Letter from Amy: Sept 3, 2025
- Amy Rowe
- Sep 3
- 4 min read
Dear Incarnation,
I'm back!!!!!!! And I missed you!
Thank you so much for your kindness in granting me three months away, and especially for your prayers for me and my family. I looked back at my final pre-sabbatical letter, and can report with joy that God graciously and abundantly answered each of those prayer requests. In time, I look forward to sharing more stories and reflections from my sabbatical. But for now, I’ll simply say that the time was — to use Trent’s word — transformative. Sabbatical was so good for my marriage, for my kids, and especially for my soul. I am returning as a more refreshed and reflective rector, with a renewed love for God and Incarnation. Thank you.
I'm still slowly catching up on everything that happened while I was away, and wow, Incarnation has been busy! Katie and the staff and vestry have done an amazing job establishing new Sunday rhythms; navigating a new lease with Beverley Hills; building trust with the church and preschool with whom we now share space; moving our storage and office into the new building; and so much more, all while continuing to shepherd the congregation through a disorienting time in our nation and through all of life's ups and downs. (Oh, and while moving toward a church plant next year!) This is all such time-consuming, thought-requiring, people-pastoring, budget-impacting, ball-juggling, very hard work. I couldn’t be more grateful for their leadership and wisdom, and I'm glad to be back on the team.
And now, as we look ahead to the fall, we’re facing another big change: starting this Sunday, our service time moves to 9am. (And Beverley Hills moves theirs to 11am — big changes for both of our congregations!)
Incarnation long-timers may remember that we worshipped at 9am for most of 2021; it was COVID, we were worshiping outside, and we shifted in order to beat the summer sun. The time change was a big adjustment then, and it will be big adjustment now, and it’s normal to have all sorts of feelings about it — disappointment, relief, excitement, weariness, anxiety, uncertainty, and more. I’m feeling lots of feelings too!
But no matter how we’re feeling, we will do what we always do as we approach something new and unknown (for better or worse, we’ve had a lot of practice): pray, take a deep breath, and step forward together with courage and patience. God has seen us through every transition, and he will see us through this one, and together we will learn to trust more deeply in his power, provision, and love for us.
As part of refreshing my memory on how we got here (turns out sabbatical amnesia is a real thing), I went back and re-read what we said about this change at a church meeting in May, after we’d learned we would need to leave Drew suddenly. I am sharing an excerpt from that meeting below, because I found it so helpful to retrace the steps and prayers that brought us to this point:
"I mentioned last week that Beverley Hills has offered to change their service time to accommodate us, since we both worship at 10am. This is an incredibly generous concession to our needs! But late last week, their leadership let us know that they wouldn't be ready to make a decision about their new service time before I go on sabbatical. This is a major change for their congregation (as it is for us!), and they understandably need more than 2 weeks to deliberate. So, we will worship at 11:30am all summer long to allow Beverley Hills more time to pray and consider their options. . . .
We are targeting a switch to a new, permanent service time on my first Sunday back, September 7, or on the first Sunday after the fall retreat, October 12 [update: it’s this Sunday, September 7!]. Our most likely service times in the fall and beyond will be either 9am or 11am. . . .
Both times have pros and cons, and those pros and cons vary widely depending on where you live, who's in your household, and what your daily rhythms are. We all have preferences and opinions, but this is Beverley Hills’ decision rather than ours, so for now I simply invite you to pray.
Please pray that God will lead both of our churches to the time slot that will best enable the work he is calling us to do in this next season. That time slot may or may not be the time that we most want for ourselves and our households (and it’s perfectly okay to pray and ask for that, too!) This is a faith-stretching journey for all of us. Let's all start praying and let's see what God does next."
Now we find ourselves on the other side of those prayers — so let’s look together for what God does next as we shift to 9am.
Thank you for your commitment to this church and to one another through each new change. It’s a privilege and a joy to be your pastor, and I can’t wait to see you Sunday. And please reach out for a walk or coffee so I can hear all about your summer! I may be a little slow to respond, but I'm SO looking forward to catching up.
With love and gratitude,
Your well-rested pastor,
Amy