News from The Rector

August 2018

Dear Friends,

Greetings to you all and happy August. August always means at least two things to me: 1. the summer is moving along too rapidly, and 2. I’ll be on vacation. Over the years, thanks to Stacie’s expert travel-agent skills, we have embarked on many great adventures across the country. In retrospect, we’ve come to name them. Last year was “Midwest Madness” as we drove through the Dakotas. Two years ago was “The College Conundrum” as we toured campuses in search of the right school for James. One year we had “The Baseball Bonanza,” when we saw seven games in different Major League Stadiums. We’ve enjoyed “The Canadian Caper,” “California Cruising,” “Everything is Awesome,” and “The Swing through the South.” We are already calling this year’s trip, “The Warings Wander the Wild West.” We will be out in the Rocky Mountains, and look forward to experiencing some of the majestic natural wonders of our country.

But enough about me. Let’s talk about Grace Church. First, we begin on a sad note. On Wednesday, July 25 we learned at the parish office that Ted Keane had died in his home the night before. Ted was truly a great elder statesman of Grace Church whose membership stretched back to the late 1950s. Throughout his sixty years of being a parishioner Ted served the Lord through Grace Church in nearly every capacity. Just last year he gave the new columbarium in memory of his beloved wife, Mary, whose membership stretched back even further than Ted’s. Mary, who died in 2015, was a little girl here in the 1930s, and thus had known seven of Grace Church’s fourteen rectors! Lately, I was aware that Ted’s time was short because he had been placed on hospice care earlier in the week. He’d been battling cancer for a year, but true to his reserved manner, he was reluctant to tell people because he didn’t want attention drawn to himself. I’m sure that we’ll be planning a memorial service for Ted in the weeks to come, and that many of you will want to attend. We’ll let you know the date when it’s set.

Also, most of you already should know that our Associate Rector, the Rev. Martha Korienek has accepted a new call. In September Martha will begin her duties as Interim Rector of Grace Church, Hastings-on-Hudson in the Diocese of New York. What this means is that Martha has only the first three Sundays of August remaining with us before heading north. We’ll bid her farewell and Godspeed at a special coffee hour following the 11 am service on August 19^th. If you happen to be in town that day, do plan to be here.

Martha’s departure means that we are in a clergy search. The first news to report on that front is good news: Congratulations to the Rev. Chase Danford, whom I am promoting to Associate Rector. Chase has been with us for three years now and has done tremendous work. He has earned the bigger office! As Associate Rector, Chase will assume many of the duties that were in Martha’s portfolio, especially outreach, newcomers, and pastoral care. Therefore, the position we are looking to fill is actually the one Chase is currently occupying: Assistant Rector for (or Director of) Children, Youth, and Family Ministry. All I can tell you now is that a search is underway. We’ve seen a number of qualified candidates, some ordained and some lay. Right now too many pieces are in motion to tell you how we will staff these important ministries. Stay tuned; it’s going to take patience and listening to what the Spirit of God may have in mind for us.

One staff office that has been filled is on the third floor of the parish where James Romanik used to work. Cecily Millen joined our team on July 22^nd as Manager of Membership Engagement and Communications. Cecily will be overseeing all aspects relating to membership and external communications at Grace Church, including strategic marketing and fundraising initiatives. Prior to her crossover to the non-profit sector, Cecily has over 5 years’ experience in advertising, marketing and communications in the corporate world, beginning her career in the Mayor of the City of New York’s office, and working in sales and account management at advertising agencies and at a cable network.  We are thrilled to have Cecily aboard. Among her first projects will be the annual fall pledge campaign!

Finally, the wall in Seymour Close. If you recall from the July Epistle, we reported that the large brick wall separating Seymour Close and the rectory backyard is buckling, rendering our lovely outdoor courtyard off Tuttle Hall unsafe and unusable. The plan is this: once the GO Project is finished using Tuttle Hall in early August, we will demolish the old wall and build a new one. The new wall will have a door in it, and anticipate a future scheme that opens the Reception Room to Seymour Close, gaining us greater access to our yard, and our spaces in the Federal Houses (where the Sunday school rooms are located).

That’s enough for now. I’ll have updates and field questions at our opening Sunday Forum on September 9^th, 10 am in the Reception Room. Blessings to you all for a happy and restorative remainder of the summer.

See you in September.

The Rev. J. Donald Waring

Rector