. I have lived long enough to realize that sharing in Christ’s high priesthood is the greatest gift in my life. That much of it has been lived in this place is a particular grace, one that will remain with me always.”

Finally, I want you to know that Father Jay Smith was the priest at Saint Mary’s who cared for Father Wells and Evan. Father Wells was very strict about keeping his distance from the rector and the business of the parish. Father Wells and Evan were very thankful, as I am, for Father Smith’s ministry to them.

In John, on the morning of the resurrection, Peter and the disciple Jesus loved, learn from Mary Magdalene that the tomb is empty. They run to see. Then leave. Mary Magdalene remains at the tomb, grieving. Jesus speaks, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rab-bo'ni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and sisters and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:1–18). With those words, the son of God reordered God’s creation for eternity. —Stephen Gerth 

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MANY THANKS to all who stepped forward to assist with the funeral of our beloved eighth rector, the Reverend Canon Edgar Fisher Wells, Jr., including the Reverend Canon Steven Lee, vicar, Congregation of Saint Saviour & Canon Pastor, at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine. There was a good group here for the liturgy and at the cathedral for the interment of his ashes. We regret that, because of COVID-19, it was not possible to include a period of fellowship. But we know people did get to get to greet each other. It was great to see clergy and laity whose lives connected with Father Wells. In addition to Bishop Andrew Dietsche, Bishop Allen Shin, and Bishop R. William Franklin, XI Bishop of Western New York, the Right Reverend Catherine Scimeca Roskam, retired bishop suffragan of New York, and the Right Reverend Andrew St. John, retired rector of the Church of the Transfiguration, were in the congregation. Finally, I want to thank the musicians, the clergy, and the staff of our parish. It was an Easter liturgy, for which we can continue to thank Father Wells. —S.G.

YOUR PRAYERS ARE ASKED FOR Gary, Greta, Jean, Joe, Pat, Evan, Kathleen, Hortense, Eric, Larry, José, Ralph, Mario, Liduvina, Jonathan, Emerson, Rita, Marilouise, Quincy, Florette, John, Shalim, Peter, George, Abraham, Burton, Emil, Ethelyn, Gypsy, Hardy, Margaret, and Robert; for Randall and Louis, priests; for the people of Afghanistan and of Haiti; for all who suffer from COVID-19; for all who work for the common good; and for all the friends and members of this parish . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . August 22: 1901 James F. DeVoe; 1907 Catherine M. Ellis; 1922 Phoebe E. Simonson; 1997 Charles Bertram Harmon.

WE NEED YOUR HELP . . . If you have made a pledge for 2021, please continue to make payments on your pledge, if possible. If you have not yet made a pledge for 2021, we urge you to do so. If you can make an additional donation to support the parish at this time, we would happily receive it. Donations may be made online via the Giving section of the parish website. You may also make arrangements for other forms of payment by contacting our parish administrator, Christopher Howatt, who would be happy to assist you. We are grateful to all those who continue to support Saint Mary’s so generously. —The Stewardship Committee

AROUND THE PARISH . . . Times Square Street Closures: West 49th Street between 7th Avenue and 6th Avenue will be closed Sunday, August 22, from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM through September 9 to facilitate crane operation . . . Father Jay Smith will be away from the parish for a week of vacation Monday, August 23–29 . . . Dr. David Hurd will be away from the parish for some weeks of vacation during the month of September—exact details still to be determined.

THIS WEEK AT SAINT MARY’S . . . Sunday, August 22, The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost. The church opens at 10:00 AM and closes at 5:30 PM. Solemn Mass is at 11:00 AM, Father Jay Smith, celebrant and preacher. The readings at Mass are Joshua 24:1–2a, 14–25; Psalm 34:15–22; Ephesians 5:21–33; John 6:51, 60–71. Evening Prayer on Sunday is at 5:00 PM . . . Monday–Saturday, August 23–28, Mass 12:10 PM and Evening Prayer 5:00 PM. The church is open from 11:00 AM until 5:30 PM . . . Tuesday, August 24, Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, Mass 12:10 PM . . . Tuesday, August 24, Racism Discussion Group Meeting, 7:00 PM via Zoom. For more information about this ongoing weekly meeting, please call the parish office . . . Next Sunday, August 29, The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 17), Mass and Holy Baptism 11:00 AM and Evening Prayer at 5:00 PM. The readings at Mass are Deuteronomy 4:1–9; Psalm 15; Ephesians 6:10-20; Mark 7:1–23. The celebrant and preacher will be Father Stephen Gerth.

ABOUT THE MUSIC . . . From the Sunday after the Feast of Corpus Christi in June until the first Sunday in October, the full choir is with us only for the Feast of the Assumption, which this year was celebrated on Sunday, August 15. Beginning on Sunday, August 22, we return to what has been our usual custom during the summer months in recent years: Except on Assumption, the “Mass ordinary” at the Solemn Eucharist (that is, “Glory to God,” “Holy, holy, holy Lord,” and “Lamb of God”) will be a congregational setting. One or more cantors will be present to sing the traditional chants and to sing a solo during the ministration of Communion.

Sunday’s organ voluntaries continue a series, begun earlier this month, of the eight “Little” Preludes and Fugues traditionally attributed to J. S. Bach. These pieces are now widely believed to have been composed by one of his pupils, very likely Johann Tobias Krebs (1690–1762), or his son Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713–1780). Of these eight preludes and fugues, four are in major keys of C, F, G, and B-flat, and the remaining four are in their relative minors of A, D, E, and G. The standard ordering of these eight pieces begins with BWV 553 in C Major and progresses up the scale to BWV 560 in B-flat. Sunday morning’s prelude will be BWV 556 in F Major and the postlude will be BWV 554 in the relative minor key of D. BWV 556, for the prelude, may be the least likely of the eight Preludes and Fugues to have been composed by Sebastian Bach. The prelude especially is stylistically much more suggestive of post-baroque classical composition. Its accompanying fugue has a similar harmonic and textural simplicity as it continues in the bright spirit of F Major. BWV 554, numbered second in the collection and played for the postlude, has an A-B-A-shaped prelude, as did BWV 556. The fugue, with angular theme, is modest in length and follows logically after the prelude.

Christopher Howatt, tenor, returns on Sunday as the cantor for Solemn Mass. During the ministration of Communion, he will sing My soul is athirst for God by Alfred Robert Gaul (1837–1913). This aria derives its text from Psalm 42:2-3 and Psalm 25:17. It is the third of the sixteen pieces which comprise Gaul’s oratorio, The Holy City. Alfred Gaul was born in Norwich, England, and was a boy chorister at the cathedral there. By age seventeen he was parish organist in the neighboring town of Fakenham. He received the Cambridge Bachelor of Music degree in 1863 and proceeded to several church and academic posts, eventually becoming professor of Orchestration and Composition at what later became the Royal Birmingham Conservatory. Gaul composed much choral music and is thought to have been strongly influenced by the works of Louis Spohr (1784–1859) and Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847). The Holy City, Gaul’s most celebrated work, was premiered at the Birmingham Music Festival in 1882. —David Hurd

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 scheduled for Friday, September 17. 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 six (6) volunteers for each Drop-by. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Marie Rosseels, MaryJane Boland, or Father Jay Smith. You may reach them by calling the Parish Office at 212-869-5830.

We would welcome donations of new packets of underwear for both men and women, including undershirts, briefs, boxers, boxer briefs, brassieres, etc. We are so grateful to all those who continue to support this ministry so generously.

SAINT MARY’S ONLINE CENTERING PRAYER GROUP . . . The Saint Mary’s Centering Prayer Group continues to meet! The Group meets online, via Zoom, every Friday evening at 6:30 PM. If you are interested in participating, please send an e-mail to this address. The convenors of the group will then send the link to the Zoom meeting.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . On the five Sundays in October, Father Jay Smith will be leading the Adult-Education class in a series on Virtue and the Virtues as Guides for Christian Living. He will focus in particular on the “cardinal” virtues, prudence, justice, courage, and temperance. If you’d like to do some preparation, take a look at Virtues Abounding: St. Thomas Aquinas on the Cardinal and Related Virtues for Today (Cascade Books, 2019) by Mark O’Keefe, OSB, professor of moral theology at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in Indiana. The book is available for purchase online at bookshop.org and other online retailers . . . We are also happy to announce that Father Peter Powell will be teaching in our adult-education program this fall on Sundays from November 7 until December 19. Father Powell has proven to be a popular Bible teacher both here at Saint Mary’s and at parishes in Connecticut. We are pleased that he will be able to teach in the autumn and again during Lent 2022. This year, Father Powell will be teaching a class about the Holiness Code, Leviticus 17–27. He writes, “I have long been attracted to the Holiness Code as the source of much of what has become Christian Ethics. The foundation of the call to be ethical is that we are called to be Holy because the Lord Our God, who brought his people up from the land of Egypt, is Holy. To be Holy is to be a people apart. This fall and then again in Lent we will look at these chapters and related chapters in the Torah that ground us in what we undertake when we say we are children of God.”

VOLUNTEERS & DONORS NEEDED . . . A Note to Our Faithful Ushers: If you are at Mass and notice that the ushers’ table is understaffed, we invite you to jump in and lend a hand. It’s vacation season, and on some Sundays, we do not have a full complement of ushers . . . Would you like to donate altar flowers? We are looking those willing to donate altar flowers for all the Sundays in August and September, except for August 15 and September 26. (During the month of September, we celebrate the following feast days: the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Holy Cross Day, and Saint Matthew.) The suggested donation for flowers is $250. Donors often give flowers in memory of, thanksgiving for, or celebration of certain people or life events. Please contact Chris Howatt in the parish office, if you would like to donate or you may also speak to Brendon Hunter for more information . . . Please speak to the rector if you’d like to volunteer to take photographs on Sunday morning, during Mass or the adult-education classes. The photographs are used to illustrate the weekly newsletter.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR . . . Monday, September 6, Labor Day . . . Wednesday, September 8, The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary . . . Saturday, September 11, Requiem Mass for Victims of Attacks on 9/11/2001 . . . Tuesday, September 14, Holy Cross Day . . . Tuesday, September 21, Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist . . . Wednesday, September 29, Saint Michael and All Angels . . . Sunday, October 3, The Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, The Beginning of the 2021–2022 Choir Season and the 2021–2022 Christian Education Season.

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.