Inside this

Annunciator:

Welcome Rev. Barrie Bates, 19th rector, to Annunciation

Sunday School & Parish Picnic

Search Committee is decommissioned

A Farewell from Archie

The Rev. J. Barrington Bates

The Reverend J. Barrington “Barrie” Bates will become the 19th priest of The Church of the Annunciation on July 1, 2007. He joins us after serving as Associate Rector of the Church of the Ascension in New York City since May 2002. Barrie was ordained in 1997 after receiving his Master of Divinity degree from the Church School of the Pacific. Barrie initially served as the Episcopal Chaplain at San Francisco State University and as an assisting priest at St. Francis’ Episcopal Church in San Francisco. He moved East in 1999 and served in several positions in Westchester and New York before joining Ascension in 2002.

In addition to the Master of Divinity , Barrie also holds a Master of Arts degree from Graduate Theological Union, an STM degree from the General Theological Seminary in New York, a Masters in Philosophy from Drew University in Madison and is currently a Doctoral Candidate in Liturgical Studies at Drew.

Barrie’s outreach background includes forming a separate outreach corporation for Ascension, serving on the Advisory Committee of the Food Bank for New York City, a member of the Diocesan AIDS Committee and he served as a volunteer chaplain at the World Trade Center site after the September 11th terrorist attack. He co-authored a liturgy article based upon his work at the World Trade Center.

Prior to entering Divinity School, Barrie graduated from Boston University and worked for nineteen years as a computer programmer and database administrator at Harvard University. He has also appeared as a priest in the NBC series Third Watch. Barrie’s interests include music, gardening, reading, beer making, pickling things and he is a fan of Star Trek Voyager.

Barrie will join Annunciation on July 1st, but will commute from his current NYC home while Pastor Choi and his family vacate the rectory. Barrie and his partner, Jamie MacKenzie (a communications consultant) will move into the rectory in early September.

Sunday school awards

On Sunday June 25th, Sunday School awards were presented to 15 children. Our Sunday school teacher, Kathiann Krott, presented the awards. Children receive a pin for each year they attend Sunday School; the pins clip together (as shown on the right). First Year pins were awarded to: Kayla, Nicole and Hannah Garcia, Brianne Cottone, Sara Sarnicki, Zach Olsen and Damian Tumalty. Receiving their 2nd year pins were: Teagan Bellito, Skyler Olsen, and Nick Wekselblatt. Ben Corrado and Sam Wekselblatt received 4 year pins; Sarah Corrado (5 year), Disha Dass (7 yr), Nicky Palladino (8 yr), and Emily Sobeck (10 yr) also received pins. Although pins are not made beyond the 10 year mark, Nicky Gray was awarded for 12 years in Sunday School..

Following the 10am worship service the Annual Parish Picnic was held in the (air conditioned) Parish Hall.

Search committee is decommissioned

For nearly 2 years, the search committed faithfully and reverently executed the duties of their ministry to the honor of God and to the benefit of the members of this congregation. They spent many hours assessing the congregation, drawing up a Parish Profile, reviewing candidates, and making a recommendation to the Vestry.

On Sunday June 3, 2007 the Wardens officially decommissioned the search committee during the 10 am worship service. The Wardens thanked each one of the Search Committee members, on behalf of all the Parishioners of the Church of the Annunciation, for their work in identifying the Rev. J. Barrington Bates and presenting his name to the Vestry.

The committee was comprised of: Elizabeth Craig (chair), Ginny Baird, Grace Oliff, Jan Simpson, Greg Kouletsis, Marie Mitchell and Adela Wekselblatt.

Parish family days

During Lent, an old Annunciation tradition was brought back into practice. One family is celebrated and prayed for during our parish cycle of prayer each week. Families are selected at random; we have begun to list the month’s list of Parish Family days in the bulletin, so you’ll know in advance when your Parish Family day is scheduled, or if you missed church, you’ll know if we prayed for you.

Farewell message from archie

Dear wonderful people of Annunciation:

This is both a joyful and a sad letter to write. Our time together is coming to an end. It’s been a great run. Now you can look to an exciting future with Barrie as your new rector.

Thanks to the Wardens who hired me to serve you in November 2005 – especially Bob Gray, who made a point of personally meeting with then-bishop Jack Croneberger and insisting that you and he wanted me to be your interim, thereby rescuing me from the oblivion to which Jack had consigned me – you’ve given me a magnificent new lease on life – ministerial life. It’s been my delight and privilege to be among you as your pastor and your friend. Maybe you’ve even learned new ways to relate to an ordained person through our interactions.

Part of this phase of our relationship is how we say “Good-bye.” I like the ancient root meaning of that expression = “God [is] by ye.” God IS with you, as you’ve heard me say many times, in the invitation to join in the Collect of the Day. Savor that incredible relationship. Marvel at God’s infinite love for you, as you look at the cross, which is the ultimate testimony to how God values each and every one of you. Celebrate and demonstrate that love by how you affirm one another and grow in love together.

One reality of our parting is that most of us will probably never see one another again. It is essential for me to continue the “John the Baptist” role that he decrease so that Jesus in John’s time, and Barrie in yours, might increase. It’s absolutely essential that I leave you and that you transfer all the love and loyalty you’ve so generously accorded me to him. God will always be in the midst of you and God’s Spirit will lead you into ever fuller understanding and ability in this and every relationship.

It’s also vitally important that we – you and I – continue to work out our own salvation in fear and trembling, knowing that God is in the midst of it all and cheering us on to success [my version of Philippians 2:12-14]. Though we will not physically be together or continue our wonderful conversations, know also that you will always be in my heart. There’s no way that I can ever forget you.

As recipients of emails from me have read time and again, Savor God’s Rich Blessings,

Archie