April 22, 2010
Dear All Saints' Parish,
Patience is a virtue, they say. And this time between being called as your next rector and starting our work together is teaching me all about that virtue! I can't wait to be with you, and so I am thrilled that we will have a brief time together in May. I'll be at All Saints' on Sunday, May 16th, to experience the beauty of your worship and to meet as many of you as possible after services and during coffee hour. I'll also spend some time that weekend with the staff and vestry, as well as the stewardship committee. On Saturday, May 15th, I'll join All Saints' clergy and other parishioners at the ordinations of the new suffragan bishops for the Diocese of Los Angeles. It promises to be an exciting weekend for us all.
This time of waiting is not, however, filled with anxiety. Mary Haddad and the wardens are providing me with regular updates on life at All Saints'. And every time we talk, I am heartened by the commitment, outstanding work, and generosity of the staff, elected leadership, and parish. I love the can-do, willing-to-go-the-extra-mile spirit so evident in their reports. I know that when I arrive at the end of the summer, I will find a healthy place in excellent shape. I am grateful to each of you for that.
Here in Washington, this interim allows me to finish out a busy program year at the National Cathedral followed by some "sabbath time" before we officially begin our walk into the future together. A search is underway for my replacement, and during May and June there will be parties and farewells.
In the meantime, everywhere I go these days I run into someone with a current of past connection to All Saints'. Several folks have made appointments and told me with enthusiasm all about the parish. All Saints' seminarians, studying at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria and General Seminary in New York, have dropped by to check me out and fill me in. Across the board there is widespread affection for the place that I look forward to calling home. It is awesome.
We're in the middle of the "Great Fifty Days of Easter". According to all reports, Holy Week and Easter Day were glorious at All Saints'. The season leading to Pentecost offers us a rich opportunity to continue grappling with the implications of our joyous acclamation, "Alleluia, Christ is risen!" The claims we Christians make about Easter can be hard to get one's head around. But Easter is primarily about a transforming experience and a posture for living. In our audacious affirmation that the injustice and pain we humans are capable of inflicting on one another, our selfishness at the expense of others, our death-dealing ways - all that and more that put Jesus on the cross - will not have the last word. Love will triumph over death, and Jesus' way of love, inclusion, compassion, and respect for the dignity of every human being and all of creation is God's way. It is the way we were created to be and live.
We have great good news to share - not smug or exclusionary - but a liberating invitation for which the world hungers. So as we anticipate our future, let us all consider how we embrace Jesus' way and the part we play in Christ's transforming work for the world.
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Blessings,
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Steve Huber
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