On
the Occasion of our Annual Meeting for 2005
1/27/06
Dear Parish Family:
Greetings in the name of our Lord as we gather once again
to reflect on the mission of our church and dream dreams for the future. The
mission of St. Anselm’s Church according to our mission statement is “to
build people in Christ Jesus, sharing the joys of worship and service.” This
mission statement goes back along way and over the last few years it has
been acquiring new meaning as we begin to live-out its significance in a
multi-cultural context.
For over three years now we have engaged in ministry to the Spanish speaking
population surrounding the church. We have also welcomed the Korean Ministry
of the Resurrection, and most recently we began the process for the Vietnamese
Redeemer Mission to join St. Anselm’s. That process is moving ahead and
as part of that process we have welcomed the first Associate Rector we have
had here at St. Anselm’s in over 15 years. This comes with financial support
from the diocese to fund the new position and so The Rev. Minh Hanh Nguyen
is now on staff here at St. Anselm’s.
Mo. Minh Hanh has been devoting most of her time to the Vietnamese ministry
at this critical juncture but her role in the English-speaking congregation
will gradually increase and become more visible over the next year. Sadly
we have discovered that the ministry of the Church of the Redeemer was hardly
what we could call an Anglican/Episcopal ministry. Due to the background
of the previous Vicar of that congregation, it was mostly a congregational
evangelical ministry that largely ignored the traditions and practice of
the Episcopal Church. We discovered that even the Eucharist was not being
celebrated in the manner prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer and so
Mother Minh Hanh is having to focus her energy on introducing Anglican/Episcopal
piety and church practice to the Vietnamese congregation, while bringing
them up to speed. This has been met by some resistance by some members
who have opted to leave the congregation but we have a core group from which
to build up the Vietnamese ministry in a new direction, fully Christian,
fully Anglican, and fully Episcopalian. The irony is that Mother Minh Hanh
is a Lutheran, on loan to us from the Lutheran Church. Thank God for the
communion between our respective Lutheran and Episcopal Churches which allows
us to exchange our clergy. Mo. Minh Hanh brings many gifts and is here
I believe by the grace of God. She herself has a deep appreciation for
Anglican piety and tradition and has embraced her mission here at St. Anselm’s
wholeheartedly.
Our parish is at a crossroads. We anticipate that in 2007 the Korean
ministry will also become part of St. Anselm’s and living out the Pentecost
spirit in a fashion in which we are all one parish is not at all easy. Trust
needs to be built and the greater good of our broader Episcopal identity
needs to be embraced, which means giving up the notion that we could survive
separate from each other, we can’t. Thus we are moving forward in our effort
to truly reflect the reign of God in our midst.
One of my own frustrations in the last couple of years has been not having
enough time to dedicate to our Latino ministry since I’ve had to split my
time between our established English speaking congregation and the new Latino
ministry. With the arrival of Mo. Minh Hanh that will change as we will
share our ministries here and her role with the English speaking congregation
will gradually increase freeing me up to do, among other things, more Christian/Anglican
formation with the Latino congregation. I would say that since the beginning
of St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church, this is the most critical
time in the life of this parish, and how we address our challenges in the
next few years will determine our future. Our biggest challenge will be
the integration of all our ministries, and we trust that the children of
what are now our multi-cultural ministries will be the future English speaking
congregation of St. Anselm’s.
It pleases me that we are building bridges and we have already begun
to see some of the fruit of this in 2006. Mo. Minh Hanh has initiated a
Homework Club for the children of the neighborhood and parish. Our instructors
for the Home Work club have come out of our English speaking and Latino
congregations. Last Wednesday we had nine kids here getting help with their
homework: Latino and Vietnamese children from the neighborhood and our respective
ministries. This is a great example of what can be achieved when we work
together and put our energy into a joint effort for the benefit of the whole. I
see it as a sign of things to come.
St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church has a future. May God
bless and lead us as we move ahead forging a new future at this critical
time in the history of our parish, “building people in Christ Jesus,
sharing the joys of worship and service”.
In Grace,
Wilfredo Benitez+
The Rev. Wilfredo Benitez,
Rector
