Hard Goodbyes

FROM THE RECTOR

One of the best things about working at St. Paul’s is getting to share that work with gifted, talented, faithful people. I believe that I work with the best people in the church, and I am continually amazed at how much good our staff is able to accomplish together. We are a tightly knit community that cares deeply for each other, yet we also seem eager to share our gifts with others. I know not to take that sort of healthy balance for granted.

I am sad, therefore, to share that both Samantha Clare and Kathy McGregor will be leaving their positions at St. Paul’s during the summer. Both of them are leaving for personal reasons. Samantha looks forward to starting a new chapter in her life as she seeks to care for herself and her family. Kathy will be retiring both to spend time with her children and grandchildren and for health reasons. Both departures represent a significant loss to our parish, and it is right for us to grieve them. Nevertheless, in both cases, these are people whom we love and who are seeking their own best life in faithful ways, so it is also right for us to celebrate with them.

Samantha has been our Director of Christian Formation since 2019. Before that, she served as our Young Adult Minister as well as Chaplain at St. Martin’s. In her ministry, she has cared beautifully for the people of this parish and the wider community in all ages and stages of life. She is an exquisite facilitator of group dynamics and a gentle vision-caster. Few people have the ability to organize and facilitate a project while also loving and caring for participants. Samantha has those gifts in abundance. She will be missed.

Kathy has been our Deacon since her ordination in 2021, but her diaconal ministry at St. Paul’s stretches back much further than that. As the founder of our harm reduction ministry, she has been active at Community Meals, providing life-saving care and supplies for those who are overlooked by the health care system. She has led the Prison Stories Project for more than a decade, amplifying the voice and humanity of those caught up in the carceral system. Her work as a parish nurse, begun in a previous congregation and continued among us, has supported parishioners and visitors since her arrival. Like no one else I know, Kathy’s dedication to the poor and insistence that the church respond to the needs of others has embodied the servanthood of Christ. She will never be replaced.

Samantha’s last Sunday at St. Paul’s will be June 18, when we will celebrate her ministry with a reception during the 10:00 a.m. formation hour. Although the time is short, between now and then, she will help us transition to our summer schedule and lead VBS. Kathy’s last Sunday will be July 9, when she will preach at all three services. That day, we will celebrate her ministry among us at a reception following the 11:00 a.m. service. Between now and then, she will continue to care for the poor and help us hear Christ’s call to do the same. After she retires, Kathy plans to continue the work of the Prison Stories Project and harm reduction, and, like many of our other retired clergy, she may pop back up at the altar from time to time, where she will be welcome.

Both of those positions will be hard to fill, but I have confidence in our parish and in God’s provision for us. I have already begun reaching out to a few people about the formation director’s position, and the vestry has appointed three people to help me conduct that search: Jeannie Whayne, Julie Chambers, and David McMath. You can see the position description that we are using to advertise for that position here. Please share any ideas you have for that position with any member of that team, using the email address formationsearch@stpaulsfay.org.

Also, with the vestry’s advice, I have suspended the search for our next Youth Minister and have asked Curtis to stay on for another year before leaving for graduate school. Thankfully, he has agreed. He will provide continuity not only for our youth but for the whole parish and for our next formation director. Then, after filling the director’s position, we can resume the search for our Youth Minister.

Deacons, however, are harder to come by. Individuals who are called by God and the church to pursue that servant ministry are rare. Usually, like Kathy, they are raised up from within a particular community and then empowered by the Holy Spirit at ordination to pursue the ministries they have already known even more fully. Right now, I do not know when we will find our next deacon, but I do know that the absence of a deacon’s voice in worship, in vestry meetings, in staff meetings, and in all the ministries we carry out is an impoverishment that we will bear until that ministry is filled. I will work with the bishop—our current bishop and whoever is elected to succeed him—in search of our next Deacon.

Because of my summer plans, this Sunday will be my last time to serve with Samantha and Kathy. At our vestry meeting on Monday night, in the midst of these transitions, one of the members asked me to reaffirm my intention to stay at St. Paul’s for the foreseeable future. I was happy to do so. Even though I will be away for the summer on sabbatical, I am not currently in any job searches, including the bishop search in this diocese. I plan to come back in September, refreshed and renewed, for a new chapter of ministry together.

Nevertheless, in the letter that bears his name, James cautions against making our own plans without first acknowledging that, “[Only] if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that” (4:15). Heeding his warning, I want to qualify my assurance by admitting that, like all of us, I am subject to God’s will and call. I do not know what surprises God has in store for our parish or for my family. Like you, I want to be faithful to God because I believe that that is what is best for all of us. For now, though, as far as I can tell, God’s will is for me to stay at St. Paul’s.

Over the coming weeks, I hope you will find a way to thank Samantha and Kathy for their work and ministry at St. Paul’s. Because I will be away, I am trusting you and the staff to organize an appropriate send-off for each of them. Please allow them to maintain their own dignity and privacy by not asking them to explain their decisions, but do offer your unqualified support, prayers, and well-wishes as they embark on their next journey. Above all else, they are being faithful to God as they seek to respond to God’s call in their lives. They have helped me understand that call to faithfulness in my own life, and I trust that you have experienced from them the same. Although we are saddened by their loss, we must be thankful for the gifts they have given us—thankful to them and thankful to God.

Yours Faithfully,

Evan D. Garner

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