Notes And News

Dear Friends,

• This has been a tumultuous couple of weeks in American life. An assassination attempt on a former president, the Democratic Party’s nominee for President stepping out of the race and the current Vice President taking his place on the ticket…and all this accompanied by a great deal of uncertainty as to what next November’s election will bring.
  
  I’m not the first person reflecting on the current moment to observe we have been here before. I find it helpful to remember that Americans have faced challenges throughout our nation’s history and I’m reminded of an old Kenyan saying; “Despair is not an option.” We cannot afford to give into despair and depression.
  
  In my search for optimistic encouragement, my favorite new quote comes from the American historian and author Peter Gay, who served as the director of the New York Public Library’s Center for Scholars and Writers and later as the Sterling Professor of History at Yale University. He wrote,
  
  

“If this life is a desert, it is our duty to make an oasis in it;
if this life is a shipwreck, we must rescue as many as we can,
and not forget to sing in the lifeboats.”

  I just love this sentiment and I am renewing my own commitment to “rescue as many as I can” and “not forget to sing in the lifeboats!”

• A great deal of work is currently being done in preparation to create the 2025 Mission Plan, otherwise known as the budget. In spite of a growing stock market, we continue to face deficits which need to be made up by increasing revenues through our Mission Supporting Activities (which include rentals of the building, the gymnasium, the pool, etc.), increased support from the congregation through stewardship, and the development of major gifts to the parish.
  
  We had the benefit of having a consulting firm, Alvarez & Marsal, do a careful examination of our expenses and income and it was their conclusion that only limited benefits could be achieved by cutting the budget…it was already running lean. However, they concluded we must increase revenue and giving to the parish.
  
  Under the leadership of our new Chief of Operations, Phil Conte, a group is working on how we might increase revenues to the parish and there is no shortage of good ideas.
  
  I confess I am surprised by how little many people give to St. Bart’s. We are, of course, grateful for every gift we receive and we realize folks have different financial obligations and situations which may make it difficult for them to give more freely. Yet, it is my hope that St. Bart’s would be at the top of our parishioner’s priorities when it comes to making charitable contributions. I sometimes think people who attend St. Bartholomew’s Church mistakenly conclude we are a parish of great wealth. Periodic articles in the papers which talk about millions of dollars in air rights deals distort reality and most of the monies which might come from those arrangements must be invested back into our building. Please rest assured that there are no big piles of cash laying around St. Bart’s. I know this because I have already gone looking for them!
  
  I believe we are producing a program of worship, music, education, and pastoral support which is as strong as it has ever been. I believe we are a witness in the city and around the world for an inclusive Christianity which places love at the center of everything. What we represent is NOT the type of Christianity much of our culture hears about and, in a world of increasingly louder and angrier voices, this type of Christianity has never been more important! I believe it is worthy of our sacrificial support.
  
  
• I’m very excited by what is happening in our restructured Sunday 9 am worship service. We have rearranged the chapel space so the congregation is seated in the round and the sound of the choir and the congregation singing in that space is magnificent! We sometimes felt the smaller congregation was a bit lost in the larger main church and now it feels as though we have the right space for congregation. If you haven’t been to the new 9 am liturgy, I invite you to check it out to see if it speaks to you. It features more contemporary and inclusive liturgical language and music.
  
  
• I hope you all will have some time away from the city during these summer months. Our clergy and staff work very hard and so I’m very happy when they can get away for rest and refreshment. When they are away on vacation, I miss them and it reminds me of how fortunate we are to have such a skilled and dedicated team. I’ll be away in August to fly fish in Idaho, visit friends in Wisconsin, visit our son and daughter-in-law in Dallas, take a preaching assignment on Fisher Island, and then attend my 50th high school reunion in Centerville, Ohio. However, we have a full series of preaching and extraordinary music in store for you whenever you attend St. Bart’s in August. I hope you will come (and invite a neighbor or a friend) to experience what we have all experienced at St. Bartholomew’s Church in the City of New York where we actually do “Transform Lives, Transform the Church, and Transform the World.”

Faithfully,

The Right Reverend Dean E. Wolfe, Rector