From the Rector:
August is a month when it seems that summer has settled in. June was a bustle of activity when many of us began our long awaited vacations, the kids are out of school, and we’ve made preparations for warm weather. July begins with a celebration and during the rest of the month many of our neighboring towns throw wonderful festivities inviting all to rejoice and partake of God’s bounty of strawberries, corn, and the abundant array of flowers, shrubs and bushes. While a few may go on vacation, for the rest of us it may seem that August is just August. The celebrations are over, the kids are bored and anticipating school and the weather seems to not realize that September harvest, chills, and color are around the corner.
It’s in the midst of this very settled month the Church celebrates transformation. The feast of the Transfiguration, one of the major feasts of the Church occurs at this time. According to the Book of Common Prayer, this feast holds such a special place that it is one of only three major feast days that have precedent over Sunday prayers and readings. The Transfiguration brings with it a look at the old and new, the transformed and transforming of our lives and yes, even the scary thought of change.
Church of Our Saviour is living through the Feast of the Transfiguration this August. It is a time of reflecting on the things that have made this parish a vital living witness of our Lord and Saviour to the community it is in. There are new things afoot with the hiring of a new Rector, and everyone is deeply anticipating what changes may occur in the next month and over the next few years. What is important to remember about the Transfiguration is that it is a view from the past about a reality that has already happened with our Baptism and an inevitability that will occur when this world is over. We are transformed in Christ, continually being transformed as we grow together in Christ, and we are called to tell others of the transforming love of God and of his son our Saviour.
As your new Rector I look forward to our mutual working together in this mission and the ministry of telling the Good News of God’s transforming love. As we grow to know each other, it is my sincerest prayer that we may grow in the abundance of God’s love and be a vital witness to those around us.
Mercifully grant that we, being delivered form the disquietude of this world, may by faith behold the King in his beauty – from the Collect for the Feast of the Transfiguration (BCP p. 243)
Respectfully,
The Rev'd David R. Milam
Rector
