Thomas Jayne

Thomas Jayne: Heavenly Intervention at the Rectory, NY Times

Thomas Jayne: Heavenly Intervention at the Rectory, NY Times
...
Thomas Jayne: Heavenly Intervention at the Rectory
...
Mr. Jayne, a New York decorator who has worked in more than a few of the major apartment buildings in the city, from the Dakota to River House, is completing the refurbishment of the rectory at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, off Times Square.Mr. Jayne is a parishioner.

The Rev. Stephen Gerth, St. Mary's rector, after arriving in January last year, invited Mr. Jayne to consider the project over cocktails at the rectory."It was on my mind that it was time for painting, and refinishing the floors," said Father Gerth, a gregarious Virginian who had never worked with a decorator.Like most first- time clients, he was thinking small when he started."One of the ways we serve our community is with the ministry of hospitality," he said."And you can't have that without the environment for it."

The church, built in 1895 at 145 West 46th Street, had been redecorated in 1997 in the French Gothic style by the previous rector, the Rev. Edgar Wells.The adjoining rectory, a clergy residence as well as a place to receive both the local parish and church dignitaries, was not down-at-heel, but it was socially disadvantaged by a certain cosmetic neglect.

"It wasn't in `receiving order,' as my grandmother used to say," Mr. Jayne said last week, as his drapery makers from Dallas finger- pressed the pleats into place on the parlor's new batiste curtains behind him, in preparation for the redecorated rectory's first reception, to be held that night.A fire-red parking sign on a garage opposite the rectory flashed in the wooden shuttered bay window like a warning about the ways of the flesh.

What Mr. Jayne delivered is what decorators say is their profession at the top of its game: a perfect balance between effect and restraint, a kind of rich simplicity.At St. Mary's, the rectory job dictated it: anything else would have been a public relations problem for a priest, who presumably has other things on his mind than Orientalist damasks and pink nesting tables.

"I said, `You need this for your work,' " Mr. Jayne recalled of his conversation with Father Gerth about the redecoration.
...
Mr. Jayne's office, including the project's manager, Leigh Taylor, had repeated discussions, not about the usual decorating transfigurations - turning new money into old - but on walking the line between "seemly and unseemly," the decorator said.

"We wanted it to be handsome," Mr. Jayne said.
...
The decorator, Thomas Jayne & Father Gerth.

PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Jenny who is hospitalized and for Jane, Debbie, Ruth, Brian, John, José, Deborah, Tanya, Ibo, Pamela, Penn, Gilbert, Robert, Gloria, Jason, Kay, Bart, Marion, Mamie, Rick, Thomas, priest, Charles, priest and Gene, priest; and for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Bruce, Brenden, Jonathan, Jeffrey, Timothy, and Christopher . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . February 5: 1964 Joseph Alexander Ellis Steele, 1993 Gerald Dennis Bergstrom; February 7: 1954 John H. Von Runneau.
...
Elected two new members to the Board of Trustees, for four-year terms each: Mr. Larry Green and Mr. Thomas Jayne.

The new officers of the Board are Thomas Jayne, vice-president, Susan Miranda, secretary, and Steven Heffner, treasurer.

Five trustees are taking the lead on this- Steven Heffner (our treasurer as chair) and fellow board members MaryJane Boland, Thomas Jayne (our vice president), David Jette and Jane Daniels Lear.
...
PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Jack, Doreen, Fred, Gert, Virginia, Ana, Kevin, Gloria, William, Gilbert, Rick, Suzanne, Carl, PRIEST, Thomas, PRIEST, and Charles, PRIEST; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Andrew, Steve, Patrick, Brenden, Christopher, Steven and Marc; and for the repose of the souls of Herb, Rose and Edgar . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . October 21: 1988 Philip W. Callanan; October 23: 1985 Adolphe Barreaux; October 26: 1987 Dorothea Moran

PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Richard who is hospitalized, for Ray, Patty, Betty Ann, Matthew, Kamil, Donna, Lloyd, Deborah, Charlton, Virginia, William, Mary, Tony, Ibo, Penn, Gilbert, Robert, Gloria, Marion, Mamie, Rick, Henry, Thomas, priest and Charles, priest, and for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Patrick, Bruce, Brenden, Jonathan, Marc, Joseph, Timothy, Christopher, David, Timothy, Nestor, Freddie, Derrick and Christina . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . September 27: 1992 Howard R. Patch; October 1: 1996 William Wolf.
...
To reserve a date please contact the parish office . . . The Yuletide tour at Winterthur Museum in Delaware includes four historic interiors decorated by parishioner Thomas Jayne. See www.winterthur.org . . . In preparation for Sunday School, Saint Benedict's Study is being renovated and new furnishings for children are being purchased . . . Attendance Last Sunday 205.

CHRISTIAN EDUCATION . . . Poetic Devotion: Surveying the Christian Lyric in English from the 17th century to the present: this class with Professor Rebecca Weiner meets on Thursday evening, September 29.

PRAYER LIST . . . Your prayers are asked for Patty who is gravely ill, and for Donna, Lloyd, Mikhail, Deborah, Luis, Anita, Erika, Rosemary, Rich, Lou, Michelle, Charlton, Virginia, William, Mary, Virginia, Tony, Ibo, Penn, Gilbert, Robert, Gloria, Marion, Mamie, Rick, Thomas, priest and Charles, priest; for the members of our Armed Forces on active duty, especially Patrick, Bruce, Brenden, Jonathan, Joseph, Timothy, Christopher, David, Timothy, Nestor, Freddie, Derrick and Christina, and for the repose of the souls of Toyoko, Rose and Elvira . . . GRANT THEM PEACE . . . August 13: 1987 Toyoko Anne Tsutsumi Morton; August 15: 1963 Rose Macchia, 1971 Elvira Horg Oyx..
...
Timothy is Thomas Jayne's cousin . . . Major Brenden Anderson is an Army Ranger who is currently stationed at the U.S. Army's Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.