From the Rector
Dear Friends in Christ,
There are a number of important things happening as we emerge from the pandemic. Just a few that you’ll hear a bit about in the annual meeting address at 1:00pm on Sunday, February 13, include:
1. Work on a campus mission plan; a master plan for restoration, repair, and development of the campus.
2. Development of mission teams, groups of clergy, lay leaders, vestry, and staff to develop different aspects of ministry and mission.
3. New outreach initiatives like our compline service in the Mercado district, a potential partner relationship developing with churches in Northern Mexico, and partnership programs building on the upgraded commercial kitchen, and developing support and expanding the ministry of Beloved in the Desert.
4. Continued transition in Children, Youth, and Family Ministry (CYFM) as Mtr Taylor steps into leadership and we look to grow the pool of catechists, mentors, and teachers.
5. Supporting the new school, Catalina Hills (that has replaced the Beginning Schoo), and the new pottery program, Saint Philip’s Clay.
6. Continuing to assess the impact of COVID-19 on attendance, membership, programs, facilities usage, and more.
7. Evaluating administrative needs and processes with the departures of Lois Britton, Anthea, and Mtr Kelli. This includes tightening audit procedures, expenses, and more.
8. Assessing staffing needs in light of the staff departures, impact of COVID, and new needs like live-streaming and hybrid meetings.
9. Developing Senior Ministries as a companion to our ongoing work developing CYFM to build a truly intergenerational community.
10. The development of small group ministries and EfM to support, nurture, and sustain the spiritual life of parishioners at the relational level.
11. Assessing worship, prayer, and formation ministries as a whole to determine what is sustainable in light of attendance, volunteer, and staffing changes. For example, looking at the number of services we offer or the range of classes needed in a changing time.
12. Developing new ways to welcome newcomers and connect them with opportunities to grow and serve here.
13. Trying to plan for pilgrimages and mission trips which may or may not be able to happen—yet certainly won’t without planning.
14. Creating more opportunities for simple fellowship, celebration, and grieving in community as we all seek to connect and re-group.
15. Recalibration of our forecasting around stewardship, planned giving, and long-term financial sustainability in light of COVID.
That list is, in some ways, just one that I came up with as I pondered what we’re working on this week!
It is not comprehensive, but I think it gives you a sense of the range and pace of transition. I had dearly hoped that my sixth year here would be one in which we could build on a certain kind of stability and nurture the connection and relationships that make community happen. Certainly, each of the things I point out above is part of that—but it does not have that stability I was looking forward to!
All of that is happening in light of continuing and unabated social change—our culture is becoming less religious. It is happening in the wake of the pandemic and a national reckoning that is taking place around the Me Too movement and racial disparities. It is happening in a time of almost unprecedented political division.
The only thing that feels stable is, perhaps, a feeling of instability. And yet, the other stable fact is that God puts before us opportunities to grow in his service. God places before us challenges worth facing. God gives us the strength, courage, hope, and wisdom to be the Body of Christ, standing amidst the storm, a whispering a word of peace that calms the raging sea.
We, the Church, are a source of stability for a storm-tossed world. All of the change or transition here is with one simple goal: that we may be a place of refuge, hope, restoration, and reconciliation for a world desperate for them. The pace of change here is a bit frantic as we re-assess and re-group—but it is work that needs to be done so that we are ready to minister to a world that feels even more frantic, even more uncertain.
We stand on the firm foundation of Christ—and on that foundation we’re building a place of refuge and restoration. From that home, this Church, we send out folks renewed and restored for the work of ministry in these changing times.
In the months ahead the Vestry will work to knit these things together in a strategic plan. That plan has at its heart one unchanging, unwavering fact: the world needs Christ’s love. All we do, plan, and adapt to is with the sure and certain hope that no matter what changes, God’s love remains constant. For that we can only give thanks in these inconstant days.
Yours in Christ,
—Fr Robert