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From the Rector's Annual Report
Dear People of St. John’s:
As you read the annual written reports, you will be impressed with the dedication, commitment, and talent in this parish. You have heard me say it before, but we have all the human resources and potential we need to continue to be a strong witness to the Good News of the Gospel and to be well nourished by our Lord. To be sure, there are some formidable challenges ahead. We have met such challenges before and dealt with them. The search process for a new rector takes time and hard work. When a new rector is finally called and arrives on the scene, there will be a period of adjustment and orientation. Your parish staff, Sarah, Sue, and Nancy will especially feel this. Please be patient and understanding, and realize that they should not feel as if they have multiple bosses. All of them are as fine and dedicated a staff, as you will find. While your vestry and transition committee might well feel exhausted, when your new rector arrives that is just the first part of the transition and maybe not even the most critical part. In one sense, a new life of ministry is beginning; a ministry that I anticipate will take St. John’s to a new height and deeper level.
People of faith today in our culture in Ithaca are not regularly being arrested and fed to lions, nor are they actively being discriminated against in employment opportunities or summarily expelled from their dwellings. Nonetheless, there are subtle and powerful forces at work that corrupt and weaken the bonds of Christian community. Because they are not so openly hostile, they may be even more pernicious. There are increasing demands made on our time, 24/7. It takes uncommon skill to sort out, recognize, and honor our most important commitments. I don’t think most of us are wired to adjust to the many changes, choices, and alternatives our society currently throws at us. Sometimes we are just stunned.
I’ve observed over the years that there is a lot of talk and discussion in Ithaca about community, but talk and discussion is not the same thing as the hard work of being a community. Community takes real time, patience, effort, and then more patience again. It’s two parts listening to one part talking.
It’s leaving agendas behind. It’s not like putting on a pair of shoes for one occasion and then putting them back in the closet until the right occasion occurs again. More than any time in recent history, communities take real effort, and if a parish community is one of your priorities, know that society, your neighbors, teachers, friends, or co-workers may consider you a little odd.
Admittedly, I’m preaching to the choir about these things. What I want to assure you that it is OK to be a little odd. Be gentle with yourself. Confucius is credited to have said Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” I suspect if you work at what you enjoy, that most of the time you will feel as if your work was well worth it. There must be an analogous saying about singing in the choir, being a Sunday School teacher, serving as an acolyte, and even serving on the vestry or a transition committee. If it is worth doing, it is worth enjoying and finding meaning in it. All and all, over these past twenty-three years, I’ve really enjoyed the ride and the many interesting, unique, committed, wonderful and dear people I’ve met here, and I pray that that will continue and be the case for all of you, too. For St. John’s is a special place. Yes, there is plenty of work ahead to be done. So we are invited to roll up our sleeves, hitch up our overhauls, and…. To enjoy the ride!
Sincerely, Philip W. Snyder
Ash Wednesday Services
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
12:10 P.M. and 7:30 P.M.
The Liturgy of the Day will be celebrated and the imposition of ashes will be available at both services. Beginning February 29th, there will be a service every Wednesday evening at 5:30 p.m. during Lent. |
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Mardi Gras
Ham, potatoes, and drinks will be provided. Please sign up on the poster in the Parish Hall to let us know you'll attend and, if you choose, whether you'll be vringing a salad, vegetable, or dessert. consider signing up for clean-up also, if you can.
All ages are welcome and are encouraged to wear costumes, sequins, and plenty of beads. The King and Queen will be awarded all rights, provoleges, appurtenances, and appiances appropriate to their high office.
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| Jean McPheeters, Executive Director of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, led the Vestry planning retreat this year at Kendal of Ithaca. She used the metaphor of planning, developing, and growing a garden in accepting the leadership responsibilities and challenges ahead. |
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Musical Notes from the Director of Music
It’s been a very busy time for the musicians, particularly the adult choir. In January, we participated in a ‘kirking of the tartans’ service at Cornell. In early February they will sing at Barlow Ware’s memorial service, and Ash Wednesday is the 22nd. We are blessed to be asked to share our ministry for these special events and services, and the church is blessed to have a group that handles these challenges so beautifully.
The children and youth choirs continue to progress. The children work on vocal technique and are enjoying ringing handbells, too; they’re doing great. The youth continues to work on part singing and blended choral sound.
The bells are working on several neat pieces now and, although we’ve had more absences than usual from rehearsals, they’re learning a lot and ringing well.
Now, as we’re just beginning to work on special music for Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Easter, would be a terrific time for you to join us. If you love to make music with others, consider coming to take part in the musical ministry at St. John’s. The more, the merrier.
—Nancy Radloff
LECTURE SERIES CONTINUES
After a brief pause (to collect breath?) during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, St. John’s adult education lecture series started up again at the end of January. Entitled, “The American Church in Times of National Crisis,” the series began with a talk by Russell Bourne on the significance of the Great Awakening in the 1740s. In January, Gary Anderson presented the Disestablishment of the Church in the New Constitutional Order.
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On February 27th, Father Snyder will talk on the Fate of Anglicanism in the Young Republic. In March, the Rev. Clark West, Chaplain of the Episcopal Church at Cornell, will discuss Thoreau and Transcendentalism. In May (after a break for Easter in April), Ed Baptist will address Slavery and the Emergence of Black Christianity.
The series will pick up again following the summer vacation months. In September, Ed Kokkelenberg will speak on the Church in the Great Depression. That will be followed by other lectures leading to the more modern crises of the World Wars and Civil Rights. It’s hoped that the series will give our parish and the community a greater understanding of the complex, on-going role of Christian churches in framing America’s political and cultural life.
St. John’s Columbarium:
Under the stained glass windows of St. Hugh of Lincoln and St. Francis of Assisi and to the right of the Altar rail is our Columbarium, providing a dignified place of burial in the church. Presently the cost is $550 per space, including an engraved brass plate. This compares very favorably to a cemetery plot and headstone. Please contact the parish office for more information.
It's not Facebook, but
The monks of The Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal order whose mother house is in Cambridge, Mass, are offering a brief meditation via e-mail that you may subscribe to and be sent to you (absolutely free of course). You may then click on a more extended meditation. If you wish, you may further view the responses of others and leave comments about it yourself. You can find them at:
http://ssje.org/word.
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From Our 2011 Senior Warden:
Dear Fellow Parishioners,
Thank you for allowing me to serve as your Senior Warden for 2011. I also thank you for the commitment to St. John’s that you have shown throughout this year by your participation in our ministries and activities, as well as your financial support. Thank you!
Near the beginning of this past year, the Vestry learned that Philip was planning on retiring in 2012. Before I touch upon that transition process that we, as a parish, are undergoing as we prepare to say goodbye to Philip and Kluane and to welcome a new rector, I would like to reflect on the work that the Vestry has been doing for the past year. You will read, in the reports contained in this Annual Report, some of the specific activities and tasks undertaken by the Vestry committees. In addition to each Vestry member’s attendance and participation in the monthly Vestry meetings, he or she also served on 2-3 committees, which were active throughout the year. Everyone came to our monthly Vestry meetings ready to work on your behalf and for the benefit of the parish. Decisions at the meetings were never rubber-stamped, pre-ordained decisions, and we often engaged in lively discussions based on our respective points of view. But we never forgot that we were there to do what was best for St. John’s and the work of God. I thank each Vestry member for his and her participation and dedication during this past year; I have appreciated working with them.
The data which was obtained from the “Gather Together, Grow Together” campaign in 2010 informed many decisions made by the Vestry over the past year as it sought to plan for the transition from one rector to another. The Vestry appointed a Transition Committee to handle the day-to-day work of the transition, but it received reports from the Transition Committee on a regular basis. As many of you are aware, last summer a survey developed by Holy Cow Consulting was offered to the congregation to gauge its response on a number of subjects. This survey was used to assist |
the Vestry and the Transition Committee in identifying trends within, and aspects of, our parish life. We found the survey results from the Holy Cow survey were consistent with what the “Gather Together, Grow Together” campaign results had reflected. The Vestry will continue to refer to the Holy Cow and “Gather Together” results to develop and roll-out mid-range and longer-range goals for St. John’s and its ministries.
I want to thank Philip for advising the Vestry of his plans to retire with ample time for us to plan for the transition. This has been a real gift to the Wardens, the Vestry and to the parish in that we can work carefully through all the details of the transition. I also want to thank both Philip and Kluane for the gift of their ministries to this parish in so many, many ways. They will be greatly missed.
The past year has, necessarily, been one full of planning for the future of the parish. The future will bring with it a farewell to Philip and Kluane, welcoming a new rector and making the transition between both. But it will also allows us, as a parish, to continue and build upon the many ministries that you see reflected in this annual report, while embracing new ministries.
I invite all of you to use this transition as an opportunity to engage in one activity or ministry at St. John’s that is new to you. Volunteer to greet on Sundays, offer to bring cookies to coffee hour, sing in the choir, teach Sunday school, serve as an acolyte, or merely say hello to a new face at a Sunday service and invite him or her to join you at the coffee hour after the service.
I look forward to the commitment and leadership that Lloyd Hall will bring as Senior Warden in 2012. Lloyd’s past experience as Warden and member of the Vestry, and his many gifts as a person of faith will serve us all in good staid in this year of continuing transition. And again, I thank all of you for all that you have done to make St. John’s what it is today.
Sincerely,
Susie Backstrom
Senior Warden
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St. John’s vestry 2012: Alan Lamb, Jim Johnson, Bettie Lee Yerka, Pam Talbott, Ed Kokkelenberg, Gary Anderson, Lloyd Hall (warden), Mary Arlin (warden), Richard Burns, Kare Onley-Hawthorne (clerk) Not pictured: Sara D’Aprix, Scott Russell |
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Jennifer Hayghe, pianist and Robert McGaha, bass-baritone returned to St. John’s to offer a terrific Chamber Concert. Songs ranged from Vier ernste Gesange (Four serious Songs) by Brahms to the Hunting Song and She’s My Girl by Tom Lehrer. Jennifer concluded the program with a rousing and over the top rendition of Reminiscences de Norma by Franz Liszt. |
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Members of St. John’s Choir offered their musical gifts at the Episcopal Church at Cornell’s Kirking of the Tartan and celebration from the 1627 Scottish Book of Prayer in January. Fr. Snyder led the Litany of Scottish Saints. |
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