As some of you know, I am leaving on Friday for a long planned trip to Iceland. You may well be thinking given I just started as Interim Dean, it is a little soon to be taking a vacation, but this trip has been in the works for over a year and our Senior Warden, Mark Lester, was very gracious in saying it could be accommodated. And for that I am most grateful. Which in turn led me to think about many of the things I am grateful for here at the Cathedral.
First, in regards to my upcoming trip, this is only possible because of the incredible staff we have with Canon Brooks Mason holding down the fort with all things liturgical (as well as our clergy volunteers, vergers, acolytes, altar guild, chalice bearers, etc.), our Director of Administration Operations, Kathleen Burgess, and Jen Jow, our Facilities Manager, just to name a few. For a relatively small staff, what we are able accomplish here is amazing. And because much of the work our staff does is done behind the scenes so to speak, people do not always know just how much they do.
So I am hoping to change that, especially given we are in a time of transition and as we move into the call process for the next dean, it is important for all of us to have a better idea of what folks do. So in the month of August, in lieu of the “Dean’s Letter,” various staff members will be writing the opening letter in the weekly eblast. For this go-around you will hear from Bruce Neswick, our incoming Interim Director of Music; Canon Brooks Mason, our Canon Liturgist; Wayne Riehm, our Communications Coordinator; and Taylor Milan-Samuel, our Youth & Family Minister. Each one of them are creative, faithful, and so talented. We are blessed beyond words that they are here as part of this community.
You will be hearing from other staff members in the future as well.
Finally, I must express my gratitude for the whole Cathedral community. This place is truly a “shining city on the hill,” or as originally expressed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, “A city is set on a hill cannot be hid.” And while I am looking forward to my trip, I also look forward to returning home and together, getting to the work God give us to do.
Blessings,
Allisyn
