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Rector's Blog
Thursday, September 21, 2006
This is happening to me these days:
Someone: "So I've heard St. Tim's just got a new Rector."
Me: "Yep."Someone: "have you met him? What's he like?"
Me: "I've met him. He seems nice--I like him. [And then I have to spill the beans.] In fact, he's me."
This happened 3 times last night at a Diocesan budget meeting. The first time it ever happened was the best. It was the first time I ever came to St. Tim's and attended Maly and Alan's wedding reception, and standing in the courtyard, I talked with lots of people, most of whom didn't know that I would come to be Rector. People were so welcoming. Someone commented that they were glad I was new, that I would like it here, and to come back when the new Rector came in September--of course, I said I would!)
Maybe I don't look Rector-ish, I don't know. But not looking Rector-ish--or at least being identified as such--has its benefits. I've had the chance to see how people treat a stranger or guest or visitor. At Maly and Allan's reception, I got to see first-hand that I was welcome and see people who only knew me as someone they didn't know, but who was a guest and new.
I can't remember if I read this somewhere, or heard it from a wise old soul, but I believe it: the way a congregation welcomes its new Rector is a spitting image of the way it welcomes strangers, guests, and visitors. I've had the benefit of being both a stranger, guest, and visitor, and the Rector. And in all ways, I've seen for myself how St. Tim's is a community of open-armed welcome.
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