Wednesday, March 28th

I am swimming in a sea of spreadsheets getting ready for my annual review but I'll take a few minutes to share my fall out with our minister.

About 3 years ago, our beloved minster Bob Brooks retired. He is a great guy. We went on a mission trip to New Orleans with him, he married us and he blessed Rachel in the NICU. He has a special place in our hearts. His replacement came from France; The Episcopal Cathedral of America in Paris. He is in his early 40's with a son who is the same age as Rachel and his wife is expecting a baby in April. Our children are practically the same ages.

I sought spiritual counsel from Jonathan Hyuck, our new minister starting in January when things looked grim for this baby. We had some good conversations but he did not seem to remember one conversation from the last. It was always as if, he had never talked to me before. I did not think too much about it at the time. Then in early March when we realized that everything is going to be fine, I contacted Jonathan (we don't typically use Father/Pastor in front of the minster's first name unless they prefer it) regarding this baby's baptism. I told him that we wanted the baby to be baptized in the summer. He explained that is not the "policy of the church" and it must happen either on Memorial Day weekend or in November. I can not see how either is feasible. The baby will only be 4 weeks old at the end of May--- way too young. And November seems to be a lifetime away. I would not be able to live with myself knowing that my baby was not baptized and we are going about our lives. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if in that time period something happened and the baby did not receive her First Sacrament. So, I told Jonathan that Rachel was baptized in August and he still would not make an exception. From what I understand, the Episcopal Church wants to baptize on Feast Days which happen 4 times a year--- Easter, Pentecost, All Saints Day and Epiphany. Baptize is a celebration of inclusion, in other words, these feasts days has more people in the pews than other Sundays. But there is nothing in the Episcopal Church that says you can't do it other days, just the Feast Days are preferred. Bob Brooks thought it was too long between May and November so he picked a Minor Feast Day called the Feast of Transfiguration in early August. Jonathan would  not budge plus he inferred that we were looking for a "drive thru" church for our sacraments like marriage and baptism. He did not recognize that we have been members of this church for 10 years and before Rachel, did our share of volunteer work with the church.

We basically felt like we are being pushed out of our church. I have never heard this happening to an Episcopalian like you would hear from a Catholic because of the more firm rules in the Catholic church. See, one of the reasons why I love the Episcopal Church is the liberties each rector and each church are given. There is a set of rules but there is flexibility in those rules and as times change, we change to better suit the needs to our people i.e Everyone is welcome, gay or straight; Women are minsters; etc.

So, we are now trying to find a new church. It is so hard to leave Grace Church. I love it there. I love the people there. We will have to wait until the leadership changes when a time comes when people are more important than the rules it serves. So sad!