The Rector's Message
Annual Parish Meeting
January 2010
Once again, we come to this place where we both look back at the year past, and look ahead to all that God hold for us and is yet to come.
We began 2009 still in the midst of two active search processes – both for a new Associate Rector of Family Ministries at St. Mary’s and for a Bishop for the diocese.
The first journey brought us to a place where we called the Rev. Dr. Ted Cole Jr., as a new priest and leader among us. Over the past three months, Ted has begun to live into his new role furthering the development of programs to meet the various needs of children, youth, newcomers, and families at St. Mary’s. His is a wise and pastoral presence among us.
The second search is nearing its completion, with a growing sense of excitement and promise. At the end of diocesan convention April 9th and 10th, God willing and the people consenting, we will have a new Bishop among us.
In the meantime, we have been deep in the midst of the greatest period of economic distress in many generations. Although our Alaskan economy was spared the worst of what some states in the lower forty-eight experienced, the general downturn of the markets affected many at St. Mary’s. A number of people who were planning to retire kept on working, and others found their retirement income severely affected. We all felt the impact of a rising tide of uncertainty and vulnerability.
The widespread pastoral care needs of this past year were perhaps greater than I have seen in the past fifteen years of my ordained ministry. Social as well as economic issues left many concerned for their well-being and future. Once again, the church rose up and claimed its identity as a ministering community. Through attentive and compassionate pastoral care, and the courageous witness of so many, we remained a beacon of hope, encouragement, and healing in this community and nation.
The year ahead looks bright and promising. While we have not likely seen the end of our economic downturn, we have a new sense of who we are as the whole people of God. In 2010, we will follow on, in the way of Jesus, being a voice for the powerless, a home to the sojourner, and a place of rest and healing for the weary and the wounded. We will lift and praise God’s Holy name in beauty and in holiness. In the words of our Sunday prayer, we will “strive to become an ever more welcoming, inclusive, and faithful community” of disciples, both increasingly multicultural and multi-generational, always reaching out in love and service to the world around us.
In the midst of this looking back and looking ahead, let us be open to the greatest moment of all – the present. It is a God-filled world of possibility and promise. Let us all heed the call to deepen our walk with Christ with each breath we take, and each step forward we make.
Faithfully,
Michael+