Dear Friends,

A few weeks ago, I received a call from the Warden at St. Ann’s Episcopal Church in the South Bronx, where I did my Field Education when I was in seminary. St. Ann’s is in the middle of a clergy transition and as they await the arrival of their new priest next month, they invited me back as a guest to preside and preach for one Sunday. With Bishop Wolfe’s support and encouragement, I was delighted to be able to accept their invitation, so that is where I will be this Sunday during our morning services. (I’ll be back at St. Bart’s for the 5 pm service.)

I served at St. Ann’s for almost two years. They welcomed me, supported me, and helped me learn how to be a priest. My time with them was abruptly cut short by the lockdown in March 2020, so my return visit this Sunday is a way for us to close that circle.

In some ways, St. Ann’s and St. Bart’s have a lot in common. Like St. Bart's, they are a well-established, faithful, and engaged congregation with an active outreach to the community. They host a feeding program that provides meals to more than 7000 people each month and an after-school program that supports parents and children in the Mott Haven neighborhood. Yet in other ways, the two churches could not be more different. Though only about five miles away, St. Ann’s is located in the poorest congressional district in the country. The local population is 97% people of color, many of them recent immigrants, and many households make less than $10,000 a year. In this challenging social and economic environment, St. Ann’s has been feeding the poor, educating children, working for justice, and proclaiming the Gospel in the South Bronx for generations. If you would like to know more about St. Ann’s, you can read about it in Jonathan Kozol’s book, Amazing Grace: The Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation.

I will miss being with you this Sunday morning, but I will bring warm St. Bart's greetings with me to our neighbors at St. Ann's.