What’s a vicar?
(In a pandemic)
Detail and vison are essential ingredients for any church, organization or community. I accepted this call because I felt I was both ready to lead and eager to learn. As one of the most dynamic and exciting parish churches in the country, St. Stephen’s gave me a unique opportunity to tend to both under Gary’s leadership— building upon the (very) sure foundation of the years, decades, and century past. All of this was true way back on my first official day, Ash Wednesday, and all of it is just as true today, half a year later. In many ways, we live now in a fundamentally different world. Physical distancing and masks have become ubiquitous. Fears of community spread continue. As such, one of our bedrock practices—of gathering together, in large, in-person groups—has had to be discontinued …for now. For me, this has meant I’ve met far more of you by Zoom, phone, and email than in person. And many of you I simply have not yet met. Yes, I’ll admit, it’s odd. It is not ideal and I long for the time when we’re able to gather again in person, knowing that time of true returning together in the flesh as we’ve known it, is likely far in the future. Yet as a person of faith, I am hardwired to ask continually: what new grace, what strange blessing of God, might be made manifest in the oddities of life? We preach a gospel which claims that true strength is found in perfect weakness, that the way the world is will not always be. Many have commented that the pandemic has only clarified, magnified, and exacerbated pre-pandemic realities, particularly ones of injustice: the unequal access to quality healthcare, the fragile employment and underemployment of many, and the sin of structural racism, to name a few. Uncovering that which was already present is perhaps the most faithful translation of “apocalyptic.” A word known well to us in the Christian tradition, this process of revelation is by its very definition unsettling. Yet the abiding truth of the apocalyptic is that God is always doing a new thing: “See, I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). 14
It is this perspective which provides me the deepest hope, the strongest faith “for the facing of this hour [and] for the living of these days” (The Hymnal 1982, #594). Gospel means “good news” and God is always doing a new thing, even now. Just as the pandemic is revealing, uncovering, and magnifying that which was already present, God may well be doing that which God has done “from the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4), drawing us deeper into our true life, as beloved of God, so we might, in turn, answer the call to share that same gift with all creation. This is all to say, in these pandemic times, I believe we as St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church at the corner of Grove and Three Chopt are being drawn into a deeper, truer version of ourselves. Our clarion call to be a Sacred Village Green, a New Abbey, and a Healing Community could both not be more true, nor more needed than in this time. Nearly all of the specific forms and functions of how we embody these paradigms have changed, yet their deeper identity and value are being incarnated in new ways. Due to the realities of physical distancing, our ministries around food and feeding have shifted, yet your generosity has never been deeper. While we are not able to worship in person, our digital reach through high-quality worship videos and daily prayer services has allowed us to share our ministry of worship and prayer truly around the globe, farther than we ever could have imagined. And while we cannot share the healing touch of a hug or a hand on the shoulder, we have discovered that new platforms like Zoom—and decidedly old ones like calls and handwritten notes—can convey a renewed sense of connection and care: this community’s caring of itself in these times through initiatives like the parish calling project has been extraordinary. continued on next page
Sarah Bartenstein
“S
o what exactly is a vicar, anyway?” To say I’ve received that question a few times in 2020 is an understatement. From my southern California friends and parishioners, to folks here at St. Stephen’s, many were eager to learn more about my new adventure, beginning with its somewhat By Will Stanley perplexing title. In the announcement of my call to join you, Gary Jones gave his own answer: “A vicar is a trusted clergy person who functions as a kind of chief operating officer, who helps ensure both attention to detail and faithfulness to vision.” His words are as good a summation as any, as they had been the currency of our conversations and discernment over the weeks prior by email, phone and in person.
Will Stanley ‘on duty’ as the chaplain of the day at the farmers market, with market manager Anna Jones
SEASONS OF THE SPIRIT
