Belovèd,
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
As we emerge from a deeply meaningful Lent and a transformative and beautiful Holy Week and Easter, I am continuing to "arrive" in my role as your new Rector. It feels like we began in the midst of things last month, and now I find myself wanting to go back and share some biographical details that I would normally have sent in my first week or so.
I moved to Salt Spring with my partner Corvi in early 2018, to a home on Isabella Point Road at the far southern end of the island where we still live. When I first moved here, the Rev. Richard Stetson was retiring, and our then-bishop Logan asked me if I would serve as the interim, and I gladly agreed. Serving in that role was a real gift for me, and gave me a real glimpse of what community is like on this island, with a warm welcome and much generous help in settling here well — including Dave Phillips helping arrange a rescue for a moving truck that slid off our driveway and into the bush! (Chainsaws were involved, but no explosives.)
I was ordained in the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia in 2016, having graduated from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Mass., in 2015. At that time, I was working as a software developer specializing in applied cryptography and high-performance computer networking. Now, in addition to being a priest, I also serve as a psychotherapist at an agency in our community. I am grateful that I spend much less time arguing with computers than I used to, and more time in the presence of people I have the privilege of knowing and caring about deeply.
Exploring what it is to be a person means a great deal to me, including especially how we develop at all stages of life. I'm very drawn to the role that a parish plays in the spiritual development of its members and also those lives that are touched by it less directly. I really believe that what we do in church is deeply significant, and works to change the world for the better. This probably reflects the incarnational, sacramental worldview I have built up from encounters with the breadth of theology of the ancient church, which emphasizes that God is truly and richly present in Creation, and all of Creation is deeply present within and to God. Everything we do has theological significance, and each life is a sacred revelation of the Holy.
Corvi and I raise chickens on the rocky outcrop we call home, and we spend as much time as we can lost in the forest here, marvelling at the diversity of creation. You may have seen a Driftwood article during the height of the pandemic about us encouraging people to take up mushroom identification as a hobby. Over the past 7 years, we have planted dozens of fruit trees, some of which have even survived, and we also grow a wide range of citrus trees both outside and in a greenhouse — around 75 different varieties at last count, plus hundreds of seedlings which may some day bear new fruit.
I try to be involved in the community in other ways when I can, and for five years I was the president of Diverse and Inclusive Salt Spring Island (DAISSI), which is our local 2SLGBTQIA+ society and organizes Salt Spring Pride. I have also helped out at community events including Remembrance Day, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, and numerous programs at the high school.
Mostly, I try to either be spending meaningful time with other people, or out in nature. I aspire to spending more time on or in the ocean, and am actively working towards regular kayaking. I enjoy long, slow walks, and am overdue for another walk from my home to Ganges. I wonder if some group of us might like to walk together between St. Mary's and All Saints! It is a real gift to feel grounded in this place and connected deeply to the land and sea.
I am so grateful to be your priest, and really look forward to all the time we will get to spend together, the things we will get to explore and do together, and the ways we will enrich the life of the island by the work we share.
Yours in Christ,
Juli
