Annual Meeting Remarks by Senior Warden
244 Annual Parish Meeting
January 27, 2008
Katie Roach, Senior Warden’s Remarks
St. Mark's Church,
Good morning. It is wonderful to have such a full house. This is our yearly opportunity to come together to take stock, to reflect on the year just past, to examine where we are now and to hope and dream about what comes next. Shortly colleagues will speak to you in some depth about key aspects of life at St. Mark’s, stewardship, the budget, the search process church growth, the negotiations with Waveny Care Network and outreach. My task is to look through a broader lens to try to gain some overall perspective on where we are in our journey together as a parish.
A little over three years ago we entered an interim period. There are two types of interimships. One is basically a holding pattern where a parish treads water until a new rector can be called. The second is a rigorous period of self-examination, healing and strengthening which is intentionally chosen to put a parish on more solid ground. We chose the latter model and have been blessed with an interim rector who has had the experience and skills to help us work toward our goals. Two years ago the Vestry introduced the Roadmap for Transition and Transformation, a structured process that guided us in identifying our strengths and our challenges, and in outlining the steps that we needed to take in order to be able to thrive as a parish. An impressively large number of parishioners came together to participate in this rigorous, but very productive process. When I reported on our progress at last year’s annual meeting I said that we had learned a great deal about who we were as a parish and who we wished to be, that we had grown in spirit and in a sense of community as a result of the Roadmap meetings and that we were now ready to concentrate on putting our insights into action.
This action phase of the Roadmap…translating what we learned together in those Roadmap discussions into concrete steps… has been the core of our plan for the final phase of the interim period. One of the important lessons that was brought home to us during the Roadmap meetings is that we, the people of St. Mark’s, are our church. Good clergy leadership is essential. However, the health and strength of our parish rests with all of us working together as the Body of Christ. As Maryetta Anschutz said to us in her last sermon here, “be the rector that you wish to call.”
Therefore, during 2007 we focused our energies on two parallel processes. While the Search Committee worked hard on the search for the new rector, lay leaders on the vestry and other committees together with our clergy leaders have persevered in strengthening this parish, by implementing strategic plans created to address the issues identified by the Roadmap. In the reports that will follow you will hear about some of these plans and the steps that have been taken.
Of course we have made more progress in some areas than in others and there is always room for further improvement. We are not suffering from a grand illusion that all is fixed. However, we have come far enough to be able to present ourselves in the search process as a work in progress that is full of hope and potential rather than a fixer upper that is sitting and waiting for the next rector to do the heavy lifting. And I would like to note that this has been noticed and appreciated by candidates.
I cannot imagine that a parish exists that has no challenges to face. A congregation that declared that it was problem free would have to be suspected of massive denial. The sign of a strong and vibrant parish is not the absence of problems, but the courage and honesty that is necessary to identify one’s problems and the willingness to take the responsibility to address them. I believe that St. Mark’s fits that description.
By mid fall of this past year we had reason to believe that the Search process for our next rector would be concluded within the calendar year. However, instead we experienced a considerable disappointment. After many months of hard work and prayerful discernment on the part of our Search committee and the final candidate’s visit to St. Mark’s to meet with the Vestry, that candidate withdrew from the search process. There is no denying that this was a blow. It was a blow to all of us in the parish who after several transition years of healing and building have felt ready to move on to the next stage of our journey. It was particularly painful for those on the Search committee who had dedicated so much of their time, energy and emotions to the search process. Being a part of a Search Committee involves a deep commitment of spirit as well as of action and that is what has made this a particularly painful turn of events for this hard working group to absorb, accept, and move past. And yet that is exactly what they have been willing and able to do.
Immediately after the candidate withdrew, the Search Committee co-chairs, Steve Wyckoff and I met with our search consultant and the canon for transition ministry from the diocese to make plans for a continuation of the search process. Cynnie and Brandon will tell you more about the specifics of that plan shortly. For now I just want to emphasize two things. One is that although the candidate’s withdrawal was an unexpected disappointment, it was not an aberration that suggested that something was done wrong. Withdrawals do happen in rector searches and there are plans to deal with such an event. And two, thanks to a dedicated, and resilient group of lay leaders we are already moving on and into an expedited second phase of the search. I came across a quote the other day that I think illustrates what I am trying to convey. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.” Well we are making the turn. We are blessed to have lay leaders on the Search Committee and the Vestry who are dedicated to discerning and following God’s will for us in this search process. They are ready to get back to work on behalf of the whole parish. Please support them with your thoughts and prayers.
So we are being asked because of circumstances beyond our control to be patient for a while longer until we can move on to the next stage of our journey. However, in the mean time we are not simply languishing in limbo. What I see around me every time I look is a rich and full parish life where many people are actively engaged in learning, working and worshipping together.
I wish I could take you on a virtual tour to show you what I am talking about when I say rich and full parish life. Most of us because we are busy people get tracked into the activities that we are involved in. We only experience a slice of parish life and don’t get a full sense of what goes on in our parish. You can get some idea of the whole picture by looking at a monthly calendar or reading the bulletin or the Roar. You will read about confirmation, wonderful musical events, and dinners for young families, numerous and exciting educational offerings, EYC gatherings and much, much more…….., but there is still more that does not get written up in our publications. For example if we did take a virtual tour our camera would pan down the halls to find the flower committee and the altar guild hard at work on Saturdays preparing for services, then perhaps move on to look over the shoulders of Stewardship committee members as they write thank you notes, then take us into the food pantry where volunteers of all ages are sorting food, then outside, onto the playground and down the slide behind a nursery school toddler at play, then back inside for a quick stop in the Lion’s Den Bookstore to check on what is new, then back down the hallway in the evening hours to peek into the classrooms to find four different meetings taking place while the sounds of the choir practicing catches our attention , You see my point. Life is full. Parishioners are engaged in a myriad of activities and by in large seem to be having a good time doing them. I invite you to explore, wander off your beaten path and witness the body of Christ at work in your parish. We have a lot to be grateful for and feel good about here at St. Mark’s.
It is a part of human nature I believe that when things go radically wrong everyone focuses on the problem and seeks to find where to place the blame. However, when things go relatively well we tend to be lulled by contentment and take things for granted. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and say thank you to all of you who do your part to support parish life at St. Mark’s and our mission in the world. This includes a virtual army of parishioners who volunteer their time, talent and energy in countless different ways, a larger than ever and very strong group of lay leaders, our talented and hardworking program staff and administrative staff and our clergy. I am grateful to all of you and it brings me great joy and satisfaction to share in parish life with you.
While I am on the subject of gratitude, I have to add a particular thank you to David, our interim rector, for his dedication to our parish, and for his willingness to stretch himself to great lengths to see us through our extended transition. Having his steady hand on the steering wheel has been critically important to our staying on track.
I would also like to say that although we have had to say a couple of tough goodbyes to two wonderful women priests this past year,
So to recap, we have encountered an unexpected bend in the road in our rector search, but we have navigated that turn. If we trust that God is guiding us, then we are right where we need to be and have perhaps grown stronger for having had to get through some difficult terrain. Together as a parish we have covered a lot of ground since our interim period began. We are not afraid to own our challenges, have created strategic plans for the future and taken some important steps forward. We have a lot to be grateful for and feel good about at St. Mark’s. Transformation is happening. Let’s continue to build on that in this year ahead, seeking God’s will for us and persevering in working together and holding each other up as the Body of Christ.
