2023 saw a growth in new programs and an extended period of the rector’s absence.  I continue to feel grateful for this community and the many gifts here.

 

The year kicked off with a lot of planning: a vestry retreat, program staff retreat, executive council retreat, and a clergy staff retreat at the end of February. 

 

I organized the speakers for our Lenten lunch series with the theme “Listening to the Voices of Women.” We heard from artists Joan Payton and Ann Moorefield, Jewish poet Jessica Jacobs, Cherokee activist Lianna Costantino, Karen Wallace-Meigs of the NC Council of Women/ Pisgah Legal, and Carolyn Cronin of Transformation Village.

 

In February, I took a group of folks to a symposium on creation care at Montreat, and from that, our creation care committee was born, which now meets monthly. They have instated composting, partnered with other Church Street congregations in advocacy work, and (in partnership with Stan Hubbard of Buildings and Grounds) taken responsibility for the health of the grounds, among other things.

 

In March, I led the youth confirmation retreat; eight youth came, and six were confirmed. I also led the women’s retreat, with thirty-nine attendees.

 

In April, we celebrated Holy Week and Easter; in May, we confirmed/baptized/welcomed about fifty new folks into the church.

 

Rev. Scott took all his vacation at once this summer and “borrowed” a few weeks from his sabbatical. Dena Whalen and the other clergy in the church assisted me in his absence. I helped out with VBS and, along with Debbie Cox, took our youth group to a Blue Theology experience at the Duke Marine Labs in Beaufort, NC.

 

Fall programming is full and rich. I meet with the Women’s Bible study group every week to pray and discuss the upcoming lectionary texts. On Sunday mornings, I lead the Clark Room Conversation adult formation hour. I also lead a nine-week book club using Where Goodness Still Grows; about thirty people attend weekly.

 

In October, we are offering a Wednesday night dinner series leading up to our All Saints celebration, helping us think about what a good death means: 

 

• Oct 4 What the Burial Rite Gets Right with Father Scott 

• Oct 11 God the Gravedigger with Rev. Dr. Lauren Winner 

• Oct 18 Memento Mori: how facing death teaches us to live, with Dr. Christiana Peterson 

• Oct 25 Our Last Best Act: Planning for the End of Our Lives to Protect the People and Places We Love with Dr. Mallory McDuff 

 

November brings our guest speaker, Dr. Ellen Davis, and our diocesan convention; then, of course, we’ll start afresh with Advent.

Respectfully submitted, 

Amy +