Day

A blessing is not something that one person gives another. A blessing is a moment of meeting, a certain kind of relationship in which both people involved remember and acknowledge their true nature and worth, and strengthen what is whole in one another… We enable people to remember who they are.
Dr Rachael Remen, My Grandfather’s Blessings

By any measure, by any definition, our work together at Christ Church is a blessing.
I am always grateful for the ministry that we share, but this year I was especially grateful as we reached the ten year mark of ministry together. Jonathan’s sermon the day of our celebration was so kind, and the book Anna and the vestry put together with all your notes was just beautiful. With Victoria and Sasha offering each of their particular mix of steadiness and brains at the helm, our vestry has been so great this year. Having Mike Hughes full year as treasurer we can see how much further we’ve come, and Sarah Staley’s grace and intelligence in our reflection on our ministry is both grounding and inspiring. Christine Dutt’s analytical firepower always saves the day.
While an annual report is in many ways primed to celebrate newness, and that’s appropriate, I also want to take a minute to thank the matriarchs. Sally Lobo once advised me to slow down and smell the roses. Like Isaiah’s toddler days, those first steps won’t last forever, she said–enjoy them, and enjoy Christ Church as my first parish–another kind of first born. So I want to begin by thanking all those who keep have for so long kept things humming and the coffee brewed and the honest feedback coming.Thank you for hanging in over the last ten years and for accompanying me in this adventure of ministry, each in your own way.
If II were to try to find a metaphor for the year 2015 at Christ Church, it would be about how seeds planted long before—maybe even without our knowledge!—come to fruition. One of the best things about being a priest is seeing how people seize hold of their baptismal vows and live into them in new ways. At a baptism, all kinds of promises are made on behalf of and in support of those who are baptized—often, when it’s a child, completely without their knowledge. Sometimes a Christian spends their whole life immersed in the life of the church—they are part of it at every level from day one and the mission of Christ just grows. More often, though, the holy oil of baptism hovers on our foreheads and takes a while to seep into our bodies and for us to hear the ministry that the Spirit longs for in us. God plants the seeds sometimes especially when we’re not paying attention.
I have seen this happen with individuals—those of you who take to a new project and the rest of us marvel at how it’s possible that you’ve not been doing it for thirty years. I commend the excellent reports from our wardens to you as they talk more in detail about our work this year. Victoria mentions that she’d never expected to take on being senior warden when she first joined and now I can’t imagine being a rector without her. Many of you are leaders in this way—you might not have expected it, but here you are and it’s a wonder. It feels like Michael Mailman just stepped into the role of convening the building committee as though everyone were waiting for him to call it forth in some mystical way. There it just was, and ten people were at the table with him! When we were making plans for the children’s play area, Jordan Shea was just suddenly there, ready to lead. The same is true for finance, for our excellent children’s ministries, for Erin and Heather who teach us all to look in a new way, for altar guild (I’m thinking of you, Mary Kerr—talk about suddenly not being able to imagine a ministry without someone!)… the joy and pleasure of leadership is such a gift. Based on our conversations at our intergenerational Advent and October education series, I’ll probably just let Eli Jensen handle the whole thing next time.
As Sasha will say, too, our finance team also had a great beginning in 2015 with Byron Garcia’s leadership—I will always be grateful for the clarity that emerged when Pratibha Harrison, at her first meeting, asked the most elegant question, “Now what is the purpose of this meeting?” and kicked our brains and hearts into action. The most important question is often the one you think everyone already knows the answer to—because quite frequently, you often don’t. Our finances in particular had an amazing end of the year with Sasha and Doug’s hard work on the roof campaign, an incredible end to a year that began with 30% higher pledges than any other time in our history.

I also have to say a word about Suzanne Hughes’ work with the Grandma’s Attic thrift shop room, which Suzanne has tended for 6 years, with monthly opening since 2010. That space has, a long long story as part of the ministry of Christ Church (In her humble way, Suzanne describes more in her report). Thank you, Suzanne, for giving it “your all,” and for your commitment to this place through thick and thin and fire and flood. Speaking of flood, the resiliency of our children’s ministries is a wonder. Even when their rooms were out of commission and their materials in boxes, our Godly Play classes continued. The way that this church has become open to the gifts and needs of children is one of the more important engines of our creativity and growth. To every parent who ever felt like their child was making more noise than anyone else, ever, please know that we are glad that you are here and that we wouldn’t exchange their rambunctiousness for silent stillness for all the world!
Finally, I should also say a word about my work in the wider church and world! This year I spent more time on my own blog, saraiwrites.blogspot.com, and had an essay from there adapted for publication in the book There’s a Woman in the Pulpit, which came out in April. I’ve also continued with the occasional piece in the Waltham News Tribune, and even had one in the Boston Globe over the summer on the death penalty. I’m now into my third year as a member on the Commission on Ministry, which works to advise the bishop and interview candidates for ordination, and I was appointed dean of the Alewife Deanery (our local cluster of 13 Episcopal Churches east to Cambridge and north to Bedford). I’ve also been glad to be able to testify at Waltham City Council on behalf of WATCH and to support the Community Day Center wherever I can, as well as serve on the board of the Parmenter House affordable housing units on Crescent St and Main St and to co-chair the Waltham Ministerial Alliance. It is a full, and generous, ministry of blessing and being blessed.