Beloved in Christ:

I have much news to share! First, on this snowy Ash Wednesday, I hope you received last night’s email about having to cancel tonight’s Ash Wednesday service along with the Ashes-to-Go outreach this morning, due to the ongoing winter storm. The noon service will be held as scheduled. This has been a very hard decision, even though we are joining with hundreds of churches who have cancelled services, as Ash Wednesday is one of the most important days in our church year. It marks the beginning of the Lenten season, a period of about six weeks (approximately 40 days) that calls us to a time of intentional prayer, spiritual discipline, and finding ways of getting more connected to God as God reaches for us every minute of every day, in our journey towards Easter. Traditionally, Christians attend a worship service where they receive a cross of ashes on their foreheads, from ashes made from last year’s Palm Sunday palms. If you would like to conduct your own prayer service at home, you will find the liturgy starting on page 264 of the Book of Common Prayer. This Sunday, February 26, we will enfold the Imposition of Ashes into both services during the time of the homily.

And now for the news I have been longing to share: We have called a new director of music! Austin Ferguson will begin in late spring as the new director of music and organist for Calvary. Austin is currently the co-director of music at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Rochester, and is also the carillonneur for Mayo Clinic. So even if you have never met Austin, you have likely heard him play the carillon. He has held that position since 2017, and followed our own Jeff Daehn in that job. There will be much more to tell, but for now I want to thank David Inwards and Stephanie Heller and the entire director of music search team who have worked with patience, persistence, and faith since last spring to bring this task to such a successful conclusion. I want to thank our Motet Choir for their own persistence, love for one another and Calvary, and a “stick-to-itness” that is remarkable. Thanks to you all for your faith and trust in this process, and thanks be to God for you all, and for Austin, and for his ministry among us. We will certainly be throwing a big party in thanks for Jeff Daehn’s ministry as our interim. Dates will be released soon!

In gratitude,

Beth+