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“One generation shall praise your works to another,
and shall declare your mighty acts.” -- Psalm 145:4
Aloha our beloved parish ʻohana,
After much prayer and discernment, I am writing to share with you that I have decided to retire. My last Sunday as your rector will be January 3.
Even as I write these words, they are hard to take in.
This week marks the beginning of my sixteenth year since Bobby and I came to serve Christ with you. Next year I turn sixty and will have served thirty years of full-time parish ministry. I love our parish ʻohana more than I can possibly put into words, and I am the happiest and most content I have ever been. It simply is the right time.
But this decision is not only about what is right for Bobby and me. I have also come to believe that this is the right time for our parish. One of the greatest gifts of being your rector has been watching what God has done through you. I always tell folks that serving as rector of this parish feels like I hit the lottery! You are a dynamic, healthy, vibrant parish. By the grace of God, our ministries are strong. We have remarkable lay leadership, an incredible and dedicated staff, and you are a beautifully diverse ʻohana who give of yourselves generously to worship God, care for one another, welcome the visitor and newcomer, form our keiki and youth, and serve our communities.
Linda and Bob are returning. The Gathering Place is rising from the ground. Our West Campus is opening possibilities we could scarcely have imagined a few years ago. And we are doing important work together asking who God is calling St. James’ to be in the years ahead.
The Gathering Place is fully funded, construction is well underway, and an extraordinary team is guiding it toward completion. The construction is a visible witness that the ministry we have shared will continue to grow and take new shape long after any one of us has played our part. As the Gospel this past week reminded us, in the end it is about God’s unconditional and abundant love for each one of us. We rejoice that our names are written in heaven.
The timing of the Rev. Canon Lou (Louise) Blanchard’s visit with us this coming weekend is especially meaningful. Lou is helping us continue her work with us around our mission, vision, growth, and change. By God’s grace, Brother David Vryhof, SSJE, reached out to say he would be in the islands and would love to come for a visit. I connected these two amazing spiritual guides and asked if they might lead us together in reflection and discussion, to which they both happily said yes. They will lead this Saturday morning’s parish retreat, “Blessings, Changes, and Transitions.” I hope you will come. Note that with the approaching inclement weather, we may offer the gathering online and/or in-person. Watch for an update via email on Friday. For now, it is schedule from 9 –11 AM in St. James’ Church and will give us some space simply to pray, listen, and reflect together on how, as people of faith, we walk through the changes and chances of life with gratitude, trust, and hope.
I also know that almost as soon as you read this letter, many of you will begin asking, “What happens next?”
That is an important question. Tomorrow, our Senior Warden, Hans L’Orange, and Junior Warden, Ian Hersey, will write to you about the transition process and the next steps. Rest assured that they, your Vestry, our bishop and our bishop-elect, and others, including the Rev. Jazzy Bostock, who has just been appointed as Bishop Libby’s Canon for Transition, will have important roles in guiding our parish through the months ahead.
My role over these next few months is somewhat different.
I want us to worship and pray together. I want us to continue the ministries God has given us. I want to give thanks to God for these amazing last 15 years. Then when the time comes, I want to say goodbye well and let go well. That will be important, as a parish needs the freedom to welcome its interim rector and, eventually, its next rector -- a priest who God already has in mind – someone who will bring their own gifts, joy, energy, and most important their love of God, and who will no doubt fall in love with you as much as I have!
That is why, beneath all the emotions I am feeling as I write this, the deepest one is gratitude. I am grateful that you called me to be your priest and rector. I am grateful for the ways you have loved Bobby and welcomed him not simply as “the rector’s spouse,” but as part of this parish in his own right. I am grateful for the countless ways you have allowed me into your lives, in moments of tremendous joy and in moments of profound sorrow. And I am grateful because you have made me a better priest and, I hope, a better person.
In addition, I share with you that Marnie will be stepping back from serving on staff. Bishop-elect Libby has given permission for Marnie to remain a part of the parish and serve, as invited, by the Interim Rector and then Rector. I will stop here, for I want Marnie to share with you her own story.
I am also pleased to say that Linda will continue as our Associate Rector for our St. Columba’s congregation. Bishop-elect Libby has given permission for her to do so.
Serving with Marnie and Linda as clergy colleagues, and with our entire parish staff, has meant serving with folks who have become dear friends. What a blessing and an honor it has been.
While Bobby and I are looking forward to a sabbatical -- a good long season to take a breath from active ministry, spend extended time with family, travel, and simply be together -- we plan to return home and remain in the community we love. Hawai’i is our home.
As one season gives way to another, Christ remains at the center. For today, I simply want you to know how deeply Bobby and I love you, how profoundly grateful we are, and how much hope I have for the future of this amazing, Holy Spirit-filled parish. The One who has held this parish for generations, holds it now, and will lead it into this beautiful and exciting next chapter.
With deep gratitude and in Christ’s aloha,
David
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The Episcopal Parish Congregations of St. James’ Church (Waimea), St. Columba’s Church (Pa’auilo), & the Beach Mass (Kawaihae)
P.O. Box 278
Kamuela, HI 96743
StJamesHawaii.org
StColumbaHawaii.org
808-885-4923
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