It’s all so unbelievably busy at St Martin’s at the moment. There’s Jane Langmuir’s death to come to terms with, and her funeral to arrange – followed closely by that little thing called Sunday with its weekly sermon for which there is not really much time – nor from the way I’m feeling -much inclination to prepare for. Then there’s the Annual Meeting to prepare for followed a week later by the new Vestry retreat to plan. Then of course there is this – the weekly Rector’s message in the E-News to write. My head is spinning, and I am terrified that I will overlook something important.
As some of you already know I’m not a details person. I’m the large brushstroke kind of guy. Fortunately, I work with a team, some of whom are really great with details and so I am spared the risk of overlooking something important because someone in the office will catch my over- or is it under-sight and save me.
Please don’t think I am complaining – although I clearly want you to know how hard pressed, I am (joke – I think?). But seriously, I am not complaining because I actually love what I do, and I love doing it at St Martin’s. The pressure is a very positive sign – a sign of the vibrancy and the high energy levels that typify the experience of our parish community at the moment. An example of this is the incoming Vestry nominees. The 2020 Vestry will increase from eight in 2019 to 15, five of whom will not only be new to parish leadership but are representatives of our growing number of new members who have been at St Martin’s for under two years. This is, indeed, a sign of a community flourishing.
Things are happening – and that’s certainly better than things not happening. But increased activity brings increased pressure as we run ever faster to hold steady. So maybe this is the time to introduce to you a new member of the office team. Jane Hartman is our new Communications and Data Coordinator. Jane joined us in November and is in the office on Mondays and Wednesday afternoons. She is specifically tasked with preparing and sending out the weekly E-news and other web-based external communications. So that’s the communications part of her title. Jane is also leading on the data transfer of paper records to our new electronic data management software known as REALM. When it goes live – hopefully in the fall - REALM will revolutionize our membership record keeping, group and activity rotas, and will exponentially increase our ability to communicate with you across different electronic platforms – depending on your generational preferences – phone, text, email, social media, etc. Jane’s the one who will be instrumental in all of these new developments.
Jane wants you to know about her hearing impairment. She wears a hearing aid in one ear and has a cochlear implant in the other to manage her hearing deficit. Cochlear implants are interesting devices in that wearing one involves not simply the amplification of sound but directly stimulating the auditory nerve, enabling the brain to decipher sounds it has forgotten it can hear. The technology is amazing but there are limitations, therefore, the best way to reach Jane is by email -
[email protected].
Deborah, as the Office Administrator, will continue to manage the phone and reception duties.
I mentioned Jane Langmuir’s recent death. Her funeral requiem (a funeral in the context of the Eucharist) will be Saturday at 10:30 am followed by a reception in the Great Hall. Despite our steady growth in new members, the loss of someone of Jane’s spiritual maturity and decades-long involvement in our parish life leaves a gap that will take a long time to fill. I hope many of you who knew Jane will be able to join us on Saturday to grieve her passing in the larger context of a celebration of her life.
See you in Church, if not Saturday, then this Sunday.
Mark+
