THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE RECTOR

CHURCH OF THE REDEEMER

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2002 

Once again it is my special joy and honor to share with you my annual reflections as your rector.  You have in your hands the main body of the Parish’s Annual Report, a formidable and impressive collection of narrative and statistics.  We can all be very proud of the people and untold hours of volunteer time reflected in this array of summaries, noting the achievements, generosity, and wide involvement of members of Christ’s Church in this place.  We would appear to be, as the saying goes, on a roll.  Life is good here, and the Good News of God in Christ is heard, read, marked, learned, and inwardly digested the year round.  If my annual report proclaims nothing else, it stresses the centrality of our identity as a Christian community of baptized persons and seekers.  We are at our best a living, breathing, hard working, and selflessly giving group of disciples of Christ.  We are only the Church of God in this particular building in this particular neighborhood, neither a monument nor a club.  As long as we hold the loving God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – as our only focus, the state of this parish will continue to be good, healthy, and (I dearly hope) fun for each and every person.   

Here, young and old alike are invited to the Altar of the Lord to be thankful and to hear repeatedly the call of our Lord to do the work that God has given us to do.  I am pleased to say that we are attentive to our calling.  We are not perfect; the Kingdom has not yet come.  But we are making progress.  Trouble will come only when we delude ourselves into thinking that we have at last arrived at some vague state of holiness.  Only through God’s continual love, and our continual openness to that gift will we be able to rejoice in our life together.  Take God and the Gospel away from us, and we are but a nice gathering with no purpose. 

That we enjoyed a year of worship, learning, service, and quiet in one of the most frightening times ever experienced in our nation and world testifies to the strength of our community of faith.  That we were able to open our doors for friends and strangers in those bleak days of September hardly seems heroic or adequate; yet we were here as a place of sanctuary and a house built upon strong foundations, both of which we all needed and still need.  That we managed to conduct successfully our Stewardship and Christmas Market in the midst of an uncertain economy testifies as well to the dedication of dozens of volunteers and the obligations we share as a community with a purpose.  That the parish’s response, your response to the Christmas Offering for the Afghan Women’s Fund enabling us to send over ten thousand dollars for the relief of human suffering in a faraway place, reminds us of who we are and why we gather together as sisters and brothers of the One God whose children we all are. 

I am feeling very good as I write these words because they remind me in specifics of what being a Christian is all about.  Neither status, nor cleverness, nor splendor can define us in our time as they once did.  Christianity is a simple faith in all its complexities, and we are a simple people in all our variety.  God has called us not as best among many, but equal with others in faith and deeds that proclaim our belief.  We are truly blessed at the Church of the Redeemer, and we must forever turn to God with hands uplifted in praise.  That countless people share their time, talent and treasure to make this church a busy, sometimes crowded, welcoming, safe, and lovely collection of people and buildings defines the obligations we share as members of the Body of Christ.  My deep and abiding gratitude goes out to each of you who are the living cells of the Body of Christ.  One of the moments in each week that powerfully teaches me about faith, religion, and the wonder of people comes as I walk along the Altar Rail at the Eucharist placing the wafer in your hands.  Sometimes we exchange a glance, sometimes heads are bowed, but to know each of you by name and to give thanks for you as I offer you Christ’s blessed body transcends all else that I do and have.  I am reminded of the marriage vow:  “With all that I am and all that I have I honor you.”  You and I are about the business of honoring each other and honoring our God.  Thank you for that mystical, wonderful communion week upon week. 

While 2001 was a remarkably fine year in our parish, the years ahead will find us struggling to reach the heights we have attained.  Each of us must be alert to challenges and opportunities of which we have only begun to be aware.  I want to share with you both dreams and concerns in order to get you thinking and praying and volunteering to help as best you can. I am particularly grateful to the thoughtful discussion that marked our Vestry Retreat Day in the fall.  Ideas shared that day now dwell in my mind and spur my thoughts and prayer.  You will have an opportunity to express your thoughts about two areas of our discussion, adult education and fellowship, via questionnaires in the Annual Meeting.  Your input is as valuable as that of anyone else. Please do not fail to complete your survey.  Regarding adult education, I believe that each of us must take responsibility for knowing as well as feeling what Christianity means, most particularly in a spiritually diverse, or spiritually vapid, world.  The richness of the Christian message and practice invites us in, to explore and be surprised, and feel good about our professed identity. Clearly the ministry of hospitality, or fellowship as we call it, is a life force in our parish.  That people tell me, “I don’t know any of those nice, new people” discourages me.  Why do we not know each other by name?  God calls us by name, and we need to call each other by name, to have an identity, to share our stories, and to appreciate the variety and humanity of those who affiliate with all of us.  Attendance at coffee hour is fairly modest these days.  Is there something to learn from that fact?  Should we have an alternate format through which we can meet each other and learn?  I hope that we shall begin to hear the sweet sound of greater fellowship as well as interesting discussion from adult courses soon and into the future. 

As we let ourselves know each other and are more clear about our faith and witness, the more we can join together and participate in the full ministry of the parish, the third area of Vestry discussion.  Many, many of you do, some have gotten “burned out” or have not dared run for vestry or assume various roles of responsibility around the parish.  I look for the day when we have more people participating in the opportunities, better yet inventing opportunities that will nourish the vitality of the Church of the Redeemer.  The talent and worth of each of you is great in the eyes of the Lord, and well worth sharing with your fellow parishioners and the world we hope to serve. 

Financial matters are always a concern.  Would that the Church moved along for free, like the grace of God!  Our fiscal record is admirable, particularly in a cooling economy.  Yet the Vestry and others who manage skillfully and carefully both our endowment and operating funds caution us about the years ahead.  Since our costs are unlikely to decrease, all our resources will need to be allocated in new and imaginative ways.  How each of us gives money and the precise amount we decide to give are personal decisions, rarely discussed in public.  To a degree I regret that reserve.  Yet I hope that in the year and years to come we can engage in serious discussion, one on one perhaps, in order to make the case for increased giving.  For example, we have no official planned giving program and must create one this year.  Our buildings require repair and upkeep, incurring both planned and unforeseen expenditures.  Our bell tower stands tall but shows signs of deterioration, the result of weather and acid rain and who knows what.  Even to diagnose masonry and structural problems, as we are doing at present, costs more than we ever imagined.  The organ needs technical work; in time the rectory will need significant updating and restoration.  The list is long.  In terms of personnel, hiring and retaining clergy and lay staff of the high quality we have come to expect, will over time require greater salaries and benefits than we fund at present.  Episcopal clergy do not seek ordination to become wealthy, but neither do we take vows of poverty.  I am treated well, but my successor will cost more, I am sure. 

One singularly compelling and exciting project merits our enthusiastic response, that is, the Barbara C. Harris Camp and Conference Center, long in the planning stages, and ready to begin construction and programs in the very near future.  I am privileged to sit on the Clergy Advisory Committee for the Camp, and both Craig Swan and I are part of a large team of clergy and lay persons who will visit every parish of this Diocese to spread the word about the Camp.  Both Stuart Mathews and Roger Servison serve on the Camp Steering Committee.  My support for the project has grown as I have learned more and more about the raison d’etre  for the Camp.  Not only the Church and the Diocese, but also this and every parish will benefit from the new facility located on its own lake in Greenfield, New Hampshire.  I agree fully with Bishop Shaw who says, “I believe our Diocese is filled with wonderful young people and vital adults seeking ways to bring about a closer relationship with our Lord.  Yet, at the same time, the pressures of today’s society are great.  Perhaps now, more than ever, parishioners of all ages need support from their peers and from the Church.  As such, I believe the Diocese needs to create a place where people can discover that support – a place that fosters a sense of community, a sense of one’s creative gifts and how they can be used, and a sense of self before God.”  Your Vestry will meet with the Rev. Rob O’Neill, rector of the Church of the Epiphany in Winchester and Melissa von Stade a member of St. Andrew’s in Wellesley as we begin to plan how best the Church of the Redeemer can support the Camp financially.  I strongly believe we, as one of the strongest parishes in this Diocese, are able to stand up and make a substantial contribution to the future of the Church, a gift of thanksgiving and obedience to God’s call. 

These reflections would be woefully incomplete without my sincere thanks for all that you are and all that you do for Christ in our parish and beyond, for your witness, and for the partnership we all share in ministry at the Church of the Redeemer.  I am indebted to my colleagues on the staff for their dedication and support of our program.  Theirs and the combined talents and efforts of the lay leadership of this parish enable me to write a positive and affirming report like this.  We are indeed on a roll, and the future beckons us to roll further and more joyfully and faithfully than ever in our history. 

As I pray for you, I ask your prayers for the leadership and staff here.  Pray that God continues to bestow his blessings upon each of us in this little, local incarnation of his Church.  The gifts of God are truly ready for the people of God.  Rejoice and be glad. 

                                                                        Respectfully submitted, 

                                                                        The Rev. Richard H. Downes, Rector

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