Dear People of St. Catherine’s,
In East Coker, one of his Four Quartets, T. S. Eliot wrote:
In the end is my beginning.
This is the last time I will write to you in the Wheel, the last time I will offer words of hope and encouragement, the last time I will toss out onto the open air the things of my heart. It is the end of my time with you. My last Sunday with you will be January 30. I look forward to seeing you all during Epiphany and the Sundays of that bright season.
We have spent a full season together, being the church, laughing together, crying together, sometimes arguing together. We have endured the fear and anxiety of Covid-19. We have survived the bruising election season and the time of social unrest and turmoil. We have said farewell to dear friends who died or moved away. And we have welcomed new faces, new families and new friends.
But this end is also a beginning. God has blessed you with a bright, eager, thoughtful, kind, open and engaging new rector. Fr. James Reho is your beginning. With him you will stride forward, to bear witness to the light of God’s glory and life. Farewells are never easy and this one is no exception. You have welcomed me and Galen into your parish and into your lives. You have treated us with kindness and respect. Even when some of you called me a socialist liberal! ? I never felt anything but kindness – most of the time. ☺️ I will miss you terribly.
We will be away for a while, probably worshiping with the good folks at St. Paul’s Church in Wesley Chapel. You will be busy welcoming Fr. James and his wife Lori, who are so eager to be with you, to walk with you, get to know you, lead you in worship, prayer and service. We will be back at some point. And this time, I will have the pleasure of sitting with you in church, being fed by the fine preaching of Fr. Reho, and joining you in fellowship and delight.
I pray blessing and grace for all of you. It has been my high honor to have had stewardship of St. Catherine’s for a season. I can now hand that stewardship to your new rector and rejoice that God was with us for our season. Take care, sweet people. I will keep you in my prayers always.
With great joy in our fellowship,
Allen W. Farabee, Interim Rector
Posted in Newsletter