by Chad Smith

I want to share with you what I will be doing while I am away and what will happen next in our Beloved Community process.

I am very excited that a sabbatical is happening at this point in my life. I am looking forward to the opportunity to slow down and take time to explore my priesthood. I am also hopeful that I will gain a sense of what will inspire my ministry for the next ten years. As I spend time in Mexico, I am looking forward to being influenced by their values of family and their sense of community and to bring those two understandings back into our Beloved Community process.

I leave for Mexico on April 18th and will return May 4th. During that time I will study Spanish and learn about Latino ministry. From May 6th through June 10th, I will be working at the Fair Oaks Community Center in Redwood City helping English and Spanish speaking families receive the food and shelter they need, assisting with immigration and citizenship classes, and enrolling seniors in the food stamp program.

I have also set aside time for more recreational activities as well. Mary and I will travel to Ashland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington in June to see two plays and enjoy the beauty of the Olympic National Park. In addition, I have scheduled a climbing trip in the Sierras for July. Throughout my sabbatical I will have time to read and write. I expect that there will be many experiences that I will want to explore and write about.

I chose to focus on learning Spanish, exploring the issue of immigration, and spending time with the poor for the following reasons. First, learning Spanish has been an interest for some time. The sabbatical allows me the time to really develop my Spanish during my trip to Mexico and my internship in Redwood City. Immigration is a very important issue in America and in California. It is also a complicated one. I want to know the human face of immigration and hear the stories of immigrants. I would like to learn about the ways to help integrate immigrants into our culture and be a safe support for them. Finally, I often find the presence of Christ among the people of God and especially the poor. I hope to be inspired by their survival skills and generosity while I am with them. I also hope to see more clearly the dehumanizing effect of poverty.

During the sabbatical time, I will focus on three primary questions to help further my own discernment process. I invite you to join me in taking time to look at your life through these discernment questions as well. The questions are:

• How can I experience beauty today? (morning)
• What is God teaching/showing me today? (noon)
• What opened up in me today? (evening)
  

I have thought about them as three questions to ask over the course of the day. You can reflect on these questions as you need to. It helps me to know that I will not be doing this discernment work alone, but that I am tied to the rhythm and work of this community during my sabbatical time. I pray that this will be a rich time of reflection for you.

I will return on Monday, July 21 and will share my experiences during the sermon on Transfiguration Sunday, August 3.

During the next year, we will be looking at integrating all of our experiences this year into a ministry vision for the congregation. The information for the ministry vision will come from our initial survey, the Board survey, the Mutual Ministry Review (a mutual review of the rector, board chairs, and vestry), discernment experiences over the summer, and my sabbatical experience. What this specifically looks like is unclear. However, I hope that this ministry vision includes what we value most as a congregation and a way of being a church community that is life-giving. I have heard that there are concerns that the outcome of the two-year discernment process is predetermined or will result in some form of Latino ministry. I can assure you that I have no idea of what the ministry vision will look like. However, it will be something that all of us build together. What is most important to me is that we claim what God is calling us to be. A written ministry vision can help us do this.

I would ask one more favor before I leave. Please keep me in your prayers. I will keep you in mine. It is very important for me to remain connected through prayer to this community. Let’s pray for each other during this time.

Have a wonderful summer. I will be sending two emails to the parish to update you on my experience while I am away. I am grateful to Melanie, Davidson, Joe, Lisa, Stephanie, the Vestry, and you for giving me this opportunity. May we find God’s presence all along the way.

God’s peace, Chad+