June 2003

Letter from the Rector

My dear friends,

This certainly has been a time of change around St. John’s. By now, you know that we lost our intrepid parish administrator, Bill Nave, and, right on top of that, Edwin Cruz, our fine sexton, was given a great new job out in Forest Hills. Both have left us, having been given a gift and a farewell party on Pentecost, 8 June 2003, at the coffee hour after the 11:00 a.m. Eucharist.

Change is part of institutional life. It is probably a part of all life, because without change, we die. Bill Nave had wanted to work part time for several months now, and a job opened up at General Seminary which was just what he needed, and so he took that position. Many of you know that Bill is actually a playwright of some renown and he hopes to use some of his free time to work on his writing. So, we wish him well with that. And well we should. After all, we are a religion which revolves around the idea of the word becoming flesh. Hence, words count for us, and those who work with words are engaged in a holy enterprise. We wish Bill all the best and hope to see him from time to time. As you know, his partner Jared is a member of the choir here and so that connection will remain between us and our good friend and fine former employee, Bill Nave.

We were inundated with applications for the position of parish administrator. We chose carefully, and picked Patricia Thompson. Patricia’s little biography is printed on page 5 of this edition of The Messenger and you can meet her in the parish office beginning on Tuesday, 17 June 2003. We had a number of fine applicants and, in fact, were able to recommend some of the persons we did not choose to another parish searching for an administrator.

Losing Edwin was a great loss, too, but in fact, it was a great blessing for him. Edwin now has a very good job, at a substantial salary increase, managing a building in Forest Hills. It is probably no accident that he got this position after serving at St. John’s because at our parish he learned a number of maintenance and repair skills which greatly impressed his new employer. Edwin’s daughter will be born in August and as a part of the new job, he will have a nice apartment in Forest Hills . We wish him all the best. And, perhaps, we can claim some credit for his having got a nice new position with greater responsibility and benefits.

We were not exactly inundated with applications for the sexton position. But, we did have two good applicants whom we interviewed and Nelson Ulloa is not only well qualified, but also came highly recommended by – Edwin Cruz! There is probably no one who knows the job as well as Edwin does and so his recommendation turned the tide.

You have also heard that Clifford Hill is moving to Cleveland at the end of the summer to be with a new partner who lives in the Cleveland area. As many of you know, Clifford runs a company called Cliff Hill Music, which sells church music to parishes around the country – and even around the world, in some cases. And this job can be done anywhere there is a telephone and an internet connection. Cliff has been here at St. John’s Church for 13 years and has done a splendid job in developing our music program to the level it and we currently enjoy. So, we are sorry to lose him, but wish him well.

The matter of replacing an organist choirmaster is somewhat different from replacing the two other members of the staff. Because this position involves the art of music and performance, the direction of a professional quality choir and the preparation of a sophisticated liturgy, we want to take some time and do a thorough search. So, we will need an interim organist-choirmaster. As we did the last time we called a musician in 1991. I am right now looking at suitable candidates for this interim position and I will be assisted by some members of the parish leadership. When it comes time to begin the search for the permanent organist-choirmaster, we will need a committee, and I have already asked a few people to serve on that committee. I will be asking others in the coming months. I want to ensure that the committee includes members of the parish leadership, persons of musical skill and background, and some of those who will work most closely with the musician. It will be an exciting time.

As we make these changes, we will not only build upon the work we have done and the achievements we have made in the past, but we will also be equipped to begin ministry in new directions with new potential. Change is indeed a part of life, and while we are saddened by losses, we are grateful for the work which these staff members have completed here, and we are excited about new possibilities.

Faithfully,

The Rev'd Lloyd Prator
Rector