By the time you receive this report, St. Mary’s will have had two-plus weeks of in-person outdoor services in addition to our “bring-your-own-everything” Annual Picnic. These mark the gradual steps we’re taking to see each other in person again, as we near the end of summer and the start of fall. We hope that the summer has been a peaceful time for you, as it has for many of us, and we have been grateful for the small things, like the growing of our gardens and house plants, the warm weather and sun-filled days, the hikes and time spent in Oregon’s outdoor bounty. These past two months have been an opportunity to assess our response to the pandemic during the spring and to reevaluate as we look to the coming year and to more sustainable solutions. We’ve been shifting from a reactionary, temporary mindset into familiarity, routine, and real acceptance that this is how we live now.
At our July meeting, Katharine Hunt came to talk about the Outreach Council and update us on the various ministries and opportunities happening around the parish. St. Mary’s continues to do what it can to support and partner with local organizations. In August, Dick Zeller spoke with us about Saturday Breakfast and how it has changed since the end of March. We remain impressed with the Saturday Breakfast ministry for facing the incredible pandemic-related challenges head-on, for seeking out new community partnerships to continue to serve, and for being systematic and careful to always protect volunteers and maintain social distancing during food preparation in Berktold Hall. We also want to thank all those who volunteer and those who are willing to. Your enthusiasm and desire to help our neighbors is one of the large, visible ways that St. Mary’s lives out our faith.
At our summer meetings, the Vestry has continued the conversation around in-person worship, and we are excited that St. Mary’s is now offering limited opportunities to gather together (while maintaining all precautions). There is of course no pressure to attend in-person gatherings and we will continue to provide online content. In the interest of keeping everyone safe, we’re doing everything we can and employing all the tools at our disposal. This might seem unnecessary or redundant, but we believe that the more safety precautions we take, the better off we are. We would rather require more instead of less to avoid the risk of infection as much as possible. We send a profuse thank you to the staff for the monumental effort they put into our reopening efforts, and specifically for their work on the Reopening Plan that was sent to and approved by the Bishop. The Plan was full of hard decisions and unexpected complications, but now the work is done and we have it for when we gather together in our building.
Regarding in-building gathering, the Vestry is also working towards updating St. Mary’s ventilation system in the hope that this will make indoor services even safer when the time comes. We hope to improve the efficiency and frequency of the airflow to three times what it is now. We’ll keep you updated on the status of this project and you can look forward to fresher air when we’re back in the building together!
Another continuing topic of conversation has been the Vestry’s commitment in the Statement on Racial Injustice and Violence to listen to the voices of people of color, to learn more, and to work for future action. In order to uphold that commitment and to avoid the ease of empty words, we have been discussing what sort of tangible and practical steps we can take next. We’ve decided to start with the foundational work of learning and educating ourselves about the systemic ways racism works in our society and the ways we are intentionally or unintentionally complicit. We’ve started reading and working through Layla Saad’s Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor (published in January 2020). The book is designed as an individual journey through four chapters that each include seven parts (one for each day of the week for four weeks). The parts conclude with prompts for deep, honest thought. The Vestry is going to discuss one chapter at each of our monthly meetings for four months (starting with August). Although Saad’s questions are often uncomfortable and ask us to examine our lives in ways we never have before, she is clear that the point is not to paralyze us with shame but to lead us through transformative self-assessment. We are doing this because we agree with Saad that before we can work to dismantle the system, we must first acknowledge the ways it has shaped us and our society, benefitted us while disenfranchising others, and colored our beliefs about ourselves and others. To create change in the world and bring about a better way of living, we must first create change within ourselves. So - we will, with God’s help.
Finally, we want to thank all those who contributed to making Vacation Bible Camp (VBC) a success this year! Even though our way of interacting is different and we have been forced to find new logistical solutions, VBC is another affirmation that though we are physically separated, we remain spiritually connected. On another positive note, back in July, the Vestry approved a gift for Ryan Baker-Fones’ ordination as a deacon, and we want to emphasize how happy we are that he is progressing in his vocation. It has been wonderful to see him read the Gospel and give the dismissal in the Sunday morning video services! Amidst all the changes in our lives, we must remember that there are still things like this to celebrate and that life goes on. We, like our gardens and house plants, are still growing, blooming, and bearing fruit. God is present with us in the small blessings, in the transitions, and in our being together, whether in-person or at home.
Submitted by Vestry member Robin Okumu
