Dear Friends,
It has been my practice to send out a reflection on Fridays. In most cases, I will try to extract something from whichever lectionary text doesn’t make it into the sermon. Sometimes it will be an idea about a contemporary event and how to frame it within the context of our baptismal covenant. I will never claim to know an absolute meaning from anything scriptural; instead, I will share some ideas for your consideration. I believe that the Holy Spirit reveals unique wisdom to each of us depending upon where we are in our faith journeys and what else is happening in our lives. What I see in a scriptural text could be different than what you see in it, and I look forward to learning from what the Holy Spirit offers to each of you.
Now a word or two about me. Our awesome senior warden has already shared some about my geekier life experience. I love parish ministry, and for me community is everything. I am passionate about social justice in its many contexts, and in particular racial reconciliation and ecojustice. I have begun interfaith work together with the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish studies.
I’m a musician, and my first career was as an opera singer. I also compose, and I have a recording studio in my basement. So I will be Justine’s fan and supporter because of my deep love of music. Second career was as a broadcast engineer for a disco radio station in NYC. I was a video producer and director for many years, and then I became a scientist. Life is short: do all the things that bring you joy.
Being a parish priest is what brings me joy, and I will do my best to love you with abandon. In order to do that, I have to develop relationships with you, so I will do my best to try to contact every one of you in the parish membership. I won’t be doing that with an ask, but just to get to know who you are and give you an opportunity to know who I am.
The search process for your next rector will be as transparent as possible, and it really starts with discerning how you as a community think of yourselves, where you think you are heading in the next five years or so, and what kind of priest you would like to call. This will enable you to develop a parish profile that will attract the right person to the parish.
Both I and Canon Kristin+ will work with you and we will develop a timeline with milestones so you know where you are in the process. In the meanwhile, we will not be static—we will be vigorous in our parish and in our community, and I hope we will have a ton of fun while we are about our ministries.
Let the awesomeness begin!
Pan +