St. James and St. Luke’s will consolidate. Every “i” is dotted, every “t” is crossed. And votes by both congregations last Sunday overwhelmingly affirmed the desire of both congregations to come together.
Where we’ve been.
It was June 11, 2019 — exactly one year ago today — that you received the first of more than three dozen irregular transition updates.
Many of you will remember. It was a Future’s Packet — a series of documents describing the facts of our building, finances, and membership. And an elaborate spreadsheet describing seven options (or was it nine?) suggested by the vestry for the future of St. James. Curious to step back in time?
Click here
That was the start of a full-press effort by virtually every single member of St. James — to gather information, to listen to one another, to face the facts, to make choices and to remain a cohesive and caring community as we narrowed our options.
Two qualities dominate my own experience of those many months. First is the recognition that every door we closed served to highlight the potential beauty of each choice still open. Seven choices narrowed to five, then four … one step at a time.
Second is the energy, trust, candor and creativity displayed by our people. Not by just a few of us. But by all of us — by every single person answering the call for participation, in ways large and small. Until last Sunday, when St. James voted unanimously in favor of that consolidation. We’ve known all along that a handful of us will choose spiritual growth someplace other than the place where we’ll go collectively. But,
a unanimous vote
sends a clear message of unity and respect for what we are and have been to one another.
Where we’re going.
Our vestry has named Cliff Athorn, Louis Hoffman, Casey McGuire and Kerry Nelson to join four counterparts from St. Luke’s on the newly-formed Integration Commission. Their charge is to coordinate implementation of the Consolidation Plan, to write parish bylaws to be presented for approval at the Annual Meeting of January 2021, and to implement a process for selecting a permanent name for our new parish.
Our own Fr. William Heisley will share the position of Priest in Community with St. Luke’s Fr. Larry Bussey; Beth Harvey will serve as office administrator. When pandemic restrictions make it possible, we’ll move a myriad of objects to our new space. And, while we’ll grieve the loss of neighborhood connections of Nokomis East, the vast majority of our long-held ministries and relationships will continue and grow, even in our new space.
This is the last of our year-long tradition of St. James transition updates. They’ve been fun to write, and I think they’ve done their job to keep everyone informed. Thanks for a year well-spent.
Ruth Anne Olson
(Ex) Transition Coordinator
