Dear Epiphany,
One of the great servants of The Episcopal Church passed into glory on Tuesday, November 10: Carol Foster. She was a woman of extraordinary gifts: a distinguished organist, a tireless advocate for children’s music, a keeper of institutional memory, and one of the most connected people in Anglican choral music.
Carol and her husband Tom were, in every sense, a team. Together they reinvigorated the music program at Epiphany. Tom’s vision was inseparable from Carol’s organizing intelligence. She was the steady hand behind so much of what the Fosters built together: the planning, the pastoral care, and the institutional relationships.
Carol’s biography in church music spans the breadth of the Episcopal Church. She served as organist-choirmaster at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Los Angeles; St. John’s Church (now Cathedral), Los Angeles; St. Mark’s Church, Upland; Church of the Epiphany, Oak Park; and Church of the Epiphany, Agoura/Westlake. After moving to Seattle in 2005, she served as parish musician at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church on Whidbey Island. She was also past dean of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Guild of Organists.
On the national stage, Carol served as a member of the Standing Commission on Church Music and of the Service Music Committee that produced The Hymnal 1982. She was part of that landmark commission not simply as a name on a committee but as an active voice shaping the music that the Episcopal Church still sings today.
Carol was a mentor to me, who guided me with great patience, and a robust laugh. Carol loved to laugh… and tell or hear a good story. Even after she and Tom moved to Dallas a few years ago, I would call her to find out what was going on in the National Church. I must note also that Carol missed Epiphany. She loved this community and our dedication to traditional liturgy and choral music.
Her passing came quickly, and I had the privilege of accompanying her sons, Hunter and Jim, from afar during her final days. Please keep them in your prayers.
Carol will be interred here, in our columbarium, alongside Tom. I will keep you posted as to when that service will be held.
This Sunday we will pray for Carol as she moves from the material to the metaphysical, from the temporal to the eternal, from the small matters of this life into the glory of our God.
Peace upon your soul.
Doyt+