My Dear People,
Coming to St. Paul’s has been one of the great blessings of my life. To serve as the fifteenth rector of St. Paul’s for these nine years is something I am grateful for and will always look back on fondly – the countless holy moments shared, and as many laughs and joys, and much good hard work and ministry together too: baptisms, weddings, funerals; times at Woodville; weekends at Shrine Mont; pilgrimages to the Holy Land & Italy; hundreds of Sunday morning services; hundreds of Lenten preaching services and Lenten Lunches; bread broken together; walks and cups of coffee; prayers and thanksgivings; and kindness.
And now the time has come for me to move into the next chapter of my life and ministry, and for St. Paul’s to do the same. Last night, I tendered and the vestry accepted my resignation, effective at the end of the day, Friday, September 15. This timing allows St. Paul’s a fresh start for the program year and the annual giving campaign.
Meanwhile, the chapter St. Paul’s is moving into is one full of creativity and promise: continuing the capital improvements, the garage rehab having just been completed and the work in Scott Hall and the church itself still to come, the most substantial work to be done in the church in over a century; and continuing the brave work of the History & Reconciliation Initiative (HRI), with the Presiding Bishop’s visit coming up in March. And then there are the new faces at St. Paul’s, and all that you bring to life and ministry together. You, the people of St. Paul’s, have every reason to be excited and hopeful about your future.
I’m also excited as I ponder and pray about what’s next for me. And, as I discern, I’ll be doing some writing and reading and listening, trusting all the while in God’s continuing guidance and inspiration.
So then, I hope you will join with me and your St. Paul’s Church family for my final Sunday at St. Paul’s, this Sunday, September 10, at 10:00 a.m., for worship, and for a reception following the service in Scott Hall.
In closing, let me return to words attributed to our patron saint, Paul of Tarsus:
Glory to God whose power at work in us can do infinitely more than we could ask or even imagine; glory to God from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus forever and ever. Amen.
Your brother in Christ,
