Who's Who

The Clergy
Honorary Clergy
The Music Office
Parish Office Staff
The Vestry

The Clergy

The Reverend Canon Carl F. Turner, B.A., M.Th.

Rector

Canon Turner became XIII Rector of Saint Thomas Church in July 2014.

Prior to coming to Saint Thomas, Fr Turner was Canon Precentor of Exeter Cathedral for thirteen years. He led the Department of Liturgy and Music and worked with the 850-year-old Cathedral School. Canon Turner was responsible for all the Cathedral’s worship and music, including Diocesan liturgy, and advised the Bishop and clergy in many areas of pastoral liturgy. He is a former member of the Church of England’s Liturgical Commission and was a Director of the Association of English Cathedrals.

Prior to his time in Exeter, Canon Turner served two curacies in Essex at Leigh-on-Sea and Brentwood. He then became Rector of the Parish of the Divine Compassion, a large urban parish in Plaistow and Canning Town in the East End of London. All of his parishes have been Anglo-Catholic in tradition with a strong love of music and liturgy as well as a strong commitment to the communities that they serve. His parish in East London was part of the revival of the religious life in the Church of England and the first Franciscan Friary since the reformation was founded there.

Canon Turner is a Fellow of Woodard Schools, a member of the Order of Saint John, a Chaplain to the Order of St Lazarus, and a Priest Associate of the Holy House of Our Lady of Walsingham. The Bishop of Exeter made him Canon Emeritus in recognition of his service to the Diocese and the wider Church. In the Spring of 2014, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of Nashotah House but has, since, also formed active links with Berkeley School of Divinity at Yale and the General Theological Seminary.

Canon Turner was born in Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom in 1960. By happy coincidence, this was also the hometown of the XI Rector, Father John Andrew who had been Chaplain to Archbishop Michael Ramsey. When retired, Michael Ramsey became Canon Turner’s mentor and friend when he studied at Durham University and then at Oxford and he arranged for two formative years in the United States when he was a seminarian. Canon Turner married his wife, Alison, in 1990. Alison is a teacher and a priest and, until Easter 2015 was Headmistress of Exeter Junior School, a leading independent preparatory school in the Southwest of England. Canon Turner and Alison have three adopted children who are now young adults; they also have a Cairn Terrier called Bertie. Photo credit: Ira Lippke.

Contact Fr Turner

The Reverend Matthew Moretz

Vicar and Chief Operating Officer (COO)

A native of Augusta, Georgia, Father Moretz was baptized at the Church of the Good Shepherd and attended the Episcopal Day School, a ministry of that parish. While pursuing his studies at Davidson College, Father Moretz discerned a call to the priesthood. After college, his first job was in lay ministry where he served as Director of Youth Formation at Christ Church, Frederica in St. Simon’s Island, Georgia (where Charles Wesley once served). He then received his Masters of Divinity at the General Theological Seminary in New York City and was ordained a priest by the Right Reverend Henry Louttit of the Diocese of Georgia in 2006.

For his first years of ordained ministry, Father Moretz served in Yonkers, New York for multiple parishes there: St. Paul’s and La Iglesia Memorial de San Andres. He was then called to be Curate of Christ’s Church in Rye, New York. In that time, Father Moretz began a light-hearted online video series introducing the life and teaching of the Episcopal Church called “Father Matthew Presents.”
In 2012, Father Moretz returned to New York City to become Associate Rector for Christian Formation at St. Bartholomew’s Church. In 2018, he joined the team of clergy at St. Thomas Church. He was appointed Vicar and Chief Operating Officer in 2021.

He is married to Megan Brandt-Meyer, who works for the financial services company, TP ICAP. They are the loving parents of two sons, Samuel and Gabriel.

Contact Fr Moretz

The Reverend Alison Joan Turner

Associate for Children & Family Ministry and School Chaplain

The Rev. Alison Turner became Associate for Children & Family Ministry at Saint Thomas Church in 2018. A life-long educator, her role within the clergy team includes liturgical responsibilities of a parish priest, specific responsibilities for pastoral care of young people and families, hospitality and outreach. She oversees the organization and management of new and creative ministries for the children and young people of our parish, including Catechesis, 9am Mass ministries, and Sunday School and Nursery. After serving as Acting School Chaplain during the pandemic, she was formally commissioned as Choir School Chaplain in 2021, a role she holds concurrent with her parish duties. She chairs the Safeguarding Monitoring Committee of the Vestry at Saint Thomas, which serves both our church and school. Within the Diocese, Mother Turner serves as Dean of the Midtown Manhattan Clericus.

Mother Turner was born in southeast England and has always been immersed in parish life, as both a teacher and priest, with a special focus on education and catechesis, liturgy, and music.

A graduate of St Mary’s University College, Strawberry Hill, Twickenham (University of Surrey) from where she went to teach in Roman Catholic and Anglican multicultural schools in East London, while working towards an MA in Theology and Adult Education (University of Surrey) in preparation for her ordination. Her ministerial training was based in Cambridge.

Her first Head of School position was in a rural setting (age 4-11) in Devon (in the southwest of England) in 2001. In 2006, she became Headmistress of Exeter Junior School, a large independent city school (age 7-18) founded in 1633, and one of the leading co-Ed independent schools in the southwest of England.

Mother Turner was ordained priest in the Diocese of Chelmsford, at Michaelmas 1998 where, in her early parish ministry, she developed an interest in redevelopment projects and collaborations between church and schools. Her most recent ministerial position in the UK was as Priest Vicar in Exeter Cathedral, where she held various liturgical roles as well as oversight of the nurture and catechesis of children and young people at local and Diocesan level, alongside her full/time role as a Head of School. She served as a member of the Diocesan Board of an Education.

In 2015, she joined her husband, Fr. Turner, and Bertie their Cairn terrier, in New York. She became part of Saint Thomas life and assisted local parishes with services while studying at the General Theological Seminary.

In 2018 and 2019 Turner graduated with a Masters in Sacred Theology and Certificate in Spiritual Direction from the General Theological Seminary in New York City. The focus of her thesis was Children’s ministry in the Episcopal Church. She is now completing a part time D.Min.

Alison is a member of the St. George’s Society, New York, the oldest charity in the city and serves on the benefit committee that works with social workers looking after vulnerable seniors. She is also a very active member of the Order of St. John, and with her husband, has close relationships with the Order of Malta and enjoys fostering ever-deepening relationships between the Roman Catholic and Episcopal Dioceses in New York. She has three grown-up adopted children, and is now a proud grandmother of three.

Contact Mother Turner

The Reverend Mark Daniel Schultz

Associate for Pastoral Care

Father Schultz discerned his call to the priesthood at Saint Ignatius of Antioch on New York’s Upper West Side. He studied at Berkeley Divinity School and the Institute of Sacred Music at Yale, and he was ordained to the priesthood in 2017 by Bishop Andrew M.L. Dietsche.

While at seminary, Father Schultz was an intern at Saint Luke’s in New Haven, focusing on making pastoral care visits, leading Bible study, and providing seasonal formation opportunities during a time of transition in parish leadership.

Father Schultz comes to Saint Thomas Church from Saint Philip’s in the Hills in Tucson, Arizona, where he served as Curate for Children, Youth, and Family Ministries. In addition to having the oversight of the pastoral care, formation, and liturgical life of the parish’s children and families, leading an international youth pilgrimage and organizing various retreats, Fr. Schultz provided liturgical leadership, studies and classes, pastoral care and spiritual direction for parishioners and members of the wider community as well. He is an enthusiastic proponent of what’s been called the English School of Catholic Spirituality and has an abiding interest in Christian mysticism.

Still an active playwright, Father Schultz is a resident of New Dramatists (class of 2022). His work, which has been produced domestically and internationally, has won him both the Kesselring and Newsday Oppenheimer prizes. He has an MFA in playwriting from Columbia University.

Father Schultz’ husband, Erich, is a Lutheran and a printmaker. A mildly sentimental Arsenal F.C. supporter, Father Schultz is also a pianist and passably proficient at the musical saw. He is a member of the Society of Catholic Priests.

Contact Father Schultz

The Rev. Dr. Luigi Gioia

Theologian in Residence

Before coming to Saint Thomas Church in November of 2022, the Revd Dr. Luigi Gioia was Associate Priest and Director of Formation at St Paul’s Knightsbridge, London, and a Research Associate at the Von Hügel Institute at the University of Cambridge (UK). He was a Benedictine monk for 25 years and did his doctoral studies at the University of Oxford. He taught theology for almost 20 years in France and at the Pontifical University of St Anselm in Rome. He discovered the beauty of the liturgical and theological traditions of the Anglican Church during his time in Oxford and eventually became an Anglican a few years later.

Luigi is a writer in theology and spirituality. He gives talks, preaches retreats, leads workshops, and teaches courses as an invited lecturer in universities, theological colleges, and parishes all over the world. He is fluent in English, French and Italian. His books have been translated in five languages. His spiritual meditations have been published by The Tablet, Crux, The America Magazine, The Church Times and broadcast by the BBC.

Besides his academic work on St Augustine, Luigi has written several wide-audience books on spirituality. His book Say It To God. In Search Of Prayer was chosen as the Archbishop of Canterbury Lent Book for 2018.

His latest book, The Wisdom of St Benedict. Monastic Spirituality and the Life of the Church received the First Place in the category of Spirituality Award by the CMA (Catholic Media Association, USA) in 2021.

Luigi is from Matera, in the South of Italy, and has worked in Italy, France, England, and the United States. He is married to Claudio, also Italian from Naples, who works in Digital Marketing. In recent years Luigi has discovered a love for gardening and Claudio, who lived for years in Spain between the Canary Islands and Madrid, loves beach volleyball and goes crazy for sushi (both eating it and making it). Luigi and Claudio share a passion for the Amalfi coast, movies and, of course, ice creams.

Contact Fr. Gioia

The Rev. Juyoung Prisca Lee-Pae

Associate Priest for Pan-Asian Ministry

Mother Lee-Pae was born and raised in a faithful Anglican family in Korea. Her great-grandfather was among the first generation of Korean priests of the Anglican church of Korea, and he died in North Korea during the Korean War for the sake of his faith in Christ. This significantly influenced Mother Lee-Pae’s identity as a Christian. She obtained Th.M. from Ewha Woman’s University in Korea and worked for faith formation of children, youth, and lay people as a diocesan staff in Seoul. She participated as a young adult delegate in many kinds of Anglican and ecumenical conferences, widening her views on theology and various religious practices. Her experiences of staying in various faith communities like Quaker Study Center and Anglican convents in England, Taizé community in France, and L’abri in Netherland and meeting with North Korean refugees in China and indigenous Africans in Kenya, have been important parts of her spiritual journey.

Volunteering at slum in Korea, Mother Lee-Pae met Anglican priests who dedicated their lives for the poor and they inspired her to devote her life to God. She worked for the Sharing House in Seoul which served migrant workers in the area. She visited a mosque every week to reach out to Muslim migrant workers who were neglected by other Christian agencies because of their religion. She also worked for the Graduate school of Theology at Ewha Woman’s University as an administrator. Before coming to the United States, she worked at Church Mission Society of the UK at their office in Seoul.

In May of 2021, Mother Lee-Pae completed an STM degree from the Episcopal Divinity School at Union Theological Seminary. She was ordained to the priesthood on September 4, 2021. Mother Lee-Pae is married to the Canon Reverend Joseph Pae, an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Long Island, and she is the mother of two children, Ethan and Evelyn.

Contact Mother Lee-Pae

Fr. Preston Gonzalez-Grissom

Assistant Priest for Children and Family Ministry

Fr. Preston, originally from Chesapeake, Virginia, has spent the past few years serving as a Hospital Chaplain, following his graduation from Princeton Theological Seminary. Prior to his seminary studies, he pursued his passion for justice in roles such as Housing Coordinator for For Kids Inc., where he facilitated stable living conditions for unhoused families, and Director of Operations for Faith for Justice, a nonprofit in St. Louis that provided consulting services to churches, universities, and other organizations on matters of anti-racism and racial equity. Father Preston is deeply committed to spiritual formation and has served as Assistant Youth Director and Spiritual Formation Fellow at a Charlottesville parish, as well as serving as Spiritual Formation Research Assistant at Princeton Seminary and Trinity Episcopal Church, where he was a Graduate Student Minister to Princeton University Ph. D students.

Contact Fr. Gonzalez-Grissom

Honorary Clergy

The Reverend Andrew C. Mead, OBE, DD, Rector Emeritus
Right Reverend Andrew R. St. John, DD, Bishop in Residence
The Reverend Patrick S. Cheng, J.D., Ph.D., Theologian in Residence
The Reverend Mark Brown, Honorary Assistant
The Reverend Gina Gore, Honorary Assistant
The Reverend David F. Mc Neeley, Honorary Assistant
The Reverend Thomas F. Pike, Honorary Assistant

Music Office Staff

Jeremy Filsell

Organist and Director of Music

As a U.S. Citizen and a British Citizen, Jeremy is uniquely placed to lead the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, which owes much of its existence to the great English choral tradition since T. Tertius Noble was invited to found the Saint Thomas Choir School in 1919.

Jeremy Filsell has been hailed as one of only a few virtuoso performers as both pianist and organist. He has appeared as a solo pianist in Russia, Scandinavia, New Zealand and throughout the USA and UK. His concerto repertoire encompasses Bach, Mozart and Beethoven through to Shostakovich, John Ireland and Rachmaninov. He has recorded the solo piano music of Herbert Howells, Bernard Stevens, Eugene Goossens and Johann Eschmann and recently released were discs of Litaize’s organ music, Rachmaninov’s first and second piano concertos and two of French Mélodies accompanying Michael Bundy (baritone). Jeremy is on the international roster of Steinway Piano Artists and has recorded for BBC Radio 3, USA, and Scandinavian radio networks in solo and concerto roles.

His discography comprises more than 35 solo recordings. Gramophone magazine commented on the series of 12 CDs comprising the première recordings of Marcel Dupré’s complete organ works for Guild that it was ‘one of the greatest achievements in organ recording’. In 2005, Signum released a 3-disc set of the six organ symphonies of Louis Vierne, recorded on the 1890 Cavaillé-Coll organ in St. Ouen, Rouen, BBC Radio 3’s Discs of the Week.

He has taught at universities, summer schools, and conventions in both the UK and USA and has served on international competition juries in England and Switzerland. Recent solo engagements have taken him across the USA and UK and to Germany, France, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Australia and New Zealand. In North America, he concertizes under the auspices of Philip Truckenbrod Concert Artists.

Brought up as a chorister in Coventry, England, Jeremy Filsell was charged with the direction of a men & boys choir there while still a High School student. Studying with Nicolas Kynaston and Daniel Roth, he read for a first degree as Organ Scholar of Keble College, Oxford University before completing graduate studies in piano at the Royal College of Music in London and gaining a PhD in Musicology at Birmingham Conservatoire/BCU for research on aesthetic and interpretative issues in the music of Marcel Dupré.

Jeremy was formerly Assistant Organist of Ely Cathedral, Director of Music at St. Luke’s Chelsea and, before moving to the USA in 2008, held Academic and Performance lectureships at the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, and was a lay clerk in the Queen’s choir at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle. Immediately before coming to Saint Thomas, he was Artist in Residence at Washington National Cathedral, Director of Music at the Church of the Epiphany in Washington DC, and Professor of Organ at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, MD.

You can read more about Jeremy at his website: www.jeremyfilsell.com.

Nicolas Haigh

Associate Organist

Nicolas Haigh serves as Associate Organist at Saint Thomas Church in New York City where he appears regularly with the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys. Originally from the United Kingdom, Nicolas previously held positions with the multiple Gramophone Award-winning Choir of New College, Oxford, and York Minster. He is a recipient of the coveted Limpus Prize from the Royal College of Organists and held the Sir William McKie Organ Scholarship at Clare College, Cambridge.

Active as a historical keyboardist, continuo performer, and conductor, Nicolas appears regularly with American Bach Soloists, Oxford Bach Soloists, and Bach Akademie Charlotte. He is also the co-founder of early music consort L’Académie du Roi Soleil with which he has performed throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

Nicolas has been privileged to perform as both a soloist and accompanist to countries including Australia, France, Italy, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, and Israel. He can be heard on numerous CDs including Veni Emmanuel and Imogen Holst: Choral Works (Harmonia Mundi USA) and has performed frequently on radio (BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4). Nicolas’ teachers have included Malcolm Archer, Clive Driskill-Smith, James McVinnie, and Jonathan Moyer.

Maks Adach

Associate for Musical Studies and Assistant Organist

Maks Adach is the Assistant Organist and Associate for Musical Studies at saint Thomas Church and Choir School. He began his musical training as a chorister at the London Oratory under the direction of Lee Ward and Nicholas O’Neill. While still at school, Maks continued his organ studies with Daniel Moult at the Royal College of Music Junior Department before spending a year at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance where he held the organ scholarship at the Old Royal Naval College.

On leaving Trinity, Maks went up to Oriel College, Oxford, as organ scholar. Upon graduation, Maks remained at Oxford and read for a master’s degree in musicology.

During his time at Oxford, Maks spent four years as Master of Music at Pusey House and served as Director of Chapel Music at St. John’s College. Following organ scholarships at Lichfield and Liverpool Anglican cathedrals, Maks moved to the United States to serve as Assistant Director of Music at St Paul’s Church, Harvard Square, home to the only Roman Catholic boys’ choir school in the United States.

In addition to his work as an organist and choral director, Maks is active as a music editor. His critical edition of Ethel Smyth’s Five Sacred Partsongs has recently been published by Stainer and Bell as part of the Multitude of Voyces series—a project dedicated to promoting music by underrepresented composers.

John Ramseyer

Concert Series Manager

John Ramseyer, tenor, is a New York City-based performer of operatic, concert, and early music. Well-versed in operatic repertoire spanning the eras, Mr. Ramseyer has performed leading roles with The Bronx Opera Company, Apotheosis Opera, Resonanz Opera, Christman Opera Company, LoftOpera, Mannes Opera, and many others. As a concert soloist, John has collaborated with many of New York’s finest ensembles, including the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the American Classical Orchestra, and Camerata New York.

This season, Ramseyer has performed with Musica Sacra, collaborated with the UK choir Vasari Singers, and sang in the extra chorus of the Metropolitan Opera’s productions of Boris Godunov, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, as well as their concerts of Verdi’s Requiem and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. In previous seasons, Mr. Ramseyer has performed as a soloist with many of New York’s great local choral societies, such as St. George’s Choral Society, the Astoria Choir, and the Forest Hills Choir.

He feels privileged to perform his dual role as Gentlemen of the Choir and Concert Series Manager at Saint Thomas Church.

Rebecca Kellerman-Filsell

Music Associate for Children and Youth
Concerts and Media Coordinator for Music

Rebecca Kellerman-Filsell, joins the music office staff after spending the previous 20+ years singing and teaching music in the Washington, DC metro area. Whilst in Washington, DC, Rebecca frequently appeared as soloist and chorister with The Washington Bach Consort, Opera Lafayette, The Washington National Cathedral and various other choral groups in the DC metro area and beyond.

Most recently, Rebecca served as section leader and Music Associate at Saint Alban’s Church, Washington, DC, where she reignited their children’s music ministry with a RSCM chorister program. She also served as vocal coach for the chorister program at Saint Paul’s K St. from 2014-2019. Her private studio includes students of all ages and abilities, but she specializes in teaching young singers. Rebecca holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Music from Shenandoah University, where she studied voice performance/pedagogy and music education. Rebecca lives in the heart of Manhattan with her husband, two sons and a spotted gecko.

Margaret Carpenter Haigh

Music Office Manager

Soprano Margaret Carpenter Haigh appears as a soloist and chamber musician throughout North America. Recent highlights include appearances with Memphis, Winston-Salem, and Portland Symphonies; Messiah Festival of the Arts; Bach Akademie Charlotte; National Sawdust; Arizona MusicFest; and Evansville Philharmonic. She can be heard regularly with the nation’s premier ensembles including The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Handel and Haydn Society, and GRAMMY©-winning Apollo’s Fire. She is co-artistic director of L’Académie du Roi Soleil, with which she has performed across the United States and the United Kingdom.

Margaret holds the DMA in Historical Performance Practice from Case Western Reserve University; the M.Mus in Choral Studies from the University of Cambridge, where she was a Gates Cambridge Scholar; and degrees in Voice and Organ from UNC-Greensboro. Scholarship includes work on physical gesture in the madrigal repertoire of the concerto delle donne in late sixteenth-century Ferrara, and she is active as a conductor and educator, teaching voice privately and leading workshops around the country on physical gesture for singers. Margaret is a member of the Choir of Trinity Wall Street. For more information, visit www.margaretcarpenterhaigh.com.

Mike Williams

Music Librarian Associate

Tenor Mike Williams has made himself known as an in demand church musician and choral singer in the greater New York and Philadelphia areas. He recently made his debut as the Evangelist in Bach’s St. Matthew Passion with the Illinois Bach Academy under the direction of Dr. Andrew Megill. A graduate of Westminster Choir College, he has performed a wide range of concert works including Haydn’s “Die Jahreszeiten” (Choir) with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Bach’s “Johannes passion” (solo) with the Illinois Bach Festival and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 9” (solo), with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra as well as Bernstein’s Candide (choir) where he shared the stage with narrators Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan. He has performed under the baton of Yannick Nezet Seguin, Christian Macelaru, Dame Jane Glover, Nathalie Stutzmann, and Sir Simon Rattle.

Church & Parish House Staff

Bruce Smith

Chief Advancement Officer

Bruce Smith has been a professional fundraiser for over twenty years, having led the development function at four organizations: The General Theological Seminary in New York City, Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, MA, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln, MA, and The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, CT.

He earned his A.B. with Honors from University College, Cork, Ireland in English and History and subsequently received an MFA in Theater from the University of California, San Diego. He was an actor, writer, and director in New York prior to beginning his development career.

Bruce is married to an Episcopal priest, the Rev. Kate Malin, Rector of Christ’s Church, Rye, NY. They have three college-age children: twins Emerson and Murphy, and Owen. All three are pursuing careers as theater artists.

Contact Bruce

Adam MacDonald

Director of Development

Adam MacDonald has been a freelance singer and actor in NYC for nearly two decades, performing off-broadway, regionally, and in national tours. He has been a tenor section-leader in the choir at the Church of the Heavenly Rest since 2002, where he also serves on the Vestry, produces their summertime Jazz Vespers service, and works on the Stewardship Committee. At CHR, Adam created the community organizing platform Block90 – an energetic and experiential way to engage the neighborhood and greater NYC with music, food, and art. Originally hailing from Buffalo, NY, Adam obtained degrees in Voice and Music Education from SUNY Fredonia, and a Master of Arts and Humanities from the University at Buffalo. He currently lives in northern Manhattan with his wife Kristin, and their two daughters Ellery & Delaney.

Contact Adam

Blake Martin

Director of Communications and Digital Production

I aim to share the mission of Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue with New York and the world, making our programs, music, historic space, and spiritual life accessible to everyone—from passersby admiring our French Gothic church to our global online community.

I grew up in a Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, which informs my lifelong passion for spiritual communities, music, and worship. Language and storytelling have long been my passions, and I started my career at the University of Pennsylvania where I studied creative writing and later worked for the Kelly Writers House. I went on to pursue an MFA in filmmaking from Columbia University. My role at Saint Thomas allows me to blend my love of writing, filmmaking, and communication with spirituality. I am grateful to be one of many dedicated stewards of this beloved and storied New York parish.

David Bryan

Head Verger
Originally from Durham, North Carolina, David Bryan grew up in the Episcopal Church and has lived in New York City for 22 years. David holds degrees in music and religious studies, including an MA in theology from Union Theological Seminary, and he has taught at Hunter College and the College of New Rochelle. As a church musician, he has sung with many notable ensembles in town, including the New York Philharmonic, American Symphony Orchestra, and Early Music New York.

David sang in the professional choir at Saint Bartholomew’s Church in New York City for twenty years. Over that time, he also served as Choral Librarian, Communications Associate, Director of Welcome, and, most recently, as Liturgy Coordinator. For much of this year, he has served as Youth Director for an ecumenical group of churches in Irvington, NY.

Lizette Hernandez

Executive Assistant to the Rector

Lizette began working at Saint Thomas Church in September, 2019 as a temp. She has since been hired as a permanent employee as the Executive Assistant to the Rector. Prior to Saint Thomas, Lizette worked was freelancing as a temp working as an Executive Assistant in various industries, most recently, the Finance industry. Lizette is a very organized and detail oriented person. Among her primary duties, she is responsible for overseeing and maintaining the Rector’s very busy calendar. She is the gatekeeper to the Rector’s office and ensures that the Rector is on time and well-prepared for his meetings.

In her free time, Lizette likes to spend time at home with her partner, Paul, listening to vinyl records from her extensive collection. She enjoys cooking and baking for her family and friends. She also has three rescue cats: Carlito, and twins, Max and Luna.

Amy Cheresnowski

Database Manager

Amy came to the staff of Saint Thomas in the summer of 2016 as Executive Assistant to the Rector. In 2020, she began the new position as Database Manager and Parish House Administrator. She began her church administration career at The Riverside Church as their Mission and Social Justice Coordinator and then moved to Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church as their Administrative Assistant for Congregational Care and Outreach. She is quite excited to begin this new role at Saint Thomas in the Institutional Advancement Office.

Amy graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Political Science and Urban Studies, concentrating in Latin America. She received her MS in Nonprofit Leadership from Fordham University in August 2015.

She and her husband Mike are avid sports fans and enjoy a good Mets or Rangers game. They are also seasoned travelers and enjoy exploring (or escaping) the city whenever they can. In October 2017, they welcomed their son Nathaniel, and in September 2019, they welcomed their son Owen, completing their family. They live in the Spuyten Duyvil neighborhood of the Bronx along with their cat, Buddy.

Linda Morfi

Pastoral Care Coordinator

Linda has worked at Saint Thomas Church since May of 1998. Prior to that she worked for the non-profit, Catholic Medical Mission Board where she oversaw donated medicines to third world countries. During that time she served on the board of Ayudamos, a non-profit humanitarian organization.

Linda is a founding member of our Ecumenical Outreach Program (EOP). This collaboration between Saint Thomas Church, Saint Patrick’s cathedral and Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church s spent years volunteering as a class representative at P.S. 41, the Greenwich Village Public School, Girl Scout leader, Lab School parent volunteer, and was an active member of the Mother’s Club at St. Francis Xavier High School in Manhattan.

Linda assists the clergy by incorporating the social work element of the needs of the parishioners. She assists our parishioners facing difficult times. She leads the Prayer Shawl Ministry and the Rector’s ministry for the seniors of the parish. Linda organizes and implements our various community outreach programs geared to children and the homebound. This includes our Easter outreach, Back to School drive, our Angel Tree at Christmas, and other outreach projects.