We are delighted to announce that Aaron McMurray has accepted the position as our next Office Administrator. Aaron (they/them/theirs) is familiar with serving parishes in this role, and currently serves as the Administrator for Florence Congregational Church. They also have a rich background in working with farms, including Just Roots. Aaron lives in Greenfield with their family, and is looking forward to joining us in this new role.
Effective October 10th, our office will reopen for business and our office hours will be Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and weekends when our office is closed, calls will continue to be directed to our answering service. For pastoral and property use emergencies, the answering service will be in touch with whomever is on call. Please note, emails will only be checked during office hours. We hope you will join us in giving Aaron a warm welcome.
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Dear friends at Saints James and Andrew, I am writing to let you know of a transition that is coming up for me and for Saints James and Andrew. I have accepted a call to serve as the Priest in Charge of St. Mary’s in the Mountains in Wilmington, Vermont beginning on October 1, and my final Sunday with you as Associate Rector will be the last Sunday in September. I have mixed feelings about this change at the same time that I feel that it is the right one for everyone concerned. My brief time at former St. Andrews and my tenure as Associate at James and Andrew have been full of joy. It has been a privilege to work and serve with you during a period of change and growth in ministry, including our crafting a merger and working together in addressing significant challenges including the Covid pandemic. I think you know, as well, how much I have loved, had total fun, and found great satisfaction working in partnership with Heather. It is, therefore, hard to leave. At the same time, the time is right. Heather and I have been aware for some time that the present size of the parish does not require two clergy, and have attempted to help prepare for a future in which James and Andrew is served by one priest even though we had no specific plan for when or how to transition. In late May I received an unsolicited invitation to enter a conversation with St. Mary’s about their need for a priest. It felt to me like the Spirit at work that there was a parish in need of what I might provide just as James and Andrew was ready to go forward with a strong Rector renewed by sabbatical. As I feel sadness to leave a ministry I have loved, I am also looking forward to discovering a new set of challenges in the community I will be serving. I won’t be disappearing entirely: I will continue to live in Greenfield and will continue to facilitate our online Caregivers Support Group for the time being, until a good alternative is identified. After an appropriate hiatus, I will continue as a member in St. Andrew’s Guild and be available to fill in as supply clergy if invited. I anticipate eventually retiring as a member of James and Andrew. I am grateful to members of James and Andrew for your friendship and your support during my time with you. You will continue in my prayers, as I hope that I will in yours, as we all move forward in the work of listening for and responding to the Spirit’s call. Very sincerely, Molly —————————————————————————————————————-- Dear friends at Saints James and Andrew, God, you have given us so much. Now give us one thing more; glad and thankful hearts. Amen.* This is a prayer, a grace really, that one of the brothers at the Society of Saint John the Evangelist began many of our meals with when I joined them for retreat in early May. If I had to summarize my sabbatical so far, I would say this prayer has been the constant. I found myself saying it every few minutes as I walked the Fife Coastal Path with my spouse; as I attended worship services; as I laughed with my kids; and as I drank coffee on the rectory porch reading the latest books in church leadership and scripture study. Thank you, for the gift of this time. I have also been offering prayers for Rev. Molly, our parish, and for St. Mary’s in the Mountains. Our Creator God is ready to do a new and beautiful thing! While this particular path was unexpected, the Holy Spirit always knows what we need and what we are ready for long before we do. She nudges us forward, so we might lean on our faith and grow. Like all transitions, this one will be a mixture of joy, grief, learning, and change. In Lent 2016, Rev. Molly was called to serve the former St. Andrews. By late that fall, a changing landscape led both former parishes to begin explicit conversation about the possibility of merger, understanding that combining the gifts, strengths, traditions and resources of the two congregations (including human faithfulness, energy, and creativity as well as material and financial assets) had the potential to result in a faith community that was stronger and more dynamic than the sum of the parts. Rev. Molly co-led that process, and following the merger in April 2017 she stayed on as our Associate Rector. The idea was this arrangement might last for a year or two to help the new faith community build a strong foundation with the help of two clergy. Instead, something far better happened - a true partnership. Rev. Molly has served as our ministry partner for over 6 years. She has brought experience; profound wisdom; excellent preaching and knowledge of the scriptures; a creative approach to liturgy; a wonderful sense of humor; an invaluable gift for process, and the skills needed to have hard conversations. She’ll hate that I’m writing this, but I believe wholeheartedly that she has been a true partner and the best teacher I have ever had the privilege to learn from. Change often makes us uncomfortable, but I would urge us to sit in our discomfort and rest in the knowledge that Christ our Mother Hen is brooding over Rev. Molly, our parish, and St. Mary’s in the Mountains.** We need to take the time it takes to navigate this transition, and not try and rush through it, because in doing so, we would miss the Holy Spirit in our midst. On Sunday September 24 we will celebrate Rev. Molly’s ministry with SsJA. This will include prayers of farewell and prayers for the ending of a pastoral relationship, a tradition of the Episcopal Church. This tradition is meant to help the parish and clergy persons transition well. As Rev. Molly noted - this is not goodbye forever, but rather a shift in relationship. Following our farewell, we will need to spend much of the next year in our own discernment.
God, you have given us so much. Now give us one thing more; glad and thankful hearts. Amen.* With love and peace, Rev. Heather * This prayer is adapted from a stanza in George Herbert’s poem, Gratefulness ** The image of Christ as our Mother Hen comes from Matthew 23:37-39 Dear friends of Saints James and Andrew, Our faith is like a garden, and we are the gardeners. I once read that to be a great gardener, we might take classes or read books about gardening; nurture our soil; pay attention; visit other gardens; plant seeds; and take chances. This same advice applies to a life of faith. If we want to grow in our faith, we need to adopt a growth mindset. A willingness to learn, take chances, and be changed. From May - August, I will be away on a clergy renewal leave (sabbatical) so that I might tend the garden of my faith by reading and studying; nurturing the soil with prayer, retreat, and pilgrimage; visit other places to be inspired; all while the Holy Spirit plants seeds, that when cared for, will enliven my faith. As parish leadership has planned for this sabbatical, it has been equally important to us that parishioners have the opportunity to enliven their faith, and that Rev. Molly has that same opportunity by taking her annual time away at her cottage in Maine. Our hope is that this summer will be a season of mutual growth, so that when we resume our ministry together this September, we will all have had the chance to tend our gardens, grow, and be changed. Who knows what seeds the Holy Spirit may plant in this season. We can only begin to imagine how She will help us to grow in faith. Enlivening our Faith Summer Worship Program To that end, we have planned a rich array of worship services and a set of diverse and fascinating guest preachers that will most certainly offer an opportunity to enliven our faith. It all kicks off on Sunday, April 23, where our liturgy, designed by our Green Team and Youth Group, will focus on Earth Sunday, and feature guest preacher, Episcopal priest, author, retreat leader, and climate activist the Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas. We will hear from three up-and-coming young leaders within the Episcopal Church. Their fresh perspectives will remind us of the ways the Church continues to grow and evolve, inspiring us to do the same. We will welcome seminarian Silas Kotnour on May 14; seminarian Chris Leung on May 21; and newly ordained transitional deacon, the Rev. Deacon Jimmy Pickett, on May 28. We will hear from leaders within the Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts, each who serve in a unique ministry context that will help us better appreciate the depth and breadth of the Church’s work in the world, encouraging us to take chances and explore new avenues of our faith. This includes: Lay Evangelist and Co-Coordinator of the diocesan Loving the Questions discernment program, Craig Hammond, on June 11; the Chaplain to the College at Williams College, the Rev. Dr. Valerie Bailey Fischer, on July 4; beloved local Episcopal priest and retired Northfield Mount Hermon teacher, the Rev. Ted Thornton, on July 9; diocesan Missioner for Latino / Hispanic Ministries, the Rev. José Reyes, on August 6; diocesan Canon to the Ordinary, the Rev. Dr. Rich Simpson, on August 13; and the Director of Organizing for Episcopal City Mission out of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts, the Rev. Edwin Daniel Johnson, on August 27. Working with our lay worship leaders and preaching guild, we have also put together a series of three Summer Lessons & Carols services. The themes for these services are: Creation on June 25; Taize & Peace on July 16; and Gospel & Hope on August 20. These services will offer readings, hymns, and prayers and are based loosely on the format of the familiar Festival of Lessons & Carols put on by King’s College that many of us listen to each Christmas. Changes and Coverage When the Vestry approved this clergy renewal leave, it was with a clear sense that Rev. Molly should remain ⅓ time, instead of asking her to fulfill both of our responsibilities. Given Rev. Molly serves more than ⅓ time for much of the year, it is our arrangement that she takes most of the summer from late June - August to enjoy her camp in Maine, though she remains accessible through email and phone. This is what fills her cup back up, allowing her to return to this parish and engage in our mutual ministry together.
This decision meant that parish leadership needed to make some intentional decisions about which aspects of parish ministry need to continue as is and what could be adapted or laid fallow. To that end the Vestry has determined the following:
As a faith community, it will be important that we adjust our expectations during the summer, and that we be patient and gentle with one another as we adapt to reduced staffing and volunteer lay leaders who are carrying extra responsibilities. Lastly, I want to thank you, the Vestry, the Staff, and Rev. Molly for the gift you are giving me to rest and renew this summer. Know how beloved this community is to me, you will remain in my prayers, and I will look forward to returning in September and continuing our ministry together. In the meantime, let’s spend some time reflecting this summer: Where has our faith grown stagnant? What new experiences might inspire us or plant new seeds? What do we need to pay closer attention to? How might we take new chances? Life is short, and our God of abundant, transformative Love wants to see each of us blossom into the fullness of who we were made to be. This summer, let us together enliven our faith. Faithfully yours, Rev. Heather |
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