Letter from Amy: Sept 10, 2025
- Amy Rowe
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
Dear Incarnation,
Well, we did it — our first 9am Sunday at Beverley Hills! And (no surprise) you all were amazing: you made it to church a whole 2.5 hours earlier; pitched in to serve in countless ways before, during, and after the service; and celebrated seven years of Incarnation over cake and coffee! Thank you for rolling with the latest changes with your characteristic Incarnation joy and flexibility. It was so good to be back.
One of the surprising realizations on my sabbatical was just how much I missed preaching.
So I’m delighted to be back in the pulpit this Sunday, when I’ll preach the parable of the lost coin from Luke 15. This story was very meaningful to me on my sabbatical, so it felt like an “I see you” from God to discover it in the lectionary for my first Sunday sermon. I’m humbled to preach it, and I hope to do it justice.
Incarnation’s pulpit was also incredibly well cared-for in my absence — a huge thanks to Russell, Katie, David, Esal, Grant, Lauren, Lee, and TJ for their thoughtful, wise, pastoral sermons. What an embarrassment of riches!
One of our summer preachers, Lauren Little, is also leading this year’s fall retreat! We are still finalizing the content, but I’ve seen the early draft and can say with confidence: it’s going to be SO GOOD.
Fall is a transitional season for creation: leaves change, weather cools, and fields go dormant. This fall is also a transitional season for our church. We spent the summer unexpectedly moving into a new building, and we will now spend the fall “unpacking”: learning the quirks of a new home and settling into what it will mean to live there long-term. We will also be transitioning toward launching the Maryland church plant in early 2026, and beginning to say goodbye to beloved staff and congregation members as a result. Deep within the soil of our church, new things are growing, but we can't yet see them.
In the midst of these big transitions, the fall retreat will be a wonderful opportunity to gather together as one big Virginia-DC-Maryland church family. Lauren will help us listen together for the still, small voice of God who is speaking to us in the midst of all these transitions — she's so gifted at creating restful spaces in which people can listen. There’s really nothing we need more, for the good of our church and our souls.
Plus, we’ll enjoy all the usual retreat highlights, from rocking chairs on the porch to communal cooking to hayrides to canoeing to a back-by-popular-demand talent show (will the Rowe boys make a repeat comedy performance?? TBD!). The retreat is also a great way to meet people if you’re new to Incarnation! Every year, people come to the retreat who’ve only been to a few church services — I love that courageous leap into community life!
All that said, I really hope you’ll make time to come for some or all of this year’s retreat. I know how hard it can be to step away (I spent a year preparing for my sabbatical!). But something special happens in the life of our community when we intentionally leave the concerns of the city and spend the weekend praying and playing together in God’s creation.
The retreat will take place October 3-5 at Camp Highroad in Middleburg, VA. All the details are in this blog post, and you can sign up here. I can’t wait!
With love,
Amy