From the Rector

Dear Friends in Christ,

As the pandemic began, I said to folks that I thought that it was going to be a bit like piloting a plane. Once we got to a “cruising altitude” and adapted to being online, it would go pretty smoothly—even though I expected turbulence at take off and landing.

I did not expect such a long landing! Like many, I thought that the vaccines would give us a smooth path toward a short landing. Then there was a Delta variant. Then an Omicron variant. Through both, Saint Philip’s was determined not to close its doors and to continue offering online services.

Imagine taking off, switching out several flight crew members, some of whom had flown before but perhaps never in the kind of plane you’re flying, and then dealing with the landing. That’s kind of how the year has been. We’re not all back. All of our committee members and volunteers aren’t back. Staff has changed. Finances were uncertain as the school closed and other income such as facility rentals wasn’t available.

So we restaffed gingerly, uncertain as to whether we could afford full-time replacements for folks who left (like Mtr Kelli and Fr Mark). We’ve shifted responsibilities among the remaining staff and divided tasks that Lois, Kelli, Mark, and Anthea used to address. 

Committees have changed. Some leaders have retired. Others have moved away. Others have passed away. There is no aspect of everything we do as a church that has been unaffected. From music to formation to facilities—everything requires new attention.

We’re still landing. Learning new roles and responsibilities, picking up things that inevitably get missed in transitions, and doing so while working to keep core things happening day to day.

All of that is to say we’re going to miss a beat now and then. There are two responses. One would be to criticize and comment on how much better things ran before a global pandemic and the reshuffling of everyone’s work in light of uncertain resources.

Another response could be to ask, “How can I help?” or “How can we be praying for you?”

We’re going to keep working as hard as we can to bring things back into a smoother sense of efficient operation. In the meantime, we will all be uncomfortable. 

Not long ago, I was stuck in the airport. Everyone was annoyed and frustrated as we waited for news about the flight. Some folks were congenial about it. Others were miserable. Some berated the staff. One said the rosary. Others chatted amicably as we shared the experience. Some had the sense that they were there, for a short while, in that small community sharing the experience—and could improve it for each other with kindness and patience. Others were eager to pile on and start complaining and bickering almost immediately.

The folks who were kind and even offered to watch bags and kids while others took calls or ran to the store arrived at our destination at the same time as the complainers—but with a sense that we had made that small community a source of some light in the midst of the inevitable tensions.

We all get that choice every day.

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert