Letter from the Wardens

Note from Amy: Each year, our wardens write an Epiphany letter reflecting on the past year. Below is the letter from our 2025 wardens Katie Foran and Will Montague. They've had their work cut out for them! I am so deeply grateful for their counsel, wisdom, courage, and shepherding care over this unexpectedly tumultuous past year.

In Sunday's sermon, I encouraged us to "treasure these things in our hearts" (Luke 2:51) as we learn what it means to be a mother church. Our wardens have done exactly that. I am encouraged by their thoughtful words as we enter a new year and new season of our life together. Happy Epiphany! - Amy

Commissioning Holy Comforter last Sunday

Dear friends, 

We have been through many ups and downs this year. It's prudent to note that this is nothing new for our community. If you've read previous Wardens' letters, there’s a not-insignificant trend of upheaval and change in Incarnation’s life thus far. 

This year may have been harder — at least for some of us. Some folks have noted that they felt an unease equivalent to the early days of the pandemic. Perhaps, more than last year, this year's tumultuousness felt deeply personal. How could it not, with so many of our church members experiencing job loss and enduring the longest shutdown in our nation's history? 

And yet, when we look at what has been happening in our old church vans, school auditoriums, and historic neighborhood church buildings, we can see a clear and steady movement of the Holy Spirit. 

At every vestry meeting, Amy has asked members to take turns sharing testimonies. Admittedly, for some of us, giving testimony is a rusty habit — one we’ve avoided due to previous church experiences in which testifying felt like a competition, where the most dramatic or traumatic tales “won” as the most compelling evidence of God’s hand. 

Thankfully, sharing testimonies to each other in vestry has not emulated that toxic trait. Instead, we’ve shared tender and honest stories of how God continues to call us to himself despite our misgivings, frustrations, and frailty. As Katie Hamlin put it in one meeting, recalling the lyrics of an Andrew Peterson song, we’ve been "seized by the power of a great affection," and our recounting of our histories allows us to see this affection more clearly. 

Friends, the great affection of God for the people of Incarnation and Holy Comforter has been so evident this year. So, permit us to testify to you and collectively notice the specific and local ways God is showing up in our midst. 

Discernment as a discipline to counter our need for control 

Throughout this year, the vestry and broader church entered a season of discernment in response to what we saw unfolding in our Maryland community. Guided by Amy and Katie, we chose prayer, listening, and responsiveness over urgency or force. We began meeting in Maryland as a physical act of faith — and boy, did we see the tender leaves and vibrant growth in a neighborhood community bound by love and a thirst to know Jesus.   

Our staff carefully planned for Amy’s sabbatical, but no one could have anticipated having to leave Drew Elementary in May. How providential, then, that we had already formed a relationship with Beverley Hills Community United Methodist, which had generously welcomed us during Holy Week — and now into a true church home, where sound equipment and even miniature Catechesis of the Good Shepherd tabernacle replicas have a home.   

Amid financial uncertainty, we cared for one another through the newly established Benevolence Fund while continuing to support our outreach partners, ending the year 17% above budget.   

We are a discerning community — one that still acts quickly in response to needs within and beyond our church. And while we are not 100% certain of the future, we are faithful.

Listening to and speaking of the Spirit's movement through metaphor   

At Incarnation, we continue to listen for and share encouragement received from the Spirit of God. And, like Jesus, we especially love the power of a good metaphor. Here’s an incomplete, non-exhaustive list of the metaphors we nurtured and spoken to each other:

• Mutual Flourishing: named as an infinity loop, not a hierarchy — sending and receiving, hosting and being hosted, are reciprocal. 

  The language of Mutual Flourishing moved this year from concept to lived practice. Summer lay preachers reminded us that the Spirit speaks through many voices. The host congregation of Beverley Hills showed us what mutual blessing looks like. Financial generosity emerged not from abundance, but from trust.  

  
  

• The Spirit's Movement: as a truck rolling down a hill, we clung on as its momentum pulled us beyond our control. 
  

  This year, we have learned — and continue to learn — what it means to be carried by the Spirit rather than attempting to steer it.  
  

• Old Growth Forest: this fall, through both sermons and the spiritual practice of retreating as a community, we have been called to strengthen and grow tall through mutual support, remembering our shared origins of faith.  
  

• Christ as a Mother Hen: the Maryland community named this vision of Christ as their recurring theme which led to their name Holy Comforter. Many of them have spoken of how they feel called to be protective and nurturing presence to their neighbors amid uncertainty and sorrow.  This particular view of Christ has been a key exhortation Incarnation as the sending church as we hold the holy tension of joy and grief. There have been births and deaths, hardship and provision, beginnings and endings.
  

And now, as the Advent-Christmas season draws to a close, the joy and support we’ve cultivated doesn’t feel fragile. As we continue to pass the Peace too long and the fellowship hall overflows with baked goods, we have not denied the reality of darkness, but we have continued to cultivate the resilient joy of the Spirit. 

So, Incarnation and Holy Comforter, may this testimony of shared faith and growth fortify us for whatever happens in 2026.

Your 2025 wardens,

Katie Foran and Will Montague