Andrew's Report 2022
Annual Report 2022 (for the year 2021)
given by the Rev. Andrew McLarty, Priest-in-Charge
2021: A Year of "Not Yet."
Friends, I call 2021 at Redeemer the "Year of 'Not Yet.'" I call it that because this time last year, we were looking ahead at the vaccine that was beginning to roll out, thinking, "finally, this is coming to an end." It's as if we were a swimmer on the starting block, crouched and ready to leap at the buzzer. And yet there we are, crouched and cramping. With the slow adoption of the vaccine in many places, Mississippi included, the virus was allowed to linger and spawn variants that kept resetting the clock. Plans for resuming familiar ministries and community gatherings kept getting planned and shelved, planned and shelved.
We've endured hardships, like the loss of David Channel, as well as other members of our immediate families: mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, and the like. We've lost friends. We've struggled while those close to us have had troubling diagnoses or injuries and endured painful surgeries or treatments. We've had dark nights wherein we called on the Lord for strength and comfort.
And still, God; 's glory has shown through the darkness, and I can say this has also been an excellent year. We officially added one new member to Redeemer's register and welcomed many new faces who have joined us regularly online and in person. We rejoiced at the birth of John Reilly Miller. We've had one confirmation and six receptions. We've hosted college students back home for the summer and been a safe space for MSA students to come and ask questions or simply to sit quietly with God.
Given all that has gone on this year, I am so proud of this place and what we have done with what we have. When the economy was affected and plate donations went down, God provided, and other types of gifts came in. When we lost Dr. Leggett as a tenant, we quickly gained a new one in Mark LeBlanc. The fact that we came out of 2021 in the shape that we did is worthy of note.
As for our worship, this year has been blessedly stable. This time last year, I was saying how hard it is when the church down the road is open as if nothing were going on, and we had retreated to online-only services. Back then, I had frequent phone calls and conversations with folks who thought we spent too much time closed to the public, and, on the very same day, talked to those who were baffled that we were open when we were. Thankfully, today those conversations have been replaced with what 1) we are doing now and 2) what else can we add in the future?
I say all this aware that our diocesan Annual Council was moved from an in-person convention weekend to a one-day Zoom meeting only two weeks ago. That this very Parish Meeting was postponed a week due to a COVID diagnosis within the church family. And this brings me to my next point…
Living Fully with the Reality
The reality is that COVID is here for a while, and so we need to be the best church we can be within that reality when the world changes. We will shift with it. That also means living our lives, and being a church has been a theme in many of my sermons and Wednesday Reflection this fall. I am tired of not doing things that bring us closer. I want to do everything we can to rekindle the community we had before COVID. However, that does not mean that I will abandon every precaution, ignore medical science, and act as if I can do what I want and let God sort everything out. That kind of presumptuous blind faith is spurious, structureless, and contrary to the action and work God expects of us in faith.
I mentioned that programs like Christian Education, Bible Study, and Youth Ministries, all of which are top-tier priorities for any parish, just didn't happen this fall. That was my decision. I OWN that. I shelved that programming because of the Delta variant, and here I am about to start a new Christian Ed Course on Heresy (*Wednesdays in February, 6 pm *) amid Omicron.
I believe that we know how to be around one another responsibly by now. It's time to actually get out and come back to church, and more than just Sundays at 10:00 am. The community needs you, needs your engagement.
I am worried that it always seems to be the same 8-12 people doing everything around here. I want everyone to be active, sign up for coffee duty, be a reader, and participate in or organize some facet of our community life, large or small. I dream of Bible study groups filling our Sunday School rooms, little ones zooming underfoot to get a donut hole, while the adults laugh and clutch their coffee cups in Cannon Hall. I want to:
Take our youth on more trips.
Spend future weekends at Bratton Green.
Have teens serving each week as acolytes and readers.
Let's not wait for things to get back to "normal," let's start doing the normal now, with the understanding that some flexibility is required for safety and health guidelines.
But this is more than just some uplifting thing to say in a report to the parish; I am actually calling on your help to pull this off. I am asking people to re-engage in church, especially in person, if they are medically able.
Giving Thanks
I cannot just list dreams for the future without looking back to give thanks and reflect on this past year and bring us to this point.
I have to thank our wardens and vestry, who have led us through crucial, sometimes challenging, conversations about how we might make the best next steps.
I want to thank Ms. Vana Hurst, our new Parish Administrator, who has taken on some of the most tedious, detail-oriented projects around the church and has made the church offices themselves a bright and cheery place to work and visit. If you have not had a chance to meet or talk with Vana during her regular Mondays or Thursdays, please do so. She'd love to meet you or catch up. She will also be racing out to everyone in the coming weeks to update contact information and more.
I want to thank Gloria Channel for coordinating weekly lay ministers and readers for our Sunday services, as well as
Doris Smith and the rest of the Altar Guild make our worship happen.
Thank you, DeAna Derrick, who has been able to keep the music flowing and the choir singing with the help of Steve Russell on the organ.
To Kelly Perkins for continuing to upgrade our computer networks and security cameras. And to Diane Smith for running the nursery.
Thanks to Emily Rossie and Anita and the new and returning Angel's Attic board members for keeping Angel's Attic open and safe, filling a great need for our community.
Thanks to Melinda Said, Sloane Smith, Katherine Bumgarner, and the ECW for keeping us all informed of pastoral needs, meals for the sick, injured, or bereaved, and organizing work days for our beautiful grounds.
Thank you to the whole church for helping pull an amazing REctor's BBQ, with a special tip of the hat to Carl Craig for the food, Shannon Clark for organizing the Drawdown, Dorothy LeBlanc, and Kelly Perkins for doing the Bake Sale, Jay Perkins for the Tents. Shaw Furlow for the music. and everyone else who made that possible; I cannot wait to do it again.
And I'll take a moment of personal privilege to thank my wife, Emily, for supporting me in my ministry, as well as always talking through a sermon with me if asked. And to my daughter Waverly, for being the brightest ball of sunshine in my world.
So, thank you to these and to all others who have been bold and loving in leading through this time.
The Coming Year
Moving forward, I want to put people's likes and interests into action. I have worked with a church consulting agency to form a Ministry Match Quiz. It takes 2-3 minutes and will help pair people with ways to serve that can feed the individual as much as the community. Not only will this help map practical ways to use our various gifts, but I also hope it will help us imagine programs and outreach opportunities that we never previously imagined.
We will continue the mandate to maximize Redeemer's presence and visibility in the larger Brookhaven/Lincoln Co. scene with Music in the Park, The Rector's BBQ, as well as other crafty ideas that have just barely begun to germinate… muahahaha.
As for this community, I hope to have a parish crawfish boil later this year, bring back Lenten dinners, to build intergenerational offerings that make it just as attractive for our young members to attend as our not-so-young members. I want to increase our choir, reform the Columbarium Committee, bake Communion bread, and help more of those in need. I want to reimagine how we minister specifically to one of the growing populations at Redeemer, the elderly, and one that has been discounted for years, the youth.
Stewardship
And that brings me to stewardship. As you will see when we get to the budget, we are as strong as we are today because of your support. If you are one of the 11 families that have pledged this year—thank you, thank you, thank you! If you haven't, and your financial situation allows it, please follow through and make a pledge. If you are the person who gives in the plate, rather than making a formal pledge, please keep doing that and making that gift regularly. The church's work continues during this time, and your support empowers that work.
All of the passions and projects I mentioned a few seconds ago require you and your gifts. And I'm not only talking about cash or checks; I am talking about your time and participation. If you can afford to give financially, do that. If you can afford to offer time, do that. If you have a hobby that you could share for the common good, do that. How much of this time, talents, and treasure should you give. Give until it makes you happy.
We are a people who have received so much goodness from God—who is the giver of all good things. I am thankful that, with all the places God might have called me to serve, I am called to walk with you. We will continue to be a people formed as disciples of the Risen Christ at Redeemer.
I thank you for sharing the way of discipleship with me. Amen.