Going back to refresh and reboot - Rector's Rambling for October 25, 2026

As you read this on Sunday morning I am either attending 7:45 AM Morning Prayer and 8 AM Holy Communion at All Saints Church in Wynnewood, PA, a parish on the Philadelphia Mainline suburbs just west of the city, or driving home on the Schuylkill Expressway and Pennsylvania Turnpike while listening to the 10 AM Service livestream. 

During the covid shutdowns I made the decision that as I was losing weight and starting to get back into shape that I was going to start rowing again, a sport I did in high school and college, and that all three of my sons have done. And having connected with some college friends I rowed with in college I set the goal to race with them in an alumni boat at a regatta in Philly. The 2020 regatta was cancelled but in 2021 I was finally back in something resembling rowing condition and not only raced with them but also raced in a single race too. In subsequent years I added a third 4000 meter race, this one with Andrew in the Father/ Son double. 

But the weekend has become more that just a return to my rowing roots in Philadelphia. I stay with friends near campus. I spend time with fraternity alumni and visit the undergrads, I go to some of the undergraduate team practices and get a few practice rows in on the river I plodded up and down for years in the 1980s. And I visit and worship at churches and with clergy that helped me figure out my vocation and supported me in it. It is so much more than a trip to race, it has become five days of retreat and renewal for me, something I didn’t know how much I needed until I started doing so. 

Thank you to all who pitched in today to lead worship while I am away. God willing I will be back later tonight and our regular worship schedule resumes tomorrow. 

Next Sunday we celebrate All Saints Day (November 1) and on the next day we have our two Requiem Masses for All Souls Day - 10 AM at Elmwood Cemetery, and 12:15 at St. John’s in the chapel where our Columbarium is located. Please be sure to get the list of those loved ones who have died to Elizabeth in the parish office. That list will be prayed at the 12:15 Requiem Mass.       

November 8 we have our special collection in support of the Bishop Biggers School in Northern Malawi. Please be generous in your support of this special project. 

Also next week we begin a series of ‘get to know the choir’ features. Thank you to Chelsea Hutchins for coordinating the effort and collecting information from the choir members.