A Letter From Mother Cynthia
Dear ones,
I write today to share the news that I have accepted a call to serve as the rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, Virginia. My last Sunday at All Saints’ will be December 13th.
This announcement comes with a mix of joy and sadness. It’s hard to say goodbye to my beloved All Saints’ family. These past three years have been the most fruitful and most joyous of my life. I have been blessed by your generous spirit and inquisitive minds. This community has cultivated a quality of spaciousness. There is space here to learn, to question, to create and to share the never-ending love of God with one another and into the community.
All Saints’ is a place of warmth and courage and hope. My first Sunday was filled with awe at the beauty of the worship space, the labyrinth, and your open hearts, ready to love. I can’t begin to list all the joys we have shared. The love of God, the Spirit of God, flows through each of you. We have shared bread and wine and I hold the privilege of offering the Eucharistic prayer close to my heart. We have shared baptisms and confirmations, coffee hours and work days, acolyte training, an overnight brisket cookout followed by lunch for 400, and on and on. Each encounter is sacramental, each filled with love.
I will remember the festive and wholehearted passing of the peace. I will remember the choir, guided by Arlene, offering transcendent beauty week after week. I will remember your faces, your hands open to receive the Body of Christ.
I am forever grateful to Father Jonathan for inviting me to come to All Saints’. I will miss you, my beloved friend and colleague. Our ministry together has been gracious, joyous, and deeply formative. I am grateful to Janine, and Connie, Gil, and Michael for their dedication to, and love for, this parish. I’m thankful for our vestry, and especially Katie Gorman’s non-anxious leadership. This year, of all years, we needed your gifts.
I am excited about my call to serve God and the church in a new way. I am keenly aware that All Saints’ has helped prepare me for this new ministry. Your boundless encouragement, your kindness, and your love go with me to this new place.
I am profoundly grateful for our time together. I will continue to hold you in my prayers as we learn to say goodbye. And, I remind myself that this parting hurts, because I love you.
May God bless each of you.
May you always remember that you are beloved of God.
Mother Cynthia McKenna