The Rector’s Annual Report
Bethesda Sunday: January 28, 2024
When I was a young cleric, the first parish I served as rector was a small, beautiful stone church in Briarcliff Manor, New York, about 20 miles up the Hudson from New York City. It was called All Saints’ Church, and I took great pleasure in this. I love saints and I love All Saints’ Day, and so we always had a big blowout celebration on All Saints’ Sunday. Frankly, I also enjoyed telling my clergy friends that, while it was nice that they served a St. Mark’s Church or a St. Mary’s Church or whatever, the church I served was All Saints’. Every single one of them. So, obviously my church was better than theirs.
Well, we all know that pride goeth before a fall, so this came crashing down on me when I was next called to serve a church called St. John the Evangelist in Hingham, Massachusetts. I was demoted back down to just one saint. But still, every year we always celebrated our patronal festival and made a big deal about St. John the Evangelist.
And then I came to Bethesda-by-the-Sea. And as you well know, there is no such thing as St. Bethesda. In the span of 20 years, I’ve gone from all of the saints to none of them! And not only that, there’s no saint’s day or feast day to celebrate our community. Until now. Because I have from henceforth, with the bishop’s permission of course, declared the last Sunday of January as Bethesda Sunday. Every year on the day we hold our Annual Meeting, we will celebrate our faith, our community, and our ministry together. We will hear the story from John’s gospel about the Pool of Bethesda, which literally means “place of healing,” and we will pray the Bethesda Prayer, which I wrote for this occasion. And then we will gather for our annual meeting and have a parish picnic after the 11 o’clock service. So welcome to the very first Bethesda Sunday.
One of the things I love about preparing for the annual meeting is the opportunity to pause and take stock of where we are as a parish. It’s a chance for all of us to look back at the year that has passed and peer into the future.
And I have to say that my first full year among you has been an exciting, fun, full, faithful, spirit-filled time at Bethesda-by-the-Sea. The Holy Spirit is absolutely moving in this place. I certainly feel it. And I hope you do too.
The Spirit blowing around Bethesda is leading us to try some new things, to take some chances, to dream big, to act boldly. Even as we hold onto and celebrate all the cherished traditions that make Bethesda such a special place. And it is this balance between tradition and innovation that is such a joy to behold and to be a part of.
So how do I see the Holy Spirit manifesting itself among us? As I’ve reflected on our common life together, I see what I’d call the five “spirits.” They transcend finances and attendance figures, all of which are highlighted in our annual report, and are absolutely trending upwards. For example, we had 400 more people at our Christmas services this year and pledging was up 25%. But what I’m seeing and feeling is bigger than this.
At Bethesda-by-the-Sea, I see and feel a spirit of invitation. A spirit of connection. A spirit of generosity. A spirit of vitality. A spirit of innovation. So, let’s take a look at these.
First, there’s a spirit of invitation. Whether they first encounter an usher, a Bethesda Ambassador, a member of the staff, or any one of us, it makes a big difference when people are genuinely and authentically welcomed here. Not because they look or act a certain way, or because we want to hand them a pledge card, but simply because Scripture bids us to welcome the stranger. And because we know how much our own lives have been touched and transformed through our encounter with Jesus Christ in this place, we want to share that with others.
I’ve witnessed a number of you inviting friends to join us on our journey, both people new to Bethesda and those who may have drifted apart from this community. Some say yes, some say no. But the doors are always open, the invitation is always extended. No matter who you are, where you’re from, who you love, or what you believe, the message we communicate to the world is that there is always a place for you at Bethesda-by-the-Sea.
And when we view our entire campus as a spiritual oasis, we want others to come and see and experience God’s presence in the church or on our grounds. Does our community change when others are welcomed into the congregation? Absolutely! And it’s not just because someone may have the audacity to sit in “your” pew. It’s because they bring their gifts and talents and beliefs and their very souls to bear on the community. Growth is always a dynamic and sometimes scary force. But we’re here to share the good news, not keep it to ourselves. And I think we alway need that reminder. We have a wonderful welcoming ministry in our Bethesda Ambassadors. But we can never forget that we are all — every single one of us — ambassadors of hospitality and welcome. So there’s a spirit of invitation.
There’s a spirit of connection. As a community of faith we are rooted in the greatest commandment. Jesus tells us to love God and love neighbor. And that’s where connection happens, when we are connected to God and connected to one another. We connect to God through the unparalleled liturgy, music, and worship that happens within our walls — and I don’t ever want you to take for granted what happens here on Sunday mornings. It is extraordinary, it is inspired, it is holy. And it brings us all closer to God.
Being connected to one another is also such an important part of what we do here. For anyone who’s ever participated in Boar’s Head or served on a committee or worked with the Flower Guild; for anyone who’s ever been an acolyte or attended Bible study or volunteered at the Church Mouse, or countless other opportunities, you know how we grow when we connect to others in this place. It’s said that you get out of a faith community what you put into it. I can’t encourage you enough to engage here, because connecting with others broadens our understanding of the wideness of God’s love. So there’s a spirit of connection.
There’s a spirit of generosity. This often manifests itself in financial giving. And I’ve seen this play out through our annual campaign, but also through special gifts for projects like the choir room renovation, our remodeled first floor nursery, a matching grant to help us pay for a Family Ministry Coordinator, our tower lighting project, funding for our Alpha program, among others. People want to see Bethesda thrive, and I am incredibly grateful that those in a financial position to make a difference are doing just that.
Cultivating a spirit of generosity and encouraging people to give according to their means — whatever the amount — is an important mark of a thriving community of faith. It’s also a spiritual discipline that demands conversation rather than avoidance. Which is why I’ve promised to always be open and transparent with you when it comes to the financial needs of this parish.
But this is also about a generosity of time. We don’t punch the clock when we do ministry around here, but a lot of you have pretty full time sheets. And I want you to know just how much you inspire me as I look around this place. I know you aren’t serving God through Bethesda to be noticed but still, I notice, and I give thanks to you every single day for the ways you serve God through this parish. It matters, and it makes a difference. So there’s a spirit of generosity.
There’s a spirit of vitality. Now, the life of faith isn’t about having a really long to-do list. That’s not the point, surely. But when you show up at church on Sundays or during the week, there’s a lot happening around here. People are meeting and studying and cooking and folding and hauling and arranging. But it’s not just the hive of activity I notice, it’s the joy. People are happy to be here, excited to be here, energized to be here.
I’m fully aware that salvation doesn’t come through church committees, but one of the reasons we’ve started some new ones like our reenergized Outreach Committee and our incredibly talented Communications Committee, is that there is such incredible giftedness that resides in this community, and my goal is to simply unlock the gifts you all have and encourage you to share them with this community. It’s nice to have some clergy around, but lay ministry will always be the foundation of a thriving parish. And we will continue to nurture it and encourage you to use your creativity and talents in the service of our Lord. So there’s a spirit of vitality.
Finally, there’s a spirit of innovation. I hope to continue to create space for failure. That may sound like an odd statement. But when we aren’t afraid to fail, it gives us the freedom to try new things, to be creative in ministry. I’m all for throwing some things against the wall and seeing what sticks. God will always make it pretty clear what will fly and what won’t.
But it is in this spirit that we have created the Bethesda Center for Spirituality; that we have brought the Alpha program to Bethesda; that we are reimagining the Bethesda Bookshop as a hospitality hub in the middle of our campus; that we are thinking boldly about how we can make the greatest impact with our outreach efforts, in a way that blends financial generosity with hands-on opportunities for service; that we are seeking creative ways to share our worship and ministry with the wider world; that we are building a staffing plan that supports our vision for the future. Bethesda should be a leader when it comes to revitalization efforts in the wider church, and when we embrace this responsibility our impact only deepens. So there’s a spirit of innovation.
These five spirits are all shared within the context of our vision which, as a reminder, is built on two pillars: Seeing Bethesda as a Spiritual Oasis, a place where parishioners and visitors are drawn on Sundays and throughout the week for inspiration and transformation. And seeing Bethesda as a Beacon of Hope, offering grace and compassion to a broken, hurting, and divided world. Everything we’re hoping to do and be is rooted in these two pillars, along with our commitment to “Love and Serve” the Lord.
In the end, I encourage you not just to go to church, but to be the church. To nurture your relationship with the living Christ through our many spiritual offerings; to live your life as an active follower of Jesus, not a passive recipient of the faith; to invite others to come and see what’s happening at Bethesda; to get involved and share your gifts with this community; to open your hearts and minds to the possibility that God is doing something new and amazing both in your own life, and here at Bethesda-by-the-Sea.
In the King James Version of our passage from John’s gospel about Jesus’ healing of the man in the pool of Bethesda, we hear that an angel would occasionally go down and “trouble the water.” I love that phrase. This stirring up, this troubling of the water is what led people to seek it out as a place of healing. God is absolutely troubling the water at Bethesda-by-the-Sea. I encourage you to boldly step in, and prepare to be transformed by the one who loves us, forgives us, strengthens us, heals us, and sustains us.
May God bless us all in the year ahead.
@FatherTim Sermon Vault 