Leaving Grace

I’ve recently accepted a position as Interim Rector at St. Andrews by the Sea in Little Compton. It’s probably a one year + commitment.
I’m excited. The church is 2 miles from our home, and I know many of the parishioners.

Easter

 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!

The Lord is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

          So begins our Easter celebration, starting with The Great Vigil of Easter on Saturday night, and continuing throughout the Easter season.  We are people of the resurrection, and this is the most important season of the year for us and for all Christians.

 

          Easter began with the firsthand experience of a small group of marginalized people in an occupied country far off the beaten track.  It was an experience of seeing, and hearing, and touching the risen Christ.  It was, importantly, an experience of complete and total surprise.  Jesus lives! , as the hymn says.

 

          Those who knew and loved Jesus then, and all of us who have followed in their footsteps, have both celebrated this incredible event and plumbed the depths of its meaning for two thousand years.

 

          What does it mean?  If you’re like me, you remember certain details of worship.  I remember hymns.  So what do they say?

 

Jesus Christ is ris’n today, our triumphant holy day.

Who did once upon the cross, suffer to redeem our loss.

Hymns of praise then let us sing, unto Christ, our heav’nly king,

who endured the cross and grave, sinners to redeem and save.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

 

          Jesus suffered and died on our behalf.  God has raised him from the dead.  He is now King of the universe. Sin and death have been vanquished.  Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

 

          May this Easter season be a time of resurrection joy for you and those you love.

 

Retirement

To the people of Grace Church,

          It is with very mixed feelings that I am writing to tell you that I plan to retire as Rector of Grace as of June 30, 2009.

          When I came here in 2000 (I officially began on March 1^st of that year), I envisioned my tenure here as lasting no more than 10 years. The challenges faced by Grace at that time were substantial. There was no assurance that the parish could or would survive. My personal goal was to contribute as much as I was able to re-energizing Grace, and to leave when the parish was in a position to stand on its own.

          Much has happened in the meantime. Membership, attendance, and financial support have increased each year. We have accomplished a successful merger with Church of the Messiah. Lay leadership has expanded substantially. The parish remains focused on its mission in an ever expanding array of ministries.

We have received several bequests which, combined with outstanding investment performance, have increased the size of our endowment and its contribution to our operating income. We have raised sufficient capital through a campaign to enable the parish to maintain and enhance our facilities and equipment.

At the same time, our costs have grown at a rate that has made it impossible to date to reach a balanced budget. The economic downturn that began a year ago has not yet had a demonstrable impact on Grace’s financial health, but the chaos in our financial markets has resulted in a substantial decline in the value of our endowment and in the income available from it to support operations. Our leadership has begun to take a variety of cost saving measures to begin to close a widening deficit in 2009. I remain concerned about a combination of further economic weakness and a slow recovery in the economy.

My decision to retire this summer is in part driven by my longstanding plan to leave within 10 years, coupled with my analysis of the difficult economic environment in which we are living. I have recommended to our wardens and treasurer that in the near future the parish downsize its clergy staff from 2 to 1, effectively saving approximately $100,000 on an annual basis. We are also planning to beef up our lay staff in the key areas of leadership development and Christian formation (with the help, we hope, of a grant from the diocesan Congregational Development Commission) to complement our clergy leadership.

This new structure would mean that your involvement as volunteer leaders here at Grace will be more important than ever. As Sam Lloyd, Dean of the National Cathedral noted when he announced a series of staff and budget cuts last fall while at the same time calling for increased volunteer participation and leadership, “we are enhancing a rich heritage of community spirit and service at this Cathedral.”

The time Rhea and I spent on sabbatical last year showed me that this parish is vibrant, alive, filled with God’s Spirit in ways that will carry the day despite the economic problems we face as individuals, as a community of faith, and as a nation. I am confident that Grace will continue to grow and flourish as you move forward as you continue “to build, by the grace of God, a loving and joyful community which lives the Gospel through worship, proclamation, and service to each other, to downtown, and beyond.”

May God continue to bless and keep each of you and those you love in the years to come.

Yours in Christ,

Antiguan Vacation

We returned Saturday night from a wonderful time in Antigua. As usual, the highlight was the eucharistic service we hosted on the beach, attended by hotal guests and staff. Our free will offering was split between the local Anglican and Methosist Churches. Valerie, a member of the staff, composed and sang a new solo for us. She found us a few days later on the beach so that she could sing it again for us (along with another staff member, Kenisha) as a gift on our departure.
Here’s the lyrics, which are a powerful testimony to Valerie’s  faith:
My Jesus is here right now.
Oh yes my Jesus is here right now.
He gets down on his knees
and supplies all my needs.
I know my Jesus is here right now.
Amen. Alleluia!

Happy (Hopefully!) New Year

We’re off to a fast start here at Grace. Last night we celebrated Christmas with a Christmas Lessons and Carols service, with the “Grace Church Singers,” a group of music loving parishioners who sing on Sunday mornings as a complement to our regular choir. This was their first “solo” service, and they were terrific! It was a wonderful way to wrap up the Chrismas season and begin  the new year.

I continue to fret about the economic outlook, here in Providence and throughout the country. We pray each week for those impacted: the unemployed, those seeking work, the homeless and hungry, those facing eviction, foreclosure, or having their utilities shut off. Last week one of our homelss guests asked me to pray for the homeless. We do. Do you?

Please pray for peace in the Holy Land. At a minimum, pray that there will be a cease fire in Gaza. The situation there is admittedly complicated, but remember: our Lord and Savior is the Prince of Peace.

Naxt Sunday we’ll baptize three infants here at Grace. Whast a joy it is to see the parish continue to grow in this way.

Rhea and I are off to Antigua later this month. As always, we’ll celebrate the Eucharist with the staff and guests of the Mill Reef Club while we’re there. It’s a great reminder of our common faith that cuts across cultural and ethnic lines around the world.

December 23rd, 2008

I was reminded today of two realites. first, I am personally NOT ready for Jesus to come. Unfortunately, this seems to be a reality for me each and every Advent season. My unreadiness shows up in lots of ways, from a tendency to have a “bah, humbug” attidude as Christmas approaches, to being tardy and resistent to doing my Christmas shopping, to a general sense of having lots of loose ends and unfinished business in my life. Maybe this is just the way things are, not only for me, but for you as well. On the other hand, I have been repeatedly reminded that despite my unreadiness, this community of faith is getting itself ready. Just this morning, our weekly Bible study (in the nave) was accompanied by the drone of the organ as our tuners did their work. At the same time, one of our Bible study group members bolted out of her chair when she realized that the Altar Guild was beginning its work in preparation for tomorrow night’s services. And as I looked around I noticed that our Flower Guild is also here, not only working on the displays in the nave, but also decorating Gammell Hall for tomorrow’s Wednesday Soup Lunch that we offer to the neighborhood each week. So the bad news is that I’m not now ready for Jesus to come. The good news is that the community of faith of which I’m a part is getting ready, and that the community’s preparations will in the end make me ready for the blessed event we’ll celebrate in just one day. Merry Christmas to you and all those you love.

Vacation Post

We’re relaxing here in Little Compton on an overcast and rainy day. Our vacation has been busy and productive. I spent the weekend of 8/2-8/3 cycling from Sturbridge to Provincetown as part of the Pan Mass Challenge (www.pmc.org), raising money for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

We then spent five days in Vermont visiting family. The weather was stormy, but we had a wonderful time. I did a memorial service last weekend here in LC for Matt Hawes, who went to St. Albans School in Washington, as I did.

Today I have a golf lesson. Did I tell you I’ve switched to playing left handed golf? It’s a miracle. I can actually hit the ball!

I just finished Jimmy Carter’s Our Endangered Values, a book Sarah Rocchio gave me on our trip to NOLA. Thanks, Sarah.

I miss Grace, but I’m so delighted that our team of Father Rich, our staff and volunteers are in place and leading our exciting and growing variety of ministries as we prepare for the fall.

Peace and love-

Bob

Summer Reflections

July 23rd.

I’m preparing for our Wednesday Eucharist, one of the highlights of my week. We have a small but fiercely faithful group of from 4 to 10 people, mostly not Grace parishioners, who come to this quiet worship time each week. Today we’ll be celebrating St. Mary Magdalene.

The weather this summer has been consistently hot and humid. The building, being made of stone, stays cool well into the summer, but once it heats up, watch out! We hand out “air conditioners” (folding paper fans) to those who join us for worship, but still…….

Last Sunday we had a wonderful parish picnic in Little Compton. In addition to great food, we had a snow cone maker, plus croquet, bocce, and horseshoes. The weather was overcast and humid, but cooler than in the city.

I’m preparing for the Pan Mass Challenge, a charity ride benefitting the Dana Farber Cancer Institiute in Boston, which will happen the first weekend in August. We’ll ride a total of 190 miles over two days. To find out more, or to sponsor me, go to www.pmc.org

I’ll be on vacation during August, mostly in Little Compton with a few days in Vermont visiting family. I look forward to seeing all of you soon.

Peace and love-

Bob

New Orleans June 22nd

A group of sixrteen from Grace Church arrived here yesterday. We’re staying at the Beacon of Hope, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana (EDOLA). We’re living in an air conditioned facility with showers (double yeah!).

The grup includes: Ken Gould and Mary Kesson, Rob and Sarah Rocchio, Damian and Derrin Almada, Gill Furey, Nathan Gomes, Jola Ilori, Melanie Monteiro, Lily O’Gara, Andrew, Chris, Jon, and Matt Shumate, and myself.

We spent yesterday getting settled, watched a video of the effects of Katrina on NOLA and the church next door (St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and School), and getting to know Pam, our host (who, by the way, met Meg Kelly, her husband Jon, and their youth group here in April!).

Today we’ll be going to church at Grace on Canal, where we worked two years ago, then tour NOLA. We’ll attend the contemporary service here at St. Paul’s this evening.

Tomorrow we are due to arrive at our work site at 7:30 AM for what promises to be a busy and productive week.

FYI: our Bible study text this week is Matthew 5, the first part of Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Follow along if you wish.

Thanks to all of you for all your support.

Peace and love-

Bob

PS “Compline” comes from a word that means complete, as in completing the work of the day in the evening

Trivia Questions

If you look at the comments i’ve received, you’ll see that two people answered both questions correctly, Elizabeth Dennett (my sister, from Christ Church, Needham) and Marty Ames. Is it just a coincidence that both are heads of the Altar Guild at their respective parishes? Dave Seifert answered one of the two questions, also correctly. I’m therefore declaring this a tie and will give each lucky entrant a prize!