Friends,

My first day on the job as your priest was supposed to be on Martin Luther King Jr Day of 2021. It was a holiday, so the office was closed, and I ended up walking the E Boulevard Dr to W Boulevard Dr loop three times talking about Church stuff with the future Senior Warden Richard McFarland, who was also on my search committee. Both of our minds and souls seemed to be filled to the brim with ideas and energy. I left our walk overwhelmed and excited, and I remain thankful for the fact that he was my first friend in Alexandria.

The next day was Tuesday, and I did what I did the last time I started a position, which is arrive super early and get a feel of the space before everyone else got into the office. It was cold, but I didn’t bother to bring a heavy coat, because I just had to go from my car to the office. I was absolutely mortified when I couldn’t figure out how to turn on the heat in my office, and by the time Sue (our parish admin) got to the office I was a shivering mess. She told me the boiler must have been down again, and after some work we got it going again. I remember saying, “We should probably get that fixed.”….. if only I had known. It took literally years and quite a bit of tears to get the boiler working consistently, but I can honestly say we have a warmer Church (though I always make it a point to dress warmly, just in case.)

The pandemic was still in full swing, and we worked remotely when we could. The next day, I set up my computer on packing boxes at home, and started to dive into my e-mails while I watched Joe Biden’s inauguration. When this military guy with a trumpet came on the screen, I got numerous texts from St. Lukers letting me know that the trumpeter was none other than Matt Harding, who was serving on our vestry. The reality that was no longer in a normal part of America was setting in.

On Thursday I went into the office properly equipped in my new wool sweater, and went out to the banner with a message of welcome and took a picture, which you can see here:

As I write this, I happen to be wearing the same green sweater. Don’t believe me? Just look:

Four years apart, and I feel like I don’t look that different, but I feel so different. My family and I arrived at such an odd time, and we have been bouncing from one major event to the next. In our personal lives, you saw us as we sent our first-born child start school at St. Luke’s, the birth of our second child, the terror of a cancer diagnosis, the subsequent fight, and now discovering who we are post-cancer.

In the Church we have seen wonderful growth, along with growing pains, and controversies of all shapes and sizes. The world around us has been constantly shifting. When we arrived, the vaccines were just beginning to be rolled out, but it took what felt like ages for the omni-present anxiety to begin to settle. In the past four years we’ve seen laws that have existed before I was born be overturned, blatant invasions that continue to challenge global security, terrorist attacks and needless deaths of civilians on foreign soil, and another election that will undoubtedly affect our parishioners directly and have a lasting effect on the world. A lot has happened. So many baptisms. A lot of funerals too. I think I remember every single one.

I am still honored to be your priest, and my expectation is to stay here for as long as my ministry is effective. The world is constantly changing, and it seems to be changing at an alarming rate, and we should not imagine that the Church is some sort of constant variable in this impossibly complex formula. The Church is part of the world and changes with it, whether we want it to or not. Our existence is innately dynamic, and we should not be surprised by this reality. I still believe that God’s love for us is a constant in this sea of change, and though I have often imperfectly shown it, I think I can honestly say I have loved all of you every step of the way. Even in the rare moments of hurt and frustration, I have loved you all and have loved being your priest.

I give God thanks for the time that we have spent together, and I look forward to the time we will continue to share.

Blessings,

Nick