A Farewell Letter

So deeply do we care for you that we are determined to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you have become very dear to us.
1 Thessalonians 2:8

I will deviate from our Sunday lectionary (forgive me!) for my final weekly compass to all of you, as I want to take this opportunity to send a more personal letter asking your forgiveness for times that I have not led you well, and to express my gratitude to all of you at Christ Church Anglican. In hopes of doing both of these things, I turn to St. Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessaloniki, at a point in his letter when he reflects on his own ministry to them alongside Timothy. In that chapter (chapter 2), Paul uses incredibly intimate imagery to describe the relationship between himself and the Church, including that of a mother, father, child, and nurse. It is in chapters such as this one that we find God’s vision for Christian leadership and Christian leaders. The basis of Christian leadership is relational, loving, and service-oriented.

Christ Washing the Apostles Feet – Dirck van Baburen, c. 1616.
Gemäldegalerie. Public domain.

So, if in any way I have failed in living up to this vision of ministry, I am truly sorry. Paul does such a magnificent job of holding in tension the high calling of ministry described in 1 Thessalonians 2 with his own fallenness and humanity; and in imitation of him, I would like to do the same thing. Like Paul and all others called to the Priestly ministry, my task should never be to point to myself, but to Christ Jesus; so I encourage you, Christ Church Anglican, never to conflate Jesus Christ and any clergy person. The final words of the Rite of the Reconciliation of a Penitent in the BCP are a request from the Priest who has pronounced God’s absolution to the sinner that the sinner then pray for them: “Abide in peace, and pray for me, a sinner.” I too ask, “pray for me, a sinner.”

I also wish to express my gratitude for times when you, Christ Church Anglican, have lived up to the vision of life-sharing from 1 Thessalonians that marked Paul and Timothy’s ministry with the Thessalonian Christians. Christian community can be remarkably challenging, and staggeringly beautiful; and I have witnessed staggering generosity, selflessness, prayerfulness, and love from all of you. Christ Church Anglican is and will always be an important church for me and my family. If it seems like leaving is easy for me, please know that it is not (I hope I never have an easy time leaving a church!), but is actually quite painful. God only knows our futures (I was told by a mentor that it is “the angel of mercy who hides our futures from us,” though I can’t say if this is theologically correct or not), and this is such good news because our future is in Christ.

So from myself, Madeline, Genevieve, and Vivienne: thank you and pray for us.

In Christ,

Fr. Matthew Rucker