January 31, 2008

Dear Friends,

In keeping with recent practice, I am again sending you my annual address in the form of a letter in anticipation of our Annual Meeting this Sunday at 10:00 am in the church.

This past year has certainly been marked by an outpouring of God's Spirit and a concerted flow of energy at the Chapel of the Cross. One of the best examples of that has been our growing efforts in Global Mission. Not only did we host visits of several different clergy from Honduras, but we sent a wonderful team in the spring to establish a sister parish relationship with San Patricio, a fledging congregation there. A number of us participated in a dinner upon their return to see pictures and hear reports of their experiences. A highlight of the evening was the announcement of a gift by Henry and Blanche Clark of $50,000 to strengthen and expand this cooperative international ministry! A return trip is planned this spring, in addition to an Episcopal Campus Ministry trip to El Hogar in Tegucigalpa, the home for boys, the site of our Global Mission's first Honduras visit two years ago.

We were excited to learn of the Diocese's new companion relationship with the Diocese of Botswana, officially just confirmed at this month's Annual Convention. The Bishop of Botswana, a very personable man and already a good friend of Bishop Curry's, was the honored guest. Martha Dill, our parish chair of Global Missions, and I were privileged to have dinner with Bishop Trevor and two others of his diocese the night before convention. In addition to our connections in Honduras (relatively nearby), we have been looking for an opportunity in Africa, and we are eager as a parish to help lead the diocese in developing this promising relationship. Do not be mislead by the media's misrepresentation of all African dioceses feeling strained relationships with the Episcopal Church in the United States. Bishop Trevor made a point of telling us to disregard those stereotypes, stressing that what unites us is much stronger than any disagreements we may have. His canon traveling with him remarked that for years the church there has pretended that there are no gay people in their country. "That, of course, is not true," he said, "and we need to learn from you how to have a conversation about this."

Such a conversation has been a significant part of our life together at the Chapel of the Cross this past year. On Pentecost I sent you a letter saying that after waiting several years since our first series of discussions, I thought it was now time to proceed with a discernment process according to Bishop Curry's guidelines. The Vestry agreed to enter into that discernment with me, and we invited all of you to participate as well. For six months we studied and prayed and discussed. We held parish gatherings and invited written and oral responses. At the end of October the Senior Warden and I sent you another letter telling you of the fruit of this discernment and of my decision to proceed based on their recommendation and the agreed upon guidelines. Since then, we have had one service of blessing, intentionally below the media radar at the bishop's request, but an indescribably inspiring, uplifting service for those of us who participated. I am most grateful to all of you who prayed and discerned together, whatever your personal judgment may be. I am deeply touched by the conscientious, compassionate way all of you dealt with another during this potentially divisive time. A powerful sign of the Church being what it should be was that all of the Vestry came and supported this couple seeking God's blessing, whether or not they had voted in the affirmative.

Another longer process, not ~ come to fruition, has been a significant part of our energetic response to the Spirit this year. For over five years now we have been engaged in assessing current and long range needs of the parish's ministry and in developing a Master Plan to respond to those needs. While that vision is still being refined, our capital campaign cabinet, co-chaired by Reid and Margaret Conrad, has been working diligently on plans to gather together the financial resources necessary to bring the Master Plan to fruition. We have entitled this effort, "A Light on the Hill: Building to Serve" to remind ourselves of the witness and the service God calls us to in our unique situation. Many people have stepped forward for various roles, including producing a video and a written case statement presenting the vision.

A major step forward has been finally establishing the position of Director of Stewardship and Development, funded the first two years by the campaign, not only to assist us with the implementation of the capital campaign, but also to help us grow in Annual Giving and Planned Giving. We are blessed by God to have John Koch now in that role. The former director of The Summit, the diocese's former camp and conference center, John is a very personable, competent and dedicated individual, who is eager as a fellow Episcopalian to help lead our parish to fulfill our potential. I am most grateful that he is already and will be an invaluable help to me and to our whole parish.

Our target goal is an impressive and daunting one: $20 million, including $15 million in construction costs and $5 million for planning, design, transition costs, and furnishings. We know that it will take us longer than the usual capital campaign to fulfill this goal. As in the building of our church in the 1920's, we will need outside help in completing it, from people with a strong interest in a spiritual presence on campus, from former students over the last decades who value the growth they experienced here, from former parishioners who still miss their participation here, etc. Leadership and advanced commitments are already being made; and by the time we initiate the public campaign in the fall, we hope to be substantially on our way to achieving our vision.

I cannot tell you how gratified and excited I am to experience so many of you devoting your time and energy and imaginations and resources to a common purpose, one that will have such a positive impact on all of us and on many generations to come. This parish in its over 165 year history has occupied a unique place and role on the campus, in the community, in the diocese, and beyond. Continuing to move forward with our vision will enable us to respond yet more faithfully to God's call to us to be a light on this hill and to serve others within and beyond our parish.

After our Annual Meeting, which I urge you all to participate in, I will begin a three month sabbatical. I will spend the major part of that time at Emerald Isle, being renewed and refreshed by the rhythms of the ocean and engaging in some, perhaps publishable, writing. I look forward to being back with you in May. Thank you for the gift of this sabbatical and for the continued privilege of serving as your rector.