Dear People of Christ Church,

This week, I'm sending along my report for the annual report; a .pdf of the whole document will be available online later today, linked here, and at our website, so please review it as you are able. We will have printed copies available on Sunday, but we find the meeting works a bit better if participants have read the reports in advance.

S+


Report of the Rector, 2011

This year, as I sat down to write my report, without thinking, I began to type "Dear People of Christ Church..." as I begin each week with my email newsletter. I find myself so often in a kind of internal conversation with this parish. My vocation as a priest and my job as your priest come together in ways I am so grateful for. Truly, we share ministry in this place-and I especially couldn't do it without our stellar vestry and wardens!

2011 saw so much come to fruition. We had the first full year of the Christ Church Quarterly, our beautiful newsletter edited by Kristin Harvey, with issues on music, humankind, prayer, and the Sabbath. We had three all-encompassing children's services, where we were lead by our younger members. It was also the year we finally received the CPA grant which we began applying for back in 2010, and undertook an amazing adventure of generosity and faith in our capital campaign. See Mike's report for details- I sincerely could not have imagined what a grace-filled experience we would have in those visits and in your generosity. We had a 10 percent increase in Sunday attendance and a 10 percent increase in number of pledges from 2010. We had the biggest Sunday service in the six years I've been here on Easter, with 180 people gathering to celebrate the holiday.

It also felt like a new year of openness to the gifts of the city around us; for the first time, we reached out to local businesses for donations to Diaper Depot, and received $750.00 from Watertown Savings Bank. The American Legion Band offered a concert to support DD, and our Waltham History Day took on a new significance with our approved CPA grant as a way of opening our doors to the city. The work of Bill Fowler in bringing all of this to fruition cannot be overstated, and I am deeply grateful to him for his hard work and creativity.

In the Gospel of Mark, which we hear on the third Sunday after Epiphany, Jesus goes to Simon and Andrew and calls them from their nets; follow me, he says, and I will make you fish for people. He goes to them right where they are: God finds us and gives us our ministries without too much prompting from us, often when we are engaged in quite unrelated activities! But we do have to keep our eyes, ears, and hearts open. Looking into 2012, I am so excited to see where Christ will find us, how the Holy Spirit will transform us, how God our Creator will continue to nourish us with fruits both physical (thank you, Christ Church gardeners!) and metaphorical.

Christ will find us in embarking on new leadership challenges, Christ will find us in being wise stewards of this building and of each other, Christ will find us at coffee and at the altar rail, playing games and listening, in our conflict as well as our comforts, in our digging deep and drinking in. Thanks be to God!