Here for good, or for a season - Rector's Rambling for February 24, 2019

This Sunday I give thanks as I complete my 18th year as your Rector.  It was on the last Sunday of February in 2001 that I celebrated the Holy Communion for you for the first time, and preached from the pulpit.  On that day I thanked God for bringing me here, and I continue to thank Him for this honor and privilege of being your priest.

It is remarkable to think of all that has happened here in the parish, the neighborhood, and the U.S. since my arrival.  Comerica Park had only been open a year and Ford Field was still under construction.  There had been a start of new housing across the freeway that dried up pretty quickly as the cost of new construction could not be upheld in the then depressed housing market around us.  If you had said then that in less than 20 years the changes would be so immense that housing prices would more than quadruple, new office space would be at a premium, and that a new multi-team arena would be constructed as close to us in the other direction as Comerica Park, we would not believe you.  But here we are in the midst of the renewal of Detroit, our front steps being half way between home plate and center ice.

The greater grace though has been the many people who have sat in our pews, lifted their voices in prayer, been baptized, united in holy Matrimony, confirmed, or come to pray for their beloved dead as the Church offers her prayers for their departure.

In many ways St. John’s, as an urban church, is a transient parish.  Of the 50 or so people who were attending members here when I arrived, only a dozen or so remain on our side of the veil.  Many more joined my first year here as other parishes had internal issues driving away more traditional believers.  But more so over the last 18 years, people have come and gone as they have moved to the area and then moved away, or come to be with us for a period of time while they discerned their faith or vocation, or took advantage of the pastoral care and sacramental offerings at a time of need in their lives, to then move on to other places.  We are grateful for those who stay and those who are here for a season, blessing us as we minister to them.