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Interim Rector Called

The vestry has called the Rev. Dr. Michael J. R. Tessman to be Interim Rector of St. John’s. Fr. Tessman will begin at St. John’s on November 1. He comes to us from St. Monica’s, Hartford, where he has served as Interim Rector since Jan. 1, 2006. Fr. Tessman earned his A.B. from the University of Chicago in comparative religion, philosophy and literature, his M.Div. from Yale University, the Certificate in Spiritual Direction and his Doctorate of Ministry from the Graduate Theological Foundation in cooperation with General Theological Seminary, New York.

Since ordination in 1976, his pastoral experience includes: Rector of Trinity Parish, Trumbull, and Immanuel St. James, Derby, CT; Professor and Dean of Students at Nashotah House Seminary, near Milwaukee, WI, and Interim Rector of St. John’s, New Haven, CT. In 2005 he was a candidate for Bishop of the Diocese of Albany.

Father Tessman’s professional interests include spiritual direction, interfaith relations, and congregational development. His vocation as a priest includes work and study abroad. He held an internship with the World Mission and Evangelism unit of the World Council of Churches in Geneva. He researched Christian communities at Magdalen College, Oxford, sojourned with the Taize Community in France, and conducted study, travel and mission trips to Korea, Germany, Greece, Italy and Puerto Rico.

Father Tessman hails from St. Paul, Minnesota, and is pleased to return to Washington, where he and his wife Carol began married life while he taught at Gunnery-Wykeham Rise Schools from 1973-75 just after finishing seminary.

Interim Rector’s Availability

Dr. Tessman will be in residence at the Rectory from Wednesday Noon through Sunday.

His usual Office Hours will be Wednesday afternoons following the Mid-day Eucharist,

Thursday mornings following Morning Prayer, and most of the day on Fridays. He is always available for pastoral conversation and/or spiritual direction by appointment, and in emergencies, by phoning the Parish Office or his Cellphone: 401-639-8797. Both of these numbers will be monitored regularly throughout the day, so please leave a voice-message if no one answers immediately. Because of HPPA laws, the Parish Office can-not know of a hospitalization unless informed directly by a family member or friend. Please know that the Clergy want to bring the prayers and sacraments of the church to hospital and nursing homes, but can only do so with accurate advance information. 

LENT 2008

     The Liturgical Season of Lent comprises the 40 weekdays (Sundays remain “little Easters” throughout!) from Ash Wednesday through Holy Saturday. Clearly, the number 40 is not accidental. It mimics the 40 days and nights spent by Jesus in the wilderness (immediately after his Baptism, according to the Gospels) and the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness under Moses’ guidance in search of the promised land. Then there were the 400 years of the Hebrew exile in Babylon!  In short, Lent is every believer’s “faith story” in microcosm, from the humble dust of our creation (“earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust”) to the glorious sacrificial love for us shown by God in Christ, the crucified-resurrected One. Simply put, Lent is a tithe - roughly speaking 10% - of the year; an opportunity to offer up our very best!

     Entering the Lenten wilderness is risky and invites us to allow our vulnerability to surface from beneath the well wrought defenses we’ve cultivated to cope with life.  Signs and symbols of that vulnerability are present from day one - ashes imposed to remind us of our fallen, mortal human nature - always a step away from death; yet at the same time, dying daily to Sin (separation from God) which, in turn, brings us closer to intimacy with God.  As with the ashes, so with the discipline of fasting - reminding us that we do not live by “bread” alone, but by the Logos (the embodied Word of God). By fasting we can “slow down”   on one form of sustenance (food being but one of many) in order to “go faster” with a more perfect One!

     While the church provides for only two Fast days (Ash Wednesday & Good Friday) on which we are  meant to take no food except water (pregnant women and those on medications excepted!), Lent invites us to the consideration of abstinence in every aspect of our lives, not to loose weight (although that might be a fringe benefit) or to save money (though when we do, giving it to a worthy cause is very salutary).      The whole point is to go faster with God, by slowing down with self (as musicians know, lento means slow down) - take Sabbath, a weekly day off, not only from your “day job” but from all kinds of busy work that may distract you  from “the peace of God which passeth all understanding” - or better yet, make a retreat in addition to taking Sabbath. Any good commander in the field knows that “retreat is not defeat” when taken to regroup and recollect one’s deeper source of energy and strength.

     All of this is best summarized by the paradoxical declarations of the Apostle Paul, when he writes: “After beseeching God not less than three times to take this thorn from my flesh, he told me ‘My Grace is all you need, for My strength increases by your weakness.’  It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness; so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” (2nd Corinthians 12:8-10, paraphrased).  Paul would never have made this statement of faith had he not personally known the power of Jesus kenosis (self-emptying), such that he encourages us to have the same attitude as Jesus, who “though in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…”. (Philippians 2:5ff.) 

     Lent is a season for each of us to personally re-connect with the power of Christ in our lives, to reflect upon the “crucified and resurrected” dimensions of our own lives, and to seek refreshment in the realization that although “we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God,” yet, “even so in Christ, we have all been made alive!” Lent, from Saxon and Middle-English roots, means “lengthening” (days of) “spring” when we see the creation coming to life out of death’s winter grip! May it be so in your life and that of St. John’s. Do not hesitate to call upon me if I can be helpful on any leg of your Lenten journey.                                                                    Faithfully,  Michael+

Lent begins early this year. . .

• Adult Forums: Lenten Themes –  Sundays, 9-9:45am in the Library –

Come join in lively conversations and explorations of the spiritual life, based upon the Lenten Sunday Gospels! 

Feb. 10^th – Wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11)     Feb. 17^th – Rebirth (John 3:1-17)

Feb. 24^th – Transparency (John 4)          Mar. 2^nd – Refreshment (John 9)

Mar. 9^th – Reconciliation and Renewal (John 11) 

• Sunday, Feb.24^th, 5pm - Choral Evensong for the 3^rd Sunday in Lent

• A Lenten Mini-Retreat: Friday, Feb.29^th, 7:30pm – 9pm Lenten Vespers - Taize chant & meditation; Saturday, March 1^st, 9:30am–2:30pm – Quiet Day meditations by Fr. Tessman:

“Spiritual maturity in an age of juvenilia & juvenescence!”

• Sunday, March 16^th, 5pm – Choral Evensong for Passion Sunday

    . . . and Lent is a time for fellowship

• On Sunday, March 2^nd following the 10am Eucharist the congregation is invited to luncheon in the Parish House, to hear from parish leader-ship in follow-up to the Annual Meeting, and a report on the Search process and parish-wide survey completed last month.  Bring your questions and enjoy another occasion of fellowship and discussion!