Charlottesville Carpenter's Kids in Tanzania

I am on the road in the Northeast for a few days, so forgive me for not posting quite so frequently. I thought today we'd take a break from the leadership crisis at UVA to bring you something else going on our world.

A group of pilgrims from Charlottesville, including our former associate rector, Ann Willms, are in Tanzania on a mission trip under the auspices of "Carpenter's Kids" and the Diocese of Virginia. Most of the families on the pilgrimage are from St. Paul's Ivy but there is at least one family from St. Paul's Memoiral. Many of you contributed so that they could go. Ann is posting on a blog and I highly recommend it. You can read her reflection and see photos (including the one above) by clicking HERE.

As for dear old UVA, the Board of Visitors meets tomorrow, and the governor has told them to resolve the leadership crisis or all of the members of the board will be replaced. There was a rally on the Lawn Sunday afternoon, and the Washington Post wrote a decent story about it that you can read HERE. There is every hope that President Sullivan will be reinstated. To quote Thomas Jefferson, “It is more honorable to repair a wrong than to persist in it.”

I've added a photo from the Washington Post showing Sunday's "Rally for Honor" on the UVA Lawn. Note the orange sign from United Ministries, which is the organization of campus chaplains to which we belong.

Pay Attention. Be Astonished. Tell About It.

The Rev. Dr. Ann Willms
Celebrant at our Centennial Service 2010
Photo by Bonny Bronson

Today is last Sunday that The Rev. Dr. Ann Willms will be with us at St. Paul's. I hope you will join us for worship and to hear her final sermon with us.

I must again express my sadness at her departure, but also my gratitude for the tremendous ministry she has done among us. Please join me in wishing her many blessings as she explores new ways to live into her baptism and ordination vows.

Thanks Ann!

On Friday, at our Lenten Luncheon, Professor Margaret Mohrmann quoted from poet Mary Oliver with a stanza from her poem Sometimes: “Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”

I thought you might enjoy reading the full poem:

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Sometimes
By Mary Oliver

1.

Something came up
out of the dark.
It wasn't anything I had ever seen before.
It wasn't an animal
or a flower,
unless it was both.

Something came up out of the water,
a head the size of a cat
but muddy and without ears.
I don't know what God is.
I don't know what death is.

But I believe they have between them
some fervent and necessary arrangement.

2.

Sometime
melancholy leaves me breathless...

3.

Water from the heavens! Electricity from the source!
Both of them mad to create something!

The lighting brighter than any flower.
The thunder without a drowsy bone in its body.

4.

Instructions for living a life:
Pay attention.
Be astonished.
Tell about it.

5.
Two or three times in my life I discovered love.
Each time it seemed to solve everything.
Each time it solved a great many things
but not everything.
Yet left me as grateful as if it had indeed, and
thoroughly, solved everything.

6.

God, rest in my heart
and fortify me,
take away my hunger for answers,
let the hours play upon my body

like the hands of my beloved.
Let the cathead appear again-
the smallest of your mysteries,
some wild cousin of my own blood probably-
some cousin of my own wild blood probably,
in the black dinner-bowl of the pond.

7.

Death waits for me, I know it, around
one corner or another.
This doesn't amuse me.
Neither does it frighten me.

After the rain, I went back into the field of sunflowers.
It was cool, and I was anything but drowsy.
I walked slowly, and listened

to the crazy roots, in the drenched earth, laughing and growing.

Photo by Lori Korleski Richardson

Art above by Chiura Obata, Untitled, 1927

Departure of our Associate Rector for Pastoral Care

Pastor Ann Willms has decided she will step down effective March 30. In her letter to the congregation she said, “the season of my ministry with you has come to a close. I am now called to be open to new avenues of ministry and to attend more closely to my family.”

I want to express my deepest gratitude and enormous admiration for Ann and the work she has done among us. Most recently, she has completed the organization and training of our Stephen Ministry program, which is now solidly launched. She has visited countless members of our congregation in moments of need, and she has been a tremendously creative member of our staff and a wise counselor to me. She is a gifted preacher and teacher. To say that we will miss her presence at St. Paul's is a major understatement.

As for our next steps, I have consulted with Christie Thomas, our senior warden, and our Vestry. For now, I would like our focus to be on saying farewell to Ann and showing our gratitude for her ministry among us. Her last Sunday will be March 25, and I have asked her to preach that Sunday. As when other associate rectors have left, I'd like us to have a festive coffee hour that day to thank her and show our appreciation.

If you would like to contribute to a gift in thanksgiving for Ann's ministry, we will be making a donation to The Carpenter's Kids in Ann's honor. Contributions may be sent to St. Paul's with "Carpenter's Kids" in the memo line. The Carpenter's Kids is a global partnership that supports education for at-risk children in rural villages of Tanzania and is part of a Diocesan outreach effort that is directed towards several of the Millennium Development Goals.

Ann and her family will be a part of a Carpenter's Kids team from St. Paul's Ivy, which is linked with St. Paul's Nzali, that is going on a mission trip this summer, focused on primary education and fellowship building. More information can be found by clicking HERE.

Thank you for keeping Ann, her family, and all of our staff in your thoughts and prayers.

The world feels especially quiet this morning: Homily by Ann Willms for Holy Saturday

The Church has nearly lost sight of Holy Saturday -- the second day of the Great Three Days of Easter. It is the day after the crucifixion, but the Resurrection has not yet happened. It is a fulcrum between the two and it is crucial to the understanding of the meaning of Easter.

There is a liturgy for Holy Saturday in our prayer book, though it has fallen into disuse in the Church. We've resurrected it, so to speak, at St. Paul's. This morning, our associate rector, Ann Willms, led us in this simple service of meditation and psalms.

The lessons we used today are 1 Peter 3:17-22 and John 19:38-42.   Ann gave this touching and very personal homily, and it brought home to me again why Holy Saturday matters, really matters. I commend it to you, and I hope you will join us tonight at 7:30 pm for the Great Vigil of Easter:

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Holy Saturday homily
By The Rev. Dr. Ann Willms

The world feels especially quiet this morning. After the unraveling and chaos of Jesus’ final hours yesterday, there is only silence. After the shouting of guards, the jostling of crowds, the wailing of women, the pounding of nails, and the exhausted groans of those who hurriedly carried the body to the tomb, all is silent now. Jesus is dead and buried. The Word-made-flesh has been silenced.

I was not prepared for the silence in the wake of my mother’s death. Her death was accompanied by the chaos of its suddenness. The shouting was my own, desperately trying to will her to stay with us. The jostling was of the paramedics hauling in their equipment. The wailing was from one of my daughters, the pounding of a fist in anger from the other. And the exhausted groans were of the funeral directors who came to take the body away just before midnight– to take my mother away.

When a death occurs, what happens next is often a blur, and yet also very methodical, as in John’s gospel. They procured and removed Jesus’ body. They wrapped it with spices in linen cloths. They carried it to the tomb in the garden and laid it there. Then they evidently went home, because the Sabbath was the next day and further work would be prohibited.

I wonder what that silence was like that night for Jesus’ mother Mary.
I wonder what the silence was like for Peter and Mary Magdalene. So much unspoken, and now, only silence. For me, the silence of my mother’s death was almost unbearable. I looked out that night and saw my mother’s car in my driveway and asked the sky, “Where are you?” Nothing came back.

We are here at the liminal place, the threshold of death, where it is only silence. In some ways it is a relief after witnessing the pain and torment Jesus suffered. We can catch our breath. But it also evokes a profound loneliness and sadness.

There is a tradition that has grown in the church from the 4th century that says that despite the silence the survivors experienced, Jesus was actually “at work” breaking down the gates of hell, preaching to all those who in life did not hear or accept the good news, until every resident soul was saved. This is the so-called “harrowing of hell.” This is what is alluded to in the First Letter of Peter reading we heard, about the gospel being proclaimed even to the dead. I have found this image comforting in years past, but this year I have wondered if it is simply another way for me to avoid the stark reality of Jesus’ being really dead. It is so much better to think of him in action somehow.

But to say that his body lay in the tomb while his soul wandered the underworld presumes a Greek dichotomy of body and soul that was incomprehensible to the Jewish understanding of human be-ing. We are one – body and life-breath and soul – one entity. So when we die, we die as a whole, yet are held in the memory of God. Jesus too died wholly, simply being with the dead as the dead.

And yet this, and only this, is how death was put to death. As Hans Urs von Balthasar has pointed out in his book Mysterium Paschale, Jesus’ solidarity with the powerless in death was his proclamation, silent though it was, that his work was completed. This truly being with the dead was his proclamation that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ, not even death.

In a few moments we will depart, many of us to make preparations for tonight’s Easter Vigil. The busyness and movement and work with our hands will comfort us as these things often do after a death. They remind us that we are alive, and that life is precious. Let us allow our preparations to be held with the silent tomb in view, even as we look toward the certain joy of Easter.

Special Advent group for parents of teens and 'tweens

I am very delighted to tell you that coming this Advent we are stepping up our ministry for parents of teens and 'tweens. Please let me draw your attention to this terrific opportunity for parents from our Associate Rector Ann Willms, who is also a parent of two 'tweens.

Please consider joining her for this while your teens are meeting in the youth group on Sundays following our 10 am worship:

It's a conspiracy! Advent Conspiracy, that is.

Beginning Sunday Nov 28, the first Sunday of Advent, we will be offering a gathering for parents of middle and high school age youth to engage in a parallel discussion of the book Advent Conspiracy: Can Christmas Still Change the World? While your 'tweens and teens engage the book in youth group after the 10am service, parents may gather with Associate Rector Ann Willms for a casual time of fellowship, coffee, and conversation about how to reclaim Advent and Christmas for ourselves, our families, and our world.

For more information, call Ann at 295-2156 ext 103 or email her at ann.willms@stpaulsmemorialchurch.org.

The Priesthood of Mary, and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

You may not know this, but this past Tuesday, February 2, was a major feast day of the Church: The Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. The Rev. Dr. Ann Willms, associate rector, preached a terrific homily at our regular 12:15 pm Tuesday Eucharist, and it is well worth reading.

As long as we are on the topic, please let me urge you to come on a Tuesday if you are in the area; it is a short, contemplative Eucharist, and there is time left over for lunch; think of it as a sabbath in your week.

Ann's homily is below, and the readings that go with it are Malachi 3:1-4 , Hebrews 2:14-18 , Luke 2:22-40

The Priesthood of Mary

We have been basking in the light of our visit from the Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori. But today offers us a feast day in which to recognize another shining light: the Mother of Our Lord.

Let us put today’s gospel in context. The infant Jesus, in accordance with Jewish law, was circumcised and named eight days after his birth. Following the birth of a child, women were to refrain from conjugal relations for seven days. They were then restricted from entering holy places or touching sacred objects for 33 days (if the child was male) or 66 days (if the child was female). Since blood was synonymous with life force, any loss of blood was seen as symbolic of death and held the aura of uncleanness. Time and ritual allowed the uncleanness to dissipate and life force to be restored to its proper place. (Leviticus 12)

At the end of this time period, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple to present him as their firstborn son, dedicated as holy to the Lord, again in keeping with the law. In conjunction with the presentation, Mary was reintegrated into the Jewish societal structure after her period of purification by bringing an offering of a pigeon or turtledoves. This had nothing to do with purification from sin, as conception and birth held no such taint.

In the Malachi reading for today, we hear that God will come to his Temple suddenly, and that there will come a time when the priests’ offerings are made in righteousness. In Hebrews, we hear that Jesus himself becomes the pure offering, the “once for all” atoning sacrifice which allows us to appear righteous before God.

I would like to suggest that Mary, his mother, is the “priest” who presents Jesus to God as this perfect offering, an offering borne in and from her own flesh. Unlike the priests of the levitical line who were such by tribal lineage, Mary has chosen to align her life with God’s purpose and become the priest who will bear Jesus in her own body. Her “ordination” occurred with the annunciation – her whole person was set aside as holy by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that she might be the Theotokos – the God-bearer.

Being a levitical priest entailed sacrificing animals with a knife – being a priest of the flesh like Mary entails that “a sword will pierce your own soul also.” Bearing Jesus to the world, presenting him as the priests that we are will indeed entail a sword – some will hear, some will scoff, some will accept, many will reject him. But we are priests and so we keep bearing him, the Incarnate Word, the one true offering we can make, to the world.

Mary as priest brings Jesus to the world. Jesus our great high priest will present us before God, clothed in righteousness. In the meantime, our priestly vocation is to bear, to “present” Jesus to the world, to incarnate him in our own flesh, and to be ready for the sword that will pierce our own soul for sorrow and for joy.

Ann Willms

Photos from Ann Willms' priest ordination

Catching up on the news in our corner of the world, we had an incredible day Saturday at the priestly ordination of Ann Willms, our associate rector.

We took a busload of St. Paul's folks to Trinity Church, Fredericksburg, and more joined us driving their own cars.

I am always moved at ordinations by the faithfulness not only of those being ordained, but especially by the people who have supported us and walked this improbable journey through seminaries, parish committees and the inner struggles about faith, God and vocational calling.

The Holy Spirit was much in the room with Ann and all of us. Here are a few photos taken by Diane Wakat. Thank you Diane for your photos and presence on Saturday.

Blessings to all.

The matter of the star, the wise men, and eyes to see

Today's sermon is based on the readings for Epiphany: Isaiah 60:1-6 ; Matthew 2:1-12

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

They saw the star, and they knew not where it would take them, but they followed anyway.

Today we meet the wise men from the east, bringing gifts fit for a king – gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh – and these wise men from far away kneel at the manger, and they are the first to worship Jesus.

And nothing was the same ever again, not for them, and not for us.

Most of you have heard this story, for it is told and retold, and is embedded deeply in our collective Christian memory.

We see the story performed in our children’s’ Christmas pageants, and depicted on greeting cards, and in a few moments the wise men will again come down our aisle bearing gifts.

Legend even gives them names: Balthazar, Gaspar, and Melchoir. Their coming marks the end of the Christmas season, and the beginning of what comes next.

Today, though, I’d like you to hear the story of the wise men as if you’ve never heard it before, because this story challenges us in ways that you might not have considered.

First, there is the story as the Bible tells it.

The Gospel of Matthew does not say there are three wise men; it does not say how many there are. It could be two, or three, or an entire caravan. Nor does the gospel give them names. They are mysterious men from the East, and they disappear almost as fast as they appear.

Then there is the matter of the star.

The gospel tells us the wise men follow this star, but the wise men are, in fact, the only ones who see it.

These men from the East see a star no one else sees. Maybe the star of Bethlehem is not so bright, or not so obvious.

Or maybe the people in Bethlehem never look up at the sky, or maybe their eyes were so accustomed to their surroundings that they never notice this star, and they never notice how extraordinary one thing could be – the birth of a baby who comes to bring salvation, God’s peace, God’s shalom to all the world.

It takes outsiders to see it.

Sometimes it takes fresh eyes to notice the extraordinary when the rest of us take something for granted. That, I believe, is especially true in matters of faith.

Our walk of faith, I am convinced, is really about tuning our spiritual eyes and ears to noticing – noticing the Holy all around us, the Holy in ordinary things, and the Holy in each other.

Sometimes it is possible to do this all by ourselves. Most of the time, though, I think it takes a caravan of people – a community – to notice the Holy together.

The word “church” does not mean “organized religion.” The word church means “the gathering,” and that, at its most basic, is why we are here today: to be the gathering that notices the Holy, and takes the time to help each other see the Holy, too.

There is great strength in that, because when I don’t see the Holy, maybe you will see the Holy for me. When my faith falters, or my prayers become dry, I know that one of you will have faith for me, that you will notice the Holy, and your prayers will lift me.

And as you do this for me, I pray you will let me do the same for you.

There is something else to the story of the wise me I want to underline: Sometimes it is people on the margins who see things the most clearly, who sense the presence of the Holy when those of us in the crowded center do not see it.

Sometimes it is someone not on the high end of the social ladder, but on the low end who brings us riches from heaven.

That is why we must find ways, here in this parish, to see those around us who maybe we did not notice before, whether they are very young, or old, rich, or poor, educated or uneducated.

That is why our Social Justice Committee has renamed itself “Ministry Beyond Our Walls,” to underline that the church belongs out there on the margins, where real people live and work, and where real people hurt.

There is yet another level to this story I’d like you to hear:

God brings the wise men from far away to the manger in Bethlehem, and they see things that others who have been there awhile don’t see. The wise men see it precisely because they are from far away.

God brings new people from far away to be with us at St. Paul’s; they may have crossed life’s desert, or simply crossed the street to get here. They come not to help us balance the budget, though we could use help from everyone with that, but rather they come to see and experience the Holy in ways they’ve never seen before.

If we are open to it, new people will help us who have been here awhile to see that which we’ve never seen. That is God’s great gift to us if we will accept the gift.

In this new year, I would ask that we find ways to see, to hear, to welcome new people. When we do, we will be blessed beyond our imagining.

But to do that, we have to be vulnerable to what we hear and see, and that is what makes this so hard. Being open to new people might mean that we will change. New people, like the wise men from the East, come with gifts that will change us.

Change of any kind almost always feels uncomfortable or awkward.

Change is like a dance, and so we need to learn the steps. But God is guiding our feet so we won’t stumble, so be not afraid. Like the wise men, we may not be sure where we are going. But there really is nothing to fear – nothing at all – because God is our ever present guide.

This parish has always received spectacular gifts of new people. Indeed, all of you were new at some point, and all of you have brought spectacular gifts.

There is one gift I want to highlight today: the gift of Ann Willms, who was ordained yesterday to God’s Holy priesthood.

A number of us went to her ordination yesterday in Fredericksburg, and it was an extraordinary celebration of the whole church gathered everywhere as Bishop David Jones gave his blessing to Ann.

Today is her first day with us in her new role as a priest. Previously, she was ordained a deacon, one of the steps along the way in our long and deliberate path into Holy Orders.
Ann will soon celebrate her first Eucharist as a priest.

She will bless the bread and wine, joining with all those who through the centuries have blessed the bread and wine of Holy Communion going back to the Last Supper itself.

Ann has been with us only a few short months, but she has brought remarkable gifts to us.

Like the wise men, Ann and her family have traveled far to be with us, and I can tell you Ann sees and hears things that I don’t. She sees with new eyes, and she has been a prophet among us for finding ways to welcome new people, and to notice those who are standing on the margins.

She is wise. She is incredibly bright and clear-headed. She is compassionate and has a pastoral presence that I find awesome.

We are so very blessed to have Ann, and her beautiful family, and so on behalf of all us, we thank you for being with us, for walking this way on your journey and sharing it with us.

There will be challenges ahead for you, Ann, and for all us. But we have nothing – nothing at all – to fear, for God is with us, Emmanuel, our ever-present guide; and salvation is ours forever, the promise of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. Amen.

Come Holy Spirit our souls inspire: Thanksgiving for new priests made today

Today will be an amazing day as we celebrate the ordination of new priests into the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Several of my friends in the East and the West will be ordained today by their bishops.

Here in Virginia, many of us from St. Paul's have rented a bus to go to Trinity Church, Fredericksburg for the ordination of Ann Willms, our associate rector. We will pray and sing and bear witness with her as she is ordained into the priesthood. Others will get there in their own cars, and we will fill up the church.

For those who are being ordained, and for those who have walked the path with them, it will be a day of many mixed emotions. Relief at reaching a milestone that never seemed to arrive; awe in the moment when the bishop and priests lay hands upon the new priest; and a mix of celebration, humor, reverence, humility, and a million other feelings rolled into one.

During the ceremony, Ann will take her place in front of Bishop David Jones, who will ask her a series of questions, including, "Will you undertake to be a faithful pastor to all whom you are called to serve, laboring together with them and your fellow ministers to build up the family of God?"

She has already proven her "yes" among us.

The color of the day is red -- the color of the Holy Spirit. At the moment Ann is made a priest, we will be singing Veni Creator Spiritus -- "Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire, and lighten with celestial fire."

In the moment will be made a new priest. But it will more than that: It is about the whole Church, everywhere, and the servant ministry we share together. I hope you can come celebrate, and be with Ann on Sunday morning at 10 am at St. Paul's as Ann celebrates her first Eucharist as a priest.

Please pray today for Ann, and also friends Rod Davis and Deborah Hawkins, to be ordained this day priests, God willing.

Come Holy Spirit, our souls inspire: "Thy blessed unction from above is comfort, life, and fire of love."

The procession for Ann Willms' priest ordination begins in Charlottesville: Reserve your seat on the bus

St. Paul's Memorial Church ..... Bus transportation will be available for the ordination of Ann Willms on Saturday, January 9th 10:30 am - 12:30 pm at Trinity Church, Fredricksburg, VA Seats will cost $20 per person and the bus will leave St. Paul's at 8:15 am and return by 3:00 pm. If you would like to reserve a seat, please call the office or e-mail us atoffice@stpaulsmemorialchurch.org. St. Paul's Memorial Church 1700 University Avenue Charlottesville, VA 22903 434.295.2156 stpaulsmemorialchurch.org info@stpaulsmemorialchurch.org

Our next Associate Rector

With great joy and gratitude for God’s abundant grace, I am able to announce today the appointment of The Rev. Dr. Ann Bagley Willms as the next Associate Rector at St. Paul’s. Her biographical statement is at the end of this announcement, and as you will discover, she brings to us many gifts.

Ann’s primary responsibility will be in pastoral care and visitation. She will also join with us as a chaplain in university ministry and will, from time-to-time, teach on Wednesday evenings at our community night. She joins a very talented staff of clergy and laity, complementing the gifts we already have.

The Vestry earlier this week formally approved the terms of her letter of agreement with us, and members of the Vestry have spent time with her talking about her vision of ministry and meeting her husband, Chris. Her bishop, the Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniel, of East Carolina, has agreed to allow her to serve with us.

Ann’s first Sunday with us will be Aug. 30. As you will discover, she is a recent graduate of the Virginia Theological seminary, and she comes to us with much life experience. She is a mother of two daughters, and she has had a career as a physician.

Ann currently is a transitional deacon, ordained in the Diocese of East Carolina. We expect, God willing, she will be ordained a priest here in Virginia in early 2010. There is much more to say, so for now, I hope everyone will extend to her a warm greeting and assistance in her ministry. Here is her biographical statement:

From Ann

Grace and peace to you, dear friends in Christ! My name is Ann Bagley Willms and I am so excited and privileged to have the opportunity to serve the St. Paul's Church community as an associate rector for pastoral care and chaplain for university ministry. I look forward to meeting each of you and learning your stories - the events that have challenged you, or brought you joy, or made you curious about God's ways. 

I hope to hear about your life together in community and your dreams for the future. Working together with your fine clergy, staff, and lay leaders, my intention for pastoral care is to mutually share God's love with you through active listening, prayer, and in-home and hospital visitation, in times of crisis and joy. Fostering community through small groups which evolve naturally is also a part of pastoral care. My role in university ministry will include sharing in the Sunday evening worship service and working with the other chaplains. 

A cradle Episcopalian and native of St. Paul, Minnesota, I have lived in several regions of the US. I graduated from Brown University with an A.B. magna cum laude in Human Biology in 1982. After working for a year in a virology laboratory at the Texas Medical Center, I attended Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, where I received my M.D. degree in 1987. After a transitional internship, I completed a diagnostic radiology residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, and became board certified in 1992. 

While serving a fellowship and assistant clinical professorship in abdominal imaging at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, I met my future husband and chief surgery resident, Christopher Willms, M.D. We were married there in 1994. In 1995, we moved to Albuquerque, NM, where Chris completed a cardiothoracic surgery fellowship and I worked in private practice in Santa Fe. In 1997, we moved to New Bern, NC and joined radiology and surgery practices. Our twin daughters, Nina and Olivia, were born in 1998.

Throughout my 20s and 30s, I explored other faith traditions, including Free Will Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Unitarian-Universalist, and was exposed to Roman Catholicism through my maternal grandmother. All of these experiences contributed to my formation in faith. Amidst a gradual “reconversion” to Christ, I returned to the Episcopal Church in 1999 with a renewed passion for its liturgy and interest in spiritual practices. The Willms family became part of the Christ Church, New Bern family where we were an integral part of the community for six years. I served there in various capacities, including Pastoral Intern for 2 years, making pastoral visits in home and hospital as well as preaching monthly. 

After ten years of medical practice, and with the invaluable support of my family and church community, I left radiology to follow a call to ordained ministry which brought me and my family to Virginia. As my husband established a new surgical practice at Martha Jefferson Hospital, I commuted to Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, where I graduated in May 2009 with a Master in Divinity cum laude. I also served the congregation of St. Paul’s Church in Ivy for two years under the supervision of The Rev. Miller Hunter in fulfillment of field education requirements. In my senior year, I completed a chaplaincy internship with the UVa Health System. 

Our family has thrived in the Charlottesville community, most appreciative of its cultural offerings, eclectic population, and scenic beauty. We are indebted to family, friends, and the communities of Christ Church New Bern, Virginia Seminary, and St. Paul's in Ivy for their support in our formation to date. I am also very grateful to and proud of my husband and daughters for how they have persevered and grown through our transitions together.

Most recently, I was ordained to the transitional diaconate on June 13, 2009 and subsequently traveled to Italy with my family. Now I so look forward to serving and worshiping God with you, the people of St. Paul’s Church. My special interests include the ministry of reconciliation and healing, community building, the writings of Christian mystics, and iconography. A former triathlete, I now mostly swim, bike, and walk. As a wife and mother of tweens, I continue to learn how to “do theology on the ground.” The basis of all of my ministry is the hope found in the good news of Jesus Christ and the never-ending love of God for all people.

Photo by Alexandra Dorr