Refocusing
Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year. Although the secular calendar is winding down, the church is just starting another cycle of anticipation, birth, revelation, discipline, passion, death, resurrection, and evangelism. Like Lent, Advent is a season of preparation and penitence, but the ancient tradition of fasting during these four weeks (in some churches six!) has given way to a less rigorous—though no less important—season of spiritual renewal.
Our worship helps reinforce this. Last Sunday’s lectionary included readings about the coming of the Son of Man—the fulfillment of all things that we often, though inaccurately, call “the end of the world.” For the next two weeks, we will hear the prophetic call to repent in preparation for Jesus’ arrival. Our prayers include language about preparing our hearts for judgment with confidence and joy. Those liturgical elements remind us that now is the time to refocus and bear fruit worthy of God’s reign.
Among the staff of St. Paul’s, we are doing some refocusing. The best part of my job as your rector is getting to work with excellent clergy and staff. For more than seven years, I have had the privilege of serving alongside fabulous and faithful people, and I have enjoyed recruiting and supporting individuals as they seek to flourish in their ministries. Now, with our staff as talented as it has ever been, I want guide us in some restructuring so that we can enter our next chapter together with continued excellence.
The biggest part of our staff realignment is to designate Sara Milford as our Associate Rector for Parish Life and Outreach and Charles Martin as our Associate Rector for Formation. In many ways, that is a reflection of the work that they are already doing. Sara will continue to focus on pastoral care, the newcomer process, our relationship with outside organizations, our work for justice and reconciliation, and all the events that help us stay connected with one another. Because of her gifts for program development and staff empowerment, she will also become the principal support for Grace Cleghorn, our Parish Chef, and Dan Robinson, our Media Specialist.
Charles will continue to serve as the Chaplain at St. Martin’s, but this move clarifies that college ministry is a part of our lifelong formation program. In addition, as a sign of the vestry’s and my confidence in Charles, we will ask him to oversee all of formation at St. Paul’s, including supporting Beth, Adam, Kate, and all of the volunteers who make adult formation happen.
I am asking Beth Maze to shift and narrow her focus from the broad work of lifelong formation to the increasingly important work of children’s ministry. Ministry among our youngest parishioners has grown considerably under her tenure, and its continued flourishing already demands most of her time. She will become our Children’s Minister—a role she already fulfills—in order that she can focus full-time on building our children’s programs. She will also use her musical gifts and love of children as the leader of our Cherub Choir. She will work alongside Adam Alexander, our Youth Minister, and Kate Oxford, our Nursery Coordinator, all of whom will serve with the primary support of Charles.
This move allows each member of our staff to lean into their strengths more fully. In addition to these larger, public-facing moves, this reorganization also allows other staff members, including me, to shift some of their smaller responsibilities to other positions where they can be more effectively carried out. With this move, we are not adding or removing any staff positions, but we are allowing each member of staff to do what they are best at without dropping anything. In fact, as I bet you have experienced, when we are able to focus on our strengths, we find space to do even more. I am sure that, as we continue to grow in the coming years, St. Paul’s will need to add more staff support, but, for now, my focus is on helping our current staff continue to flourish.
Except for adult formation volunteers and the Cherub Choir, I do not think this will change the primary staff contact for any of our programs or ministries. Maybe that is another way of saying that you may not notice a big change at first. But refocusing on faithfulness—on using the gifts we have been given to glorify God—often bears fruit in due time.
When we take time to reflect on our relationship with God and how God is calling us to serve the world in God’s name, we discover ways to return to what gives us deepest joy. That joyful refocusing has the ability to shape us in small but significant ways, helping us be formed for a fuller participation in the reign of God. The season of Advent is about preparing for the coming of our savior, not only at Christmas but also at that time when God will draw all things to their perfect fulfillment. Waiting and watching for Christ requires active engagement, and I believe these staff changes are a way for us to do that. This will help all of us at St. Paul’s bear good fruit together for years to come.
Yours faithfully,
Evan D. Garner
