{"id":738,"date":"2012-05-31T19:37:51","date_gmt":"2012-05-31T23:37:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=738"},"modified":"2012-05-31T19:42:22","modified_gmt":"2012-05-31T23:42:22","slug":"time-of-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/time-of-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"Time of Transition"},"content":{"rendered":"

I am not one to like change but I also believe change is a necessary part of life.\u00a0 There can be no growth without change.<\/p>\n

Change has been a regular part of my life since I left my job with the New York State Department of Transportation to begin studies to become a priest.\u00a0 That was twelve years ago.\u00a0 It began with two years spent in Rochester while I studied philosophy and religion at St. John Fisher College and lived at Becket Hall with other men doing the same studies.\u00a0 I went from living alone to living in a house with six men.\u00a0 Then, I went to Theological College in Washington DC for seminary for two years.\u00a0 That was graduate school and living in a seminary with about 70 other men.\u00a0\u00a0 Then I came back to Rochester for a pastoral year ministering full-time in a parish and living in a rectory with the pastor.\u00a0 Then, back to Washington, DC for my final two years of seminary.\u00a0 During seminary there were also various ministries that changed each year.<\/p>\n

After ordination, my first assignment was at St. Mary’s<\/a> in Elmira.\u00a0 I served two years with one pastor before he was assigned to another parish.\u00a0 Then, I served one more year at St. Mary’s with the new pastor before I was reassigned to Our Lady of the Lakes<\/a>.\u00a0 After just one year at Our Lady of the Lakes a new pastor arrived.\u00a0 In five years as a priest I have served in two (very different) parishes with four different pastors.\u00a0 Lots of change!<\/p>\n

Soon it will be time for another change.\u00a0 Regular readers of my blog know that I have been named as the new pastor of Immaculate Conception <\/a>Church in Ithaca, NY.\u00a0 While the official change does not happen until June 26th, unofficially\u00a0the transition\u00a0has already begun.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks after I received the appointment from the bishop, I went to Ithaca for a tour of the parish and to begin to learn about the parish.\u00a0 I have received emails and blog comments from several parishioners.\u00a0 Most of these were simple words of welcome but a few with about summer activities.\u00a0 There is a new hiring in progress in which I have been involved.\u00a0 All this while I continue to minister at Our Lady of the Lakes.<\/p>\n

With time growing shorter, my ministry at Our Lady of the Lakes is tapering off as I am not planning for new activities here but there are still plenty of Masses to say, funerals and weddings, and I am trying to make sure someone is aware of the various tasks I have done here so it can be a smooth transition to the new parochial vicar here.<\/p>\n

What is really on my mind centers not just on the change of parishes but the change of position.\u00a0 At Our Lady of the Lakes, I have served as the Parochial Vicar.\u00a0 For those unfamiliar with this term, it means I am a priest serving under a pastor.\u00a0 I can do all the same priestly functions as the pastor but he is in charge.<\/p>\n

When I arrive at Immaculate Conception Church, I will be the pastor.\u00a0 I will be the one charged with the direct responsibility of the parish and the spiritual care of the parishioners.\u00a0 There will be administration and building maintenance to tend to but God and the people is what it is all about.<\/p>\n

It is not a responsibility I take lightly.\u00a0 I have been thinking and praying (a lot) about it.\u00a0 I’m not going in with some grand plan.\u00a0 I will need to listen to the people and to God<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 Ultimately, it is all about helping people to deepen their faith and relationship with God.<\/p>\n

Of course, at the same time, I am changing assignments, all the parishioners in both parishes are going through change too.\u00a0 That change means something different for each person.<\/p>\n

It’s a lot to think about.\u00a0 That’s why as I prepare for this change, I’m putting my faith and trust in God.<\/p>\n

Peace,<\/p>\n

Fr. Jeff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am not one to like change but I also believe change is a necessary part of life.\u00a0 There can be no growth without change. Change has been a regular part of my life since I left my job with the New York State Department of Transportation to begin studies to become a priest.\u00a0 That …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘Time of Transition’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pMTPk-bU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=738"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":741,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/738\/revisions\/741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}