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Greetings Emmanuel!
This is a very tough email to write and send. It’s full of good news but also tinged with sadness.
For the last six months I have been in discernment for what my next chapter might be. Truly a next chapter — not retirement per se.
Towards this goal last spring I completed a course, The Art of Transitional Ministry. I attended CREDO, a wellness conference for clergy focusing on one’s continuing call and vocation. I have also been admitted to an interfaith continuing education program.
My hope is to serve either as interim or chaplain in another Episcopal corner of Christ’ s kingdom. Turns out that corner is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A university town, home to Wake Forest Divinity School and the North Carolina School of the Arts. Winston-Salem is in the Diocese of North Carolina. A very Episcopal part of the world, it offers many opportunities for ministry. And of course, my youngest, Jacob, and family live there. Huge bonus!
Figuring out this move I anticipated running into a lot of walls but instead doors have opened at every turn. So, I will be moving on August 5. While my house is sold here, I am renting a downtown apartment while I look for a place to buy.
My last Sunday in church will be July 28. But Emmanuel is not quite done with me just yet. For the remainder of the year, the next five months, I will have one foot still in Alexandria and the other in Winston-Salem. Though I won’t be in church on Sundays, the bulk of what I do, I will continue to do remotely: planning worship, editing Emmanuel Voices, facilitating Paperback Spirituality, and more. This will give Chuck and the vestry time to figure out how to transition my responsibilities in the future and provides me support to take this leap of faith — for which I am very grateful.
This is HUGE for me. I have lived in the DMV area my whole life. I have been at Emmanuel for 10 years — the best 10 years of my 30 year ministry hands down!! I have been incredibly blessed to know each and every one of you. You have all touched my life in ways that I never could have imagined. I will miss the heck out of you — but I am not dropping off the edge of the earth — and hope that though no longer just around the corner, that we remain the closest of friends.
I am a crier, so please forgive the periodic tears and emotional craziness to come. :)
With deep deep deep gratitude,
Joani
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