I was surprised to find S, one of our alums, at the Church of the Holy Apostles today. He's just received an MDiv at Harvard Divinity School, where his research on the theosophical sympathies of the founders of the Center for the Study of World Religions earned him an additional research fellowship. What was he doing at Holy Apostles? Turns out one of the subjects of his research was married at Holy Apostles in 1899, and another had some connection to it as well, so S thought he'd check it out as he was passing through New York City.Fascinating - so much of our 173 year history we aren't aware of! What S didn't know was that he had come on a historic day in its own right - the first Eucharist celebrated by our new rector. When I told him Rev. Anna Pearson is the church's first woman rector, he couldn't believe it. Research he'd done on the church told of a long proud tradition of progressivism, including being the site one of the first women's ordinations in the Episcopal Church, an early same-sex wedding, etc., etc. What took us so long?
In her sermon Mother Anna quoted a prayer of Dag Hammerskjöld:
For all that has been, Thank you.
For all that is to come, Yes!
