A new chapter for St. Paul’s

First posted August 26, 2008: Rev. Pat is retiring and September 7 will be her last Sunday as our priest. We will miss her! Her stay here has been relatively short – just four years. However, during that time her leadership has brought new life and vitality to the parish. Old battles have been forgotten and we have become a cheerful place with a sense of mission.

Everyone is welcome – whether a UConn prof or someone close to the edge. Though quite poor – we share all the usual financial problems of a small urban church in an older neighborhood – we have invested significant effort and financial resources in other missions, especially our orphanage in Kakata, Liberia. At this point, I believe we have reached the stage where we will be able to not just continue, but to grow in our ministry to all those we touch. Some related opinions follow.

A week ago, on Sunday afternoon, Bishop Andrew Smith visited us. Besides discussing the support (non-financial!) that the Diocese can provide, he was enthusiastic about our future potential; we are the only parish in the Diocese that is not burdened with owning property. As a result, we are free from drain on finances and energy that come with property ownership.

Last Sunday, in her sermon, Rev. Pat had us do the following exercise: we drew two pictures, a trash can and a suitcase; wrote a list of our concerns about St. Paul’s in the trashcan, and a list of our blessings in the suitcase. Then we tore up the trashcan picture, with its list of concerns, put the scraps in a basket at the altar – but folded the suitcase with its list of blessings and put it in our purse or pocket.

Those of us old enough to have listened to Janis Joplin might remember a line from Me and Bobby McGee – “freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”. That line keeps coming back to me. No longer having any property is one part of that freedom and the other part is not having the financial pressure of paying a priest’s salary and benefits. (Unfortunately, in our society the distance between rich and poor at all levels is large; as a result the difference in the cost of supporting supply priests rather than a vicar is quite dramatic.)

Please understand that I don’t mean that a priest is an unnecessary expense. We are a small parish in a unique situation. Four years ago we would not have survived without Rev. Pat. Because of what’s happened in those four years I believe that we have reached a stage where we will be able to continue to grow in mission and ministry. For now there will be a Sunday service with some combination of supply priest, retired priest, and our own efforts (probably Morning Prayer once a month). Pastoral care will continue. And to make it work, more of our people will become involved in our ministry.

And so begins a a new chapter for St. Paul’s – stay tuned for the details!!