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Friday, May 8, 2020

Dear St. Mary’s Parishioners:

I bring you greetings on behalf of our Cathedral community – vestry, clergy, and staff. I hope you are well in this unprecedented time and making it through as best you can. 

We’ve been in transition for over a year, and we have a bit more transitioning to do. As you can see from her letter, Interim Dean Laura F. Gettys is responding to a new call which will take her away from us. As Senior Warden I cannot thank her enough for her leadership, abilities, and love for all of us, over her ten years here. In her year and a half as Interim Dean, she has worked hard to impose order on the running of the Cathedral, instituting procedures and helping us get our finances in order. The Bishop shared these thoughts: “I would like to thank Laura for her faithful, dedicated service to St. Mary’s Cathedral and the diocese. During this period of transition, the diocese will continue to provide support for the clergy and lay leadership of the Cathedral.”

I’ll admit that change isn’t easy for me, and I’m sure many of you feel the same way. But change we must and change always brings with it new opportunities. Let’s take things a piece at a time: 

Laura’s last day with us will be Sunday, May 31, the day of Pentecost. We will not be in the Cathedral on that Sunday, so that will make saying good-bye hard. We’ll have to do it in person later. Laura won’t be far down the road – we know where to find her!

Canon Pastor Patrick Williams will complete his 3-year term with the Cathedral at the end of August. He may be able to stay a month or two longer, but he is in the process of seeking new calls, and we certainly wish him the best in his search and thank him for his service to our Cathedral.

Deacon Drew Woodruff will continue to be with us, as he has for over forty years. Thank you Drew!

To assist Patrick and Drew, we are very blessed to have the services of the The Rev. Eyleen Farmer. She is retired, and her resume is very impressive. She has served as Associate Rector at Calvary and Grace-St. Luke’s. Many of you know her as the founder of Thistle and Bee. This organization’s mission is to help women who have survived prostitution and trafficking to thrive. It began with a social enterprise based on beekeeping and selling honey, and they provide each woman services based on her needs. 

The vestry has spoken with Bishop Phoebe about these changes and the next phase of our transition. She is going to allow the search for our new dean, which had been unofficially suspended during the COVID-19 event, to go forward. Our hope is to have a new dean in place by Advent.

We will continue to have online services on Sundays, other online events during the week, music from choir members and others every day, and our food ministry weekly. Bishop Phoebe and the clergy of the diocese are formulating plans to reopen our churches. We won’t do it until it can be done safely.

I know this is a lot of information to digest at one time. Please reach out to me, the clergy, the staff, or any vestry member if you have any questions, or if there is anything you would like to discuss. 

Together, we will march forward, as St. Mary’s has for over 160 years, listening to God’s call to us and doing our best to discern and fulfill it. We’ve been there through good times and hard times. We’re still standing, and we are always the better for the experience. It is a pleasure to serve with you.

Faithfully yours,

Scott Morrell

Sr. Warden

An Announcement from the Interim Dean 

Friday, May 8, 2020

Dear Cathedral Family,

I greet each of you in this season of Easter joy which finds us living into God’s promise of new life in surprising new ways.  

At our annual meeting in January, our faithful lay leaders and I shared a lot of news with you, and among other things we celebrated the good, hard work done during this transition time around finances. The Cathedral is clearer about where we are financially, and we have a better grasp on the scope of our budget and expenses. Still, as we shared with you then, we know that we do not have the financial ability to support two full time clergy. Though I hoped to remain until the new Dean arrived, I also recognized that I needed to begin discerning my next calling because there could be no overlap of my tenure with the next Dean.  

With prayerfulness and hope, I have accepted the call to become the Associate for Outreach and Engagement at Grace-St. Luke’s Church, Memphis, beginning July 1st. My last day at the Cathedral will be Sunday, May 31st. This means, of course, with Bishop Phoebe’s decision to continue with no in-person worship until June 1st, we will have to be creative through Zoom and other ways to honor our ten years of ministry together. Know that I long for the opportunity to be with you all face to face to express our farewells, and the Bishop has given her blessing that I return in person at a later date when we can all gather together more fully. More details will be coming in the next week about how we will share in our important goodbyes.

Recognizing that my time could not coincide with the new Dean’s, please know that I have been preparing the ground for the Cathedral’s next Dean and will remain a resource for him or her. The Cathedral boasts an extraordinary vestry and a depth of lay leaders who will guide and support you, and they will need your support as will your next Dean. Bishop Phoebe is also committed to shepherding the congregation through these transitional waters. She cares deeply for this place. Additionally, the Reverend Eyleen Farmer will join the St. Mary’s family beginning June 1 on a part-time basis to serve with Canon Patrick Williams.  

We have shared so much in these ten years. I could never have dreamed how much we would grow together as we all learned how to care for one another. I am a better priest because of you. It has been my honor to share in more-than-I-can-count sacramental moments in worship and in walking beside you through your most tender times. I also have loved blowing bubbles with you and brushing angel dust from the ceiling from our shoulders. I’ve been inspired over and over again by your capabilities of radical welcome and love to all God’s children. Together, we have deconstructed many social barriers and helped bring together so many people for a higher cause. And I will always remember how you cared for me and my family through the fire at our house, as well as the daily challenges of raising a family, and made a way for our family to make a home here in the pews. Thank you for the ways you have loved us. 

Serving as your Canon Pastor, your Interim Dean, and as a fellow traveler, I have seen so much strength in our beloved community. I know God has wondrous things in store for all of us, and I’m glad that I’ll be a nearby witness to the Cathedral’s next chapter. May we recognize the Holy Spirit closely with us as we take our separate paths, and may our eyes open wider to the magnificence of Divine Love. 

With my deepest gratitude for the journey,

Laura F. Gettys 

Interim Dean 

Click here to view the Wednesday, April 29th message from Bishop Phoebe.