I’m excited and honored to be serving as your sabbatical minister. As you know, I will be coordinating and leading worship and pastoral care while Rev. Sharon is away. I will also be continuing my regular portfolio of work as Minister of Congregational Life: organizing service projects, coordinating our membership processes, and generally leading Social Justice and Pathways Teams. You can find more information about who’s doing what during sabbatical elsewhere in this newsletter.

Some of you may notice that it feels unsettling to have Rev. Sharon gone for awhile, and that is normal. Some of you may not notice much of a change at all, and that is fine, too. My hope is that you simply pay attention to what is coming up for you, and to remember that I and the other congregational leaders are here for you. We care about you, and are deeply committed to the wellbeing of the Chalice community.

I know that it has been a frightening and fractured time in our communities and in the country. I know that I have personally felt shaken by the shooting in Orlando and anxious over the hateful and hurtful rhetoric some are using in this election year. We also marked the anniversary, last month, of the shooting at a black church in Charleston. Please be gentle with yourselves and with one another. Please reach out to me, to each other, and especially to those who enter our doors for the first time, seeking friends and strength. In my experience, it is the fabric of community which upholds us in fearful and difficult times. Thank you for every way, small and large, that you reach out in love to weave that fabric more strongly.