The Nov. 18 edition of The Living Church is available online to registered subscribers. In this edition, Kirk Petersen reports on how Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue raised funds for a new organ and related construction:
After more than a decade of planning, fundraising, and construction, a prominent New York City parish has introduced a pipe organ for the ages.
More than 1,100 people packed the pews at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue for the Oct. 5 dedication recital of the new $11 million Miller-Scott organ. They heard more than 90 minutes of organ works from an instrument that combines an ancient invention with sophisticated modern electronics.
Saint Thomas occupies a unique spot among places for Anglican sacred music. In addition to a large church community, the parish also is home to the Saint Thomas Choir School, America’s only church-affiliated choir boarding school, which The New York Times likened to Westminster Abbey in London. Saint Thomas was founded in 1823, and the current building opened more than a century ago, in 1913.
Each year, 25 to 30 boys in grades 3 through 8 study, work and live at the school. They perform in the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, which periodically tours in Europe and throughout the United States.
With the new organ, “we now have the instrument to match the quality of the music and the world-class choir we have here,” said Ben Sheen, associate organist.
News
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Features
- An Organ Crescendo 10 Years in the Making | By Kirk Petersen
- Giving Is a Holy Madness | By Mark Michael
Faith Talks
- Reframing Christian Education | By Jon Jordan
- Attaining the Good Life | By Seth Oldham
Cultures
- Joan of Arc’s Family Drama | By Retta Blaney
Books
- The Jewish Bible and The Bible from Late Antiquity to the Renaissance
Review by Paul Wheatley - The Oxford History of Anglicanism, Volume IV | Review by Robert Tobin
- The Honey of Souls | Review by Allison Zbicz Michael
- Reforming the Monastery | Review by Philip Harrold
- The Landscape of Faith | Review by J. David Moser
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