For 6 months of the liturgical year we retrace the story of Jesus--from anticipating his arrival to celebrating his birth and ministry to making sense of his death, resurrection, and ascension. During the season after Pentecost, we ponder the question: If Jesus is the Christ, then who are we? We invite you to seek answers through the many spiritual, educational, musical, and ministry opportunities at St. Philip's.

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This week it was announced that the Rev. Robert J. Hendrickson III has accepted the call to be St. Philip's Rector, beginning August 1, 2016.

Dear Friends in Christ,

One of the hard parts of ministry is that we leave people and places we love. We journey from one place to another sharing in people's most intimate moments, and then we depart for a new mission field. It is hard -- and it is a joy too. For we are blessed to know new places and hear new stories about how God is working wonders in so many ways, places, and people. We become pilgrims together as we journey together for a time with holy purpose and then part ways with tears and heartfelt promises to stay in touch.

One of the things that struck Karrie and me as we looked at the St. Philip's web site and, especially, when we came to visit was the serene beauty of the campus.

There is a powerful sense that this whole place is at prayer -- it feels like it is always full, never empty. It seems to be always inviting the stranger to come and see -- to behold with all the senses. The gentle but firm arches, the rays of light, the quiet punctuated by the sounds of the city, the echoing of children at play, the artwork on the walls, the warmth of the garden -- each of these speaks to the vocation of a holy place ... a place from which the echoes and whispers of generations of prayer can still be heard making their way to God. Its beauty speaks to the wanderer with the still small voice of calm.

Coming to church is not an end in and of itself, though -- despite its beauty and its transcendence, the church is the waystation as we pilgrims go through the gates and into the city. We rest, we are fed, we are transformed, and we go out as disciples to help others find the healing touch of a pilgrim Savior who walks alongside those who need him most.

It is through these gates, on our way from the Altar, that we enter a promise-filled space of already-and-not-yet -- we are present already in the beloved community and yet we are called to serve a Kingdom that has not yet arrived. The beauty we find here gives us the courage to make the world around us a little more beautiful -- a little more transcendent.

I am a firm believer that God uses beauty, like the beauty of our liturgy, architecture, music, and more, to teach us more of himself. God teaches us not merely to see but to behold, for beholding is what separates the holy, the blessed, from the merely living.

We who are pilgrims here -- who come through these gates -- will learn to behold with the eyes of faith, truly seeing all about us that which is obscured by so much in our daily lives. My prayer is that we will let the truly important work we do -- praying, adoring, and serving -- push away that which seems so urgent in our lives but is often just so much distracting noise.

I already see in the gracious work of St. Philip's the hand which is the source and summit -- the alpha and omega of all. It is what made the call here seem so real and so pregnant with possibility. Wherever we stand in our lives, wherever we wander, we are called to be pilgrims beholding the promises of grace-filled beauty. Beauty is poignant, it disarms us, it can even undo us if we will let it -- beauty is something of God, and St. Philip's is a beautiful place.

This is the point of pilgrimage -- to let the fierce power of beauty and labor together reveal to us the Kingdom God is calling us to serve, as our senses are refocused on eternal truth and away from that which shines and shimmers too brightly in our easily distracted lives.

There are so many things that I am now praying that we may be together. May we be bold in sharing that salvation story together. May we be gentle in encouraging one another. May we work, pray, and give in ways that lend one another courage and hope. May we, pilgrims along the way, find in each other proof that God is doing more than we can ask or imagine. May we behold God's unfailing beauty in each moment and memory we will share together. May we be, for the city around us, the kind of Christians that people had no idea even existed.

Most of all, may we do this with the joy of knowing that the Holy Spirit has called us together in this place, at this time, and for a beautiful and holy purpose that we will seek and serve together.

God bless you all in the coming weeks -- please keep me, Karrie, Nikolas, and Brayden in your prayers as you all will be in ours!

Yours in Christ,
Robert+

Read more about Robert and his family here.