Dean Andrew McGowan gave the inaugural Peter Powell Lecture on Anglo-Catholicism and Mission at the Church of St Mary the Virgin, Time Square, New York, on February 12, 2026, on the topic of “The Tabernacle and the Streets: Reserving the Eucharist and Feeding the Poor.”
In his lecture Dean McGowan discussed the strong connection between Anglo-Catholic sacramental theology and social witness, manifest in Bishop Frank Weston’s famous dictum “You cannot claim to worship Jesus in the Tabernacle, if you do not pity Jesus in the slum.”
While often quoted, Bishop Weston’s allusion to the reservation of the Eucharist has rarely been explored in detail. Dean McGowan considered how controversial reservation was for Anglicans at the time Weston spoke in 1923. He discussed the origins of Eucharistic reservation as a reflection of ancient food practices and concluded that reserving and venerating the Eucharistic elements was not only a reflection of Medieval piety, but was grounded in the mutual obligation that families and communities expressed by storing and sharing food, and hence was probably as old as the Eucharist itself. This means the connection between reservation and social service is even more direct than Anglo-Catholics had assumed. Further, the practice of reservation provides a symbolic counter-point to the environmental challenge of food waste.
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The Rev. Dr. Peter R. Powell began attending St. Mary the Virgin in 2002, serving as an Assisting Priest and teaching adult formation courses for twenty years. He retired from serving as founder and President/CEO of Homes with Hope in Westport, CT, a provider of Supportive Housing, Emergency Shelter, and related services in 2010 after 22 years. His focus has always been on the relationship of the Incarnation and caring for the poor and vulnerable. Upon his retirement from St. Mary’s in 2025, the Board of Trustees of St Mary’s commissioned this series of lectures to honor his ministry.
Dean McGowan concludes service as the 14th Dean of Berkeley after this term, and following a year’s study leave as a Senior Faculty Fellow will join the faculty of the Institute of Sacred Music and continue teaching at Yale Divinity School.