From the Rector: Fires, Travel, Celebration

Dear friends,

The air has mostly cleared as I write this on Thursday afternoon, and the evacuation orders from the Point Fire outside Healdsburg have been lifted. I know many in our community have felt the anxiety and reawakened trauma of smoke and wildfire this week. Please pray for those in our Sonoma County community who lost homes and other buildings.

I’m grateful to be home after two weeks away. I spent the first week of June outside Seattle serving as a trainer for the College for Congregational Development, a training program for lay and ordained church leaders that’s been important to me. I’ve been either a participant, a trainer, or a co-director 10 times in the last 14 years—but this was my favorite session yet. The curriculum has been enriched in the four years I’ve been away, with more attention to cultural diversity and new tools for leadership. The trainers are always great, but the colleagues on this year’s team were particularly gifted and fun. And we had a wonderful group of participants from as far away as San Diego, Indianapolis, and even Florida. Our senior warden Bill Glenn decided to enroll, and it was great to have him there. Participating in CCD takes a week away from home and has tuition and travel costs, but it can be a great way to grow as a leader both in church and in other areas of life. If you’re interested in learning more, I’m always happy to talk about it.

The second week of June, our family was in Georgia visiting my dad. We had good grandparent time, did a lot of swimming and boating, and even rode tubes down the Chattahoochee River. I was back to preside and preach at church this past Sunday, and this week I’ve been catching up in the church office. I’ll be away again this weekend, though, for a family camping trip, then back in the office next week.

I’ll be sorry to miss our celebration of Deacon Phina Borgeson’s 50^th ordination anniversary, but I know Incarnation will honor her well. We have been particularly blessed through the years by the ministry of many wonderful deacons who have catalyzed us to serve our neighbors and God’s world. Phina was an early leader in reviving the ministry of deacons in this diocese and in the wider Episcopal Church, and continues to be a servant leader among us today. I'll be praying for you this Sunday and eager to be back next week.

In Christ’s love,

Stephen