A tribute to a parishioner, moving away - Rector's Rambling for September 19, 2021

     In 1999 I was a parish priest in Charleroi, Pennsylvania.  On visit home to Detroit I stopped to visit my father’s office in Troy.  There I was greeted by another employee of that company, David Schafer.  My family and the Schafers lived in the same subdivision in Troy, my dad and Dave having overlapping advertising business relations.  Now David was working with my dad, and he greeted me with a cordial hello, and an intriguing invitation.  This downtown Episcopal Church was looking for a Rector, would I be interested in applying?

At that point I was still too new in my then current parish, and in fact St. John’s was not at the point of being ready to begin to interview candidates.  But every interaction thereafter included an invitation to keep that possibility in prayer.

In late October of 2000, I got the email from David, as well as an email from the St. John’s search committee chairman, Ralph Burton, with an invitation to apply to St. John’s, and in fact it was God’s time to do so.

This picture was from a series of pictures of parishioners that was sent to me after I was elected Rector.  David and his dear late wife Sharon, had invited me to Christmas Eve services in 1993, and now I was about to be their parish priest.

Now David has moved up north, and today we honor him for 50 years of ministry at St. John’s Church.  Parishioner, Acolyte, Lay Reader, Vestryman, Warden, Treasurer, Building Renovation “owners liaison”… is there a layman’s position that David has not done here in our parish?  Most likely not!

Now that the house in Troy has been sold and Dave is settling in in Beaverton, he has made the trip down for today’s festivities.  And although we think that the 2.25 hour trip to St. John’s on Sunday morning would be worth it, we understand that it is not feasible EVERY weekend.  But we do expect that you NOT be a stranger!

I want to thank you, David, for putting me on the Rector Search Radar, and for being persistent in prayer and reminder!  And I especially want to thank you for your faithfulness to Our Lord expressed through your ministry here among us!

Two years ago, we stood outside the church in the early evening and we marveled at all the people now living in the neighborhood, alive with activity.  And I thank God, David, for all you did to make sure St. John’s survived the hard, lean years so that we can be positioned as we are in a renewed Detroit!