Grace in Transition

Dear Friends, Neighbors, and Newcomers:

A longtime friend asked, at Grace last Sunday morning, “What’s happening in the transition?”. She worried Grace people would think nothing was going on. Sometimes steady progress looks like status quo, but it’s not. What’s going on? A lot.

Once we bid a “good goodbye” to Wren in late July, the Vestry worked toward finding an Interim. We were truly blessed when Stephen Crippen agreed to transition from our (very experienced) Curate to our Interim Rector. And, we know you’re learning how truly fortunate we are, with his organized leadership and his heart-and-spirit-touching homilies.

What’s happening in our formal Transition?

The Vestry is working closely with the Diocesan guide “Transformational Change: Clergy Transitions in the Diocese of Olympia-Resource for Congregations.” At a special combined meeting on November 17, the Vestry and Program Ministry Council will meet with a diocesan transition consultant to take the first steps toward the selection of a Profile Committee. (We will introduce our consultant soon.) Stephen will be our spiritual leader and pastor as we move into this phase.

So what else is moving us forward in our Transition?

Staff, Vestry and PMC are going strong. Here are a few examples:

• Our work is anchored to and guided by the principles outlined in the Grace Strategic Plan.
• Stephen is working with an advisory team to facilitate discernment about and development of our liturgical/worship life.
• New cameras and improved sound delivery facilitate Sunday worship in-person and via Zoom.
• We created a new Family Ministries Coordinator position and welcomed Kerstin Cathcart as its leader. Go Forth Sundays bring children into the heart of worship and into the Service Sundays offered by Outreach.
• We continue offering robust Adult Faith Formation, including several book studies, a series with Steve Garnaas-Holmes, and our ongoing Women’s Circle and Men’s Group. We will also be welcoming a nationally-known guest preacher, the Rev. Dr. Mark Jefferson, to Grace on November 21. We continue to hold Kim Cockroft in prayer as she steps away for a time to care for her family.
• Vestry and PMC work is shared through monthly Leadership News. Stephen writes weekly e-news notes on a variety of issues and concerns we’re working on during this time.
• We have thanked our devoted former Parish Life team and welcomed new ministry leaders: Edith Coburn and Rachel Brandt.
• The building, grounds and gardens are spruced up regularly (thank you Place for Grace, and staff!).
• We have commended those who have died to God’s care, and interred our loved ones in the newly planted Memorial Garden and in the Memorial Wall.
• Pastoral Care continues its quiet presence alongside those who mourn, are troubled or ill, or simply in spiritual need.
• Our dedicated Tribes leaders have met often to discern a new way of gathering for shared service, and to consider a new name for the Tribes.
• Our Personnel Manual has been revised and updated. Our website has also been refreshed and streamlined. (We continue to publish transition information on this page.)
• The Treasurer and Development chairs have worked with energy and focus on monitoring income and expense and on raising funds for the ongoing work of Grace.
• Outreach keeps up the good work of caring for our region and world through Butterfly grants and the active service of Service Sundays.
• Anchored by the loving care and direction of Ann Strickland, the Music Circle raises voices in song.
• A new committee is collaborating with Stephen on the hiring of a new Music Director, a process the congregation can be actively involved in through a public meeting (Nov. 14, 11:00am).

Our vestry recently reflected on the transition at Grace through the lens of the “Benedictine Life” model for congregational development, a tool that helps faith leaders assess the health and wellness of their congregation with the spiritual principles of St. Benedict—stability, listening, and an openness to change. Esther de Waal, a scholar of Benedictine spirituality, famously said, “God is not elsewhere.” At the heart of this transition is our firm belief that God is here, and we have all that we need. Even as we imagine a bright future, we open our hearts with gratitude for all that is happening now in this grace-filled community of faith.

Gratefully,
Daphne Davies and Luke Yoder, Wardens

Previous Updates:

During this time of leadership transition, while we continue to hold Wren Blessing and her sons in our prayers, and while we begin to imagine our future, we remember that God is here with us today, and we gratefully celebrate and share God's abundant grace in the here and now.

Our New Interim Rector

We are pleased to announce that Stephen Crippen is staying with us as our Interim Rector. For more on this news, click here.

What's Happening in the Coming Weeks

• Now that Stephen Crippen is staying with us as our Interim Rector, we are beginning the first stages of planning for the transition.
• You can contact Canon Arienne Davison at [email protected].
• You can contact our wardens, Daphne Davies and Luke Yoder, at [email protected] and [email protected].

Coming up in Fall 2021

• Listening sessions during the early weeks of the transition.
• Information about the future discernment process for a new rector.

References

This diocesan resource offers more information about the transition:

• “So You’re in Transition: An Orientation for Vestry/Bishop’s Committee”: https://vimeo.com/542425396

Our Farewell to Wren Blessing and Her Family

To view a farewell video for Wren, created by parishioner John McKenzie, click here.

To read Wren’s letter to Grace, click here.

To read the wardens’ (Daphne Davies and Luke Yoder) letter to Grace, click here.

Click here for Warden Daphne Davies’s remarks at the 9:30 service on June 27, 2021.

Click here for Warden Luke Yoder’s remarks at the 9:30 service on June 20, 2021.