This Week at St. Mary's-in-Tuxedo |
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Services are being live-streamed online on Facebook (you do not need a Facebook account to participate).
Friday, June 25
8:45pm - Movie Night on the Great Lawn
Sunday, June 27 - Happy Pride!
10am - Holy Eucharist (in-person and online)
11:30am - Vestry Meeting (in-person and online)
Tuesday, June 29
5pm - Evening Prayer (online only)
Wednesday, June 30
10am - Holy Eucharist (in-person and online)
Thursday, July 1
5pm - Evening Prayer (online only)
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Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Yesterday, the Tuxedo Park Garden Club took a field trip up to Hyde Park to visit the gardens at the Vanderbilt mansion and the FDR Presidential Library. The gardens and picnic lunch were really lovely. Sadly, though, we were unable to enter any of the buildings—not even the gift shop! Indeed, the interpreter at the Beatrix Ferrand garden told us that we were her first tour group in over a year.
In contrast to this, I would like to note that at St. Mary’s, we went only four months without in-person worship, and returned to it as soon as was humanly possible just about one year ago. Many churches in our diocese and around the country are only now just cracking the door open to allow the faithful back into the pews.
Everyone in St. Mary’s leadership have done their best to maintain operations and public worship, even in the worst of times, and they deserve to be commended. I have been under some pressure of late to simply “flip a switch” and take us back to the pre-pandemic routine. I really would love to do that, but having lived through the last year and half, we have to be ready to ask whether the old status quo was really working for us. Are we wiling to think outside of the box and try new things? Not everything will be a smashing success, and that’s ok. The point is that we are willing to try. We just need one critical ingredient: regular attendance and participation by the congregation.
It takes a lot more than the rector, his husband, and a handful of others to make a church work at the level people here want. Our parish is brimming with possibilities. Let’s roll up our sleeves, get involved, and make St. Mary’s the parish we all want her to be.
Blessings,
Father Rick
917.658.6314
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Summer Camp Sponsors Needed |
St Mary’s has a long history of assisting families to pay for Summer camp experience for their children. This year some of the camps are free, but the families we are helping are either not eligible for the free camps due to where they live, or the hours being offered are such that the parent would not be able to continue working and earning a living. All these families are known by us and have been adversely affected by the effects of Covid and recommended for financial assistance by guidance counsellors and teachers. Eleven children from seven families will attend the five week Town of Tuxedo Recreation Department Day Camp based on Murphy field and the Ringwood swimming pool. The cost to St Mary’s is $6,760. The children are all very excited and parents relieved that they can continue to work. We would be grateful for sponsorship donations of any amount. The cost for the first child in a family is $660 and siblings $560. |
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Funeral for Fred Wibiralske |
Funeral arrangements have now been finalized for parishioner Fred Wibiralske, who died on May 24th at the age of 94. The funeral will take place here at St. Mary's-in-Tuxedo on Saturday, July 10th, at 3pm. Fred led a life of service to his community as well as his beloved Episcopal Church, and was surrounded by his loving family when he died peacefully at home. You may read his full obituary here. May Fred's soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen.
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Congratulations to Vidya Keshavan and Ian Mathew who were married at St Mary’s on Saturday, June 19th. May God grant them many years! |
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Did you know that many high society weddings have taken place at St. Mary's over the years, including that of Angier B. Duke to Priscilla Avenal St. George in 1937? Several sources attest to the extensive decorations that accompanied various weddings. Parts of the church's nave and sanctuary, including the aisles, pews, altar and columns, were decorated with a wide variety of seasonal and imported foliage; examples include palms, lilies, peonies, holly, roses, dogwood, ferns, fruit blossoms, dahlias, gladioli, snapdragons, forsythia and syringa. Arches were covered with woodland foliage and laurel, while the rafters were filled with branches of balsam. On one occasion a wedding bell formed from white roses was hung from a central arch in the nave.
Many thanks to historian Schuy Neuhauser who has organized this and many other historical tid into a new wikipedia page for St. Mary's that the whole world can enjoy. Please check it out!
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June is LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) Pride Month and the last Sunday in June is when the NYC Pride March takes place. This year, most of the events are online, but the commitment to equality remains strong especially within the Episcopal Church.
While scripture and tradition are foundational in the Episcopal Church, we also believe that reason is a core part of our faith, and the church has struggled over the years about how to include LGBTQ people. Please visit the Episcopal Church LGBTQ page for more information.
Here at St. Mary’s, we believe God’s love is for everyone and the sacraments are open to LGBTQ people. While many great strides have been made, we acknowledge the hurt that has been done to many in the name of the church, and we strive to be a place of open doors and open hearts where people can share their stories and experience the healing and reconciling love of God. All are truly welcome to join us. Happy Pride!
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Honoring George and Prudence Thurston |
Thank you to everyone who helped make recent festivities honoring the Thurstons such a success, especially the lovely reception on the Great Lawn organized by Sue Heywood and Lili Neuhauser! It was the first major gathering after the service in a very long time — and it felt really good. Plus we got to welcome back several friends we haven’t seen in a long time, including sometime curate the Reverend Dana Corsello. Please visit our Facebook page for video and photos of the occasion.
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Tuxedo Police Reform - Input Needed |
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How to contact us...
Office: 845.351.5122
Physical Address: 10 Fox Hill Rd, Tuxedo Park, NY 10987
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 637, Tuxedo Park, NY 10987
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