Four of my role models
Dr. Grace Sawyer Jones was a member of St. Stephen’s in Pittsfield. When I arrived there to be Rector (in 1984) she was the Assistant to the President of Berkshire Community College.
When he resigned under pressure, Grace did so too, and took a post with the Pittsfield School Department. It was not the best fit, and Grace left that job, and began a process of reflection on her career.
At that time she came to see me and said that in this period of “resting”, she now had a bit of time to serve Christ in the Church.
And she was true to her word, becoming Junior Warden. She was the best. Wise and intuitive as she is, her gift to me was to firmly and gracefully challenge me as Rector when that was important and necessary.
Dr. Jones moved on and is now President of Three Rivers Community College in Norwich Ct. We chat often, and I always trust her wisdom.
The Rt. Reverend Barbara C Harris was the first woman to be elected and consecrated as Bishop in the Episcopal Church. She became Bishop Suffragan in Massachusetts, and I was then a member of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. I preached at St. Stephen’s “in favour” of her consecration, and lost two parishioners in response to that sermon.
Soon after, Barbara was a keynote speaker at a Conference in Holyoke, MA, and Grace and I, together with the Revd. Gwen Sears and St. Stephen’s Senior Warden, John Lord hastened to attend.
Three of the four of us were smokers, and we found ourselves, with great glee, in draughty entrance ways, puffing away with Bishop Harris.
We were also overjoyed when Bishop Harris came out to Pittsfield gto preach at one of our anniversary services.
When I moved to St. James’s, Cambridge, MA in 2000, Bishop Harris became one of my Bishops. Oh what joy!
I adore that feisty, funny, gutsy woman, and wish that I had but ten per-cent of her courage and gospel-faithfulness.
At St. James’s I met Dr. Michelle Holmes. She was a member of the Search Committee. Michelle has two Harvard Doctorates, and is Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a leader in the field of Breast cancer research.
Michelle, her husband Derrick, and their children Omar and Tano were always there for me, to laugh, to long, to weep and to hope for a better world.
One Sunday, Michelle and Derrick made a presentation at Church on breast cancer in women, but designed to speak to the husbands, father, sons and boy-friends of women who’d had, or who might have breast cancer. Since the gospel is about wholeness, we needed to address this in Church. Michelle was eloquent, and Derrick was a wonderful foil as her “props” assistant.
I think of Michelle as one of my great teachers, and have a deep respect for her as a researcher, wife, and mother.
Today (Oct 19th 2007) I met Dr. Navita Cumming James at a Diocese of South West Florida event in Venice, FL. Dr. James is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communications at the University of South Florida.
She gave a dynamic opening speech, and then joined our small group.
She is just so cool! She knows her stuff, and has that great gift of listening well, so that people are unafraid to speak their fears and hopes. Dr. James lives in Tampa, but I long that our paths will cross again. I need her truth and wisdom.
What a sweet and blessed life I’ve had, with role models such as Grace, Barbara, Michelle and Navita!
When he resigned under pressure, Grace did so too, and took a post with the Pittsfield School Department. It was not the best fit, and Grace left that job, and began a process of reflection on her career.
At that time she came to see me and said that in this period of “resting”, she now had a bit of time to serve Christ in the Church.
And she was true to her word, becoming Junior Warden. She was the best. Wise and intuitive as she is, her gift to me was to firmly and gracefully challenge me as Rector when that was important and necessary.
Dr. Jones moved on and is now President of Three Rivers Community College in Norwich Ct. We chat often, and I always trust her wisdom.
The Rt. Reverend Barbara C Harris was the first woman to be elected and consecrated as Bishop in the Episcopal Church. She became Bishop Suffragan in Massachusetts, and I was then a member of the Diocese of Western Massachusetts. I preached at St. Stephen’s “in favour” of her consecration, and lost two parishioners in response to that sermon.
Soon after, Barbara was a keynote speaker at a Conference in Holyoke, MA, and Grace and I, together with the Revd. Gwen Sears and St. Stephen’s Senior Warden, John Lord hastened to attend.
Three of the four of us were smokers, and we found ourselves, with great glee, in draughty entrance ways, puffing away with Bishop Harris.
We were also overjoyed when Bishop Harris came out to Pittsfield gto preach at one of our anniversary services.
When I moved to St. James’s, Cambridge, MA in 2000, Bishop Harris became one of my Bishops. Oh what joy!
I adore that feisty, funny, gutsy woman, and wish that I had but ten per-cent of her courage and gospel-faithfulness.
At St. James’s I met Dr. Michelle Holmes. She was a member of the Search Committee. Michelle has two Harvard Doctorates, and is Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She is a leader in the field of Breast cancer research.
Michelle, her husband Derrick, and their children Omar and Tano were always there for me, to laugh, to long, to weep and to hope for a better world.
One Sunday, Michelle and Derrick made a presentation at Church on breast cancer in women, but designed to speak to the husbands, father, sons and boy-friends of women who’d had, or who might have breast cancer. Since the gospel is about wholeness, we needed to address this in Church. Michelle was eloquent, and Derrick was a wonderful foil as her “props” assistant.
I think of Michelle as one of my great teachers, and have a deep respect for her as a researcher, wife, and mother.
Today (Oct 19th 2007) I met Dr. Navita Cumming James at a Diocese of South West Florida event in Venice, FL. Dr. James is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communications at the University of South Florida.
She gave a dynamic opening speech, and then joined our small group.
She is just so cool! She knows her stuff, and has that great gift of listening well, so that people are unafraid to speak their fears and hopes. Dr. James lives in Tampa, but I long that our paths will cross again. I need her truth and wisdom.
What a sweet and blessed life I’ve had, with role models such as Grace, Barbara, Michelle and Navita!
And what wonderful role models they are! I remember the Jones family with much fondness -- wonderful folks, they were (and I'm sure, still are!). :)
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