Shared Dreams

FROM THE RECTOR

Do you remember the scene from the film Field of Dreams in which Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, tells his wife Annie, played by Amy Madigan, that he thinks he is supposed to drive from Iowa to Boston to take the famous novelist Terence Mann, played by James Earl Jones, to a baseball game? Having plowed under their main crop to build a baseball field, the Kinsellas were already facing financial ruin, and the thought of incurring that additional expense made Annie uncomfortable. But, when the couple realized that the night before they had shared the same dream of Ray and Terry sitting at Fenway Park and eating a hot dog, they knew they had to say yes.

When I was a child, my mother asked me almost every morning what I had dreamed about the night before. Although a handful of nightmares are indelibly etched into my memory, I cannot recall any specific moments of sharing what I had seen in my sleep. Looking back, it feels like the dreams themselves were not as important as the invitation to share them. Her encouragement to reflect on my dreams and consider how I might share them with others in order to illuminate the path we are on together was a gift.

This weekend, the Vestry is headed to Camp Mitchell for our annual retreat. While I do not anticipate that any of us will share the same overnight visions, I hope the retreat will help us recognize that we share certain dreams as leaders of St. Paul’s. In the past, we have used the retreat to focus on a goal-setting process that shapes the work we will undertake during the year ahead. After identifying the strengths and weaknesses of our parish and naming the five-year dreams we hope our church will pursue, we have then established specific goals for the year ahead that will lead us toward that five-year vision. This year, however, I hope we can focus more on the dreaming process itself, trusting that the work of setting goals will take shape throughout the year.

For the last several years, we have endured a global pandemic, economic uncertainty, and considerable staff turnover at St. Paul’s. We have managed the challenges of that time admirably, and it feels like we are beginning a new chapter in the life of our parish in a position of strength and health. Instead of simply building upon the patterns of previous years and tweaking the goals we have set in the past, I believe the Vestry has an opportunity to dream a little bigger—to stretch our vision a little further. That sort of dreaming takes some extra room not only during a retreat but after we return to St. Paul’s, too. For the next few years, I expect that our parish’s leaders will take on more fully an identity as vision-casters instead of serving primarily as worker-bees.

Occasionally, God reveals something to us in abrupt clarity—the sort of unquestionable epiphany that requires no conversation or deliberation. Far more often, however, God calls out to us in ways we might not notice unless we are committed to the work of listening. When we can share that spiritual work with other people and join them in exploring the ways in which God is using our collective aspirations, hopes, and dreams to shape our lives, the result is a powerful expression of faithfulness. This weekend, I hope the Vestry will take some time to get to know each other and share their experiences of God working in their lives and through the church. I trust that in time that shared foundation will reveal some shared dreams and, with the help of God’s Spirit, that we will find ways in which our dreams for St. Paul’s are, in fact, shared by God.

Yours Faithfully,

Evan D. Garner