PREACHING TO AN EVER-DWINDLING CHOIR

Once seen as the default denomination of presidents, tycoons and the WASP elite, America’s Episcopal Church is struggling in the era of Trump, New Age thinking and TV evangelism

Andrea Valentino

SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK, PAST THE shoppers and peanut-hawkers of Fifth Avenue, Dr Jeremy Filsell accompanies a choir into the heart of Saint Thomas Church. Dressed in white and scarlet robes, they process past the pews and file into a pair of matching wooden choirs. Then, with Filsell conducting, they start to sing. The musical programme of Evensong always changes — sometimes Parry, sometimes Byrd — but for Dr Filsell, the organist and director of music (below), the ancient rhythms of the Episcopal service offer a “timeless beauty” as the New York subway grumbles underfoot. “Evensong,” he says, “is a great gateway to a more powerful spiritual life. If you want it.” That final echo of doubt hints to a broader drift. Until the middle of the last century, there…

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The Critic (Digital) - 1 Issue, February 2024

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