All Saints Episcopal Church, Hilton Head Island, SC
August 1, 2007
Construction begins this month as the Fast transept of the church will be enlarged and refashioned as a chapel. The north wall of the transept will be extended to incorporate a new sanctuary parallel to our existing altar for the church. The existing pews will be removed in favor of cathedral chairs, seating approximately 40 to 50 people.
The entire cost of this new chapel is a gift by Mr. and Mrs. Edward Hay, who envisioned, along with the rector, the vestry, and Joe Hall (the architect for our church facilities) a smaller sacred space for worship, prayer, and solitude at All Saints.
Mark Ransom Brinkmann, Rector of St. James Episcopal Church, Sandy, Utah, has been called to All Saints as Associate Priest, and he has accepted the call. Mark will bring his wife, Kendell, and youngest son, Dan, to Hilton Head. Mark and Kendell have three sons: Thom is married and an engineer in the Navy; Jim is a first-year college student; and the youngest, Dan, is 13 years old and a budding bowler who hopes one day to be on the professional tour. Kendell is a nurse oncologist with overall responsibilities for a practice that includes several offices in and beyond Salt Lake City.
Mark has extensive experience in parish ministry, with emphasis in areas of pastoral care, liturgy, member assimilation, and Christian formation. It is important to note that Mark will have the title of "Associate Priest" to note his years of experience and expertise, the level of his responsibilities, and the collaborative relationship he will have with the rector.
Mark came to Hilton Head for three days the week of July 23 to confer with the rector; to meet Bishop Salmon, and to get a more extensive "lay of the land" that we call home. At this juncture, we are anticipating the first of September as a beginning for this newest member of our staff.
I wish to thank the members of the search committee – Bill Shively, Ginny Trolley, Margaret Collins, and Bob Moore – for their diligent and successful search for our new associate priest.
Under construction, after several years of inspired and dedicated leadership by John George, will be a new focus for our youth program. The rector or associate will facilitate the thrust of our youth program. But this will require a very important caveat: that the clergy-person needs visible help in the formation and execution of the youth program. This will not be a Lone Ranger affair; parents and individuals with the talents of understanding and working with youth are essential to the well-being and success of the youth program. This program will be faith-based, with a high degree of Christian formation. We are going to take the program from the perspective of the youth and their lives in the real world, using faith, ethics, and moral decisions as the foundation for their emerging adulthood.
After months of soul-searching and receiving outstanding and thoughtful advice about leadership for our youth, I have come to a place in my heart that says we will not bring on board a part-time or half-time trained youth leader (we can't afford a full-time youth leader). I have heard many strong arguments that to do less is to doom the youth program at this parish and prevent young families from attending All Saints. However, I simply disagree.
As an assistant and as rector of three parishes before All Saints (one parish of 1200 people), I shared the youth ministry with members of the parish who had a passion for and a determination to nurture youth at a very tough age. Frustrating, yes. Intense, yes. Rewarding, absolutely. Under this new construction with our youth program, the parish must commit to our youth. For our youth program to be successful, it must be personal and hands on. It is one thing to wish or want a thriving youth program, to see and experience youth in the life of our parish:. It is another thing entirely to do something meaningful and constructive about it. The priest, whoever that may be, will be extremely active with, our youth and provide leadership to the program.
But that is only part of the equation. Your gifts, your talents, and – above all – your time must be present and available to our youth. Not everyone is called to this extremely important ministry, but in large and small parishes over the last 35 years, I have never worked alone with the youth. Bringing on board a trained youth leader is one option; I am trusting that a core group of adults will work with me or the associate to bring to fruition a dynamic and faith-based youth program.
In some sense, the church is always under construction, on many different levels. I have never found a parish to be "finished." People discover or rediscover passions relating to their faith and how that faith is played out in life. We are forever discovering and rediscovering what it means to be the Body of Christ, to understand who are our neighbors, to sense the spirit of God moving and encouraging us. Under Construction is healthy for the Church, for the parish of All Saints, and for each one of us.
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