Belovèd,

I cannot thank you enough for the warm welcome that I, and my partner Corvi, have received to the parish just in these first two weeks. It has very much felt like a "welcome home", and I am so looking forward to our ministry together. It is a journey that promises to be transformative, because God is with us.

In every conversation, I feel a sense of hope, and a clarity that this parish is a special place and the present moment is one which is full of possibility. As is always the case, there are horrible things in the world, and there are challenges facing us which we do not yet know how we will respond to, and yet here we are. We have one another, and the Spirit is with us, and God is clearly at work right here and right now.

The season of Lent is a time of preparation, and the seeds of Easter are waking even now, preparing to germinate, and making their way both down into the soil with new roots, and up towards the sun which cannot yet be seen. As we hold space for new life to emerge in our midst, and in our own lives, we, too, are sending down deep roots, and reaching up in the darkness towards a sure and certain light. This is the journey we are on together.

I feel a deep excitement for what might be waiting to emerge, to become, in our ministries which bring us into deeper contact with the community around us (Star of the Sea; our involvement with Gabriel's Kitchen; and so much more besides) and in those opportunities we share to grow towards the glory of God (small groups; expansive worship; and opportunities for teaching). Those dimensions of growth are, as in the root and the shoot of the seed, ultimately emerging from the same place.

We do this work together as a team, a community, a family, and ministry is always a collaborative endeavour. What a gift the diversity of the Body of Christ is, that we have so many people to attend richly to the needs of the community and the world around us. What a gift each and every one of you is.

***

I have been asked to write a bit about what part-time ministry means, and how I am approaching the notion of a position that is 60% of full-time.

There are a lot of different ways to explore that question, but no one of them is definitive on its own. What I prefer is to have some degree of structure, and to also leave room for us to adapt and respond to needs and opportunities that emerge. I appreciate that in being welcomed to the parish, many people have spoken of concern that I do not over-function in response to those needs and opportunities. There are other significant commitments in my life, and I want to be responsible to those, too.

I will be with you the majority of Sundays, and Bishop Anna has asked that we hold space for lay-led worship on a regular basis, probably about once a month. There are opportunities, too, for our many retired clergy and visitors to preach or lead worship from time to time, and these things add to the diversity of our shared experience of encounter with the Holy. I am grateful for that variety.

I am regularly in the office on Tuesdays and some Thursdays, and I would suggest that we set an appointment if you would like to meet with me on one of those days. I am trying take Wednesdays and Saturdays as my days off, and I have other work during the day on Mondays and Fridays.

I somewhat loathe putting that in writing, because I dislike the sense of scarcity that we might be tempted to read into that. If there is ever a pastoral emergency, or something I really need to know about, which happens on a Saturday, I hope that someone will call me, rather than being hesitant to disturb a rest day. At any time, too, send me an E-Mail. I may not respond until I'm next in the office, or it might be something I can deal with alongside, say, sermon work at home.

All of this will shift and adjust over time, but I hope that patterns will emerge that are mutually enriching, and that do not somehow feel inadequate. None of us can do everything we might wish, but together, and particularly when we collaborate creatively, we are enough.

***

As proceed on our Lenten journey, in this time of Spring rains and new life, I am so abundantly grateful for your presence, your ministry, and the opportunity to be your priest. May you know what a blessing you truly are.

Yours in Christ,
Juli