The Wardens’ Letter

January 2008

Dear Friends in Christ,

With Easter coming early this year, at the time of the Annual Meeting, we will be in the middle of those strangely -named pre-Lenten Sunday’s that so fascinated me as a young boy: Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima. (I was especially intrigued by Sexagesima, but we won’t go any further down that particular road! --JB)

Although mostly fallen into disuse, the idea behind them, to prepare for Lent (to prepare to prepare!), is one the Advent does not forget. With that in mind, we thought what better way to prepare to prepare than to give thanks for the many wonderful blessings the Advent has once again received this past year .

We give thanks for the completion of the restoration of our magnificent church building (at least the outside portion ), which delights the eye every Sunday. And not having to worry about falling debris while receiving communion isn’t a bad thing either!

That was soon followed by the restoration (really transformation) of our front garden, now a memorial space, which all seem to agree beautifully frames the building - even, we think, some of those who regretted losing three of the linden trees in the process. We extend our thanks to Diane Britton, all the members of the Garden Guild, and especially Doris Peña-Cruz (Keating) who donated her design services to the project.

We give particular thanks for growth and vitality in our many programs. We had the largest enrollment in our Church School in many years, we saw an infusion of eager new acolytes at the 9:00 AM Mass, FAT A (Friends at the Advent) and its Theology on Tap continues going strong, as well as the newer FAM A (Families at the Advent).

And along those lines, we give thanks for Julianne Ture, who, among her many other contributions to the Advent , is responsible for our website, which was recognized by The Living Church in July as one of 25 parish websites considered particularly “welcoming.” The Advent’s website was cited in particular for the information on families and Christian Education.

This year, our Mission and Outreach Committee redefined how we as a parish want to approach the Christian goal of caring for others in need. In the past, our participation was limited to a largely financial role, a giving of our funds to help support other organizations in their work. But the committee has challenged the parish to become more directly involved in missions and the funding of Missions and Outreach will now be used to help support parishioners who want to undertake a project. We offer our thanks to the committee and to Karen Cole, Noel Dass, Suzanne Miller and Megan Sloat, who recently received Mission and Outreach grants to support travel and living for a mission trip to Maseno, Kenya, as a preliminary step in evaluating the possible participation of the Church of the Advent in the work of Drs. Gerry and Nancy Hardison, directors of the Maseno Mission Center in the Anglican Church of Kenya. [Ed. note: due to current political conditions in Kenya, this trip has been postponed.]

We are grateful for Edith Ho who stepped down this summer after 30 years of remarkable service to the Advent, and we are thankful for the return of Mark Dwyer with the challenging task of filling those tiny, but very powerful shoes! And of course, we are grateful for the continued blessing of Ross Wood.

We give special thanks for the steady leadership of our good Rector Fr. Warren; for the unceasing evangelical work of Fr. Gray, whom Fr. Warren proudly announced as our new Associate Rector last month; and for the ministry of Deacon Noyes.

We often overlook those who work behind the scenes to help run this place, Jim Wood, our parish Administrator, Shelia Callahan and Elaine Crandall who keep our finances running smoothly, Sharon Knox-Hutchinson, who runs our church school and young family programs along with Bethany Farrell, and our Sextons, Moses Sekajja and the Rev’d Moses Buyondo. And a special thanks to Steve Sampson, our sacristan, who puts in an enormous amount of time to make our treasured Anglo-Catholic rituals possible.

We also give thanks to all of you who come to worship faithfully every Sunday; who volunteer at the Tuesday night supper; who show up early on Sunday’s to sing in the choir, assist as acolytes and serve as ushers; who help dress the Church to look her best in flowers each week; who serve on the Vestry or one of its committees; who volunteer in the office; or who participate in any number of organizations within this great parish.

We even thank those who bring their “concerns” to the wardens’ attention (at least most of the time). It is your care, your passion for this parish that makes it truly the body of Christ.

On a personal note, Blenda Jeffry, my fellow warden for the past 5 years, is stepping down as her term on the Vestry expires with this Annual Meeting. Her ideas, advice and counsel have been invaluable, and her good humor essential. She has my thanks, indeed. And with that, I will give the last word to Blenda.

I would like to thank Father Warren, John, members of the Vestry, and all my fellow parishioners for allowing me to serve in a leadership role these past years. We have accomplished many goals together and I pray we will continue to progress and prosper.