Greetings from our new Associate Rector, Marc Vance

My dear (new) friends of St. Andrew’s: Greetings in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

I know Anne has given you something of an introduction, but as the time for me to join you quickly draws close (March 1), I wanted to drop a note to you myself.  I am so looking forward to beginning ministry with and among you!  From a full and dedicated community of faith to facilities and resources, there seems to be unlimited potential for all we can accomplish for God’s kingdom come on earth.

Ministerially (my spell-check says this isn’t a word!) speaking, with Anne’s blessing I’ll be focusing time and energy on a number of things, not the least of which is Divine Love (it is the first word out of Jesus’ mouth when questioned about the greatest commandment, as well as his parting counsel to the disciples) as the foundational standard against which every decision made, every action taken, should be measured.  With Love as that foundational principle, the Church is uniquely poised to embody the imperatives of our Baptismal Covenant to seek and serve Christ in all persons, respecting the dignity of each person as made in the image of God.  Other areas include the sacredness and centrality of our Common worship; facilitating opportunities for our children and youth, as well as adults, to be ever-deeply formed in the Faith through prayer, education, and activity in our local, diocesan and national church contexts (Episcopal Youth Event in July, anyone?); continuing enthusiastically to encourage offering one another the ministry of presence in pastoral care; and with the Church finding herself in the midst of a seismic cultural shift where participation in a faith community is no longer the predominant social expectation, embracing an entrepreneurial spirit and exploring creative, even innovative, ways to engage ourselves and our communities with the good news of the Gospel.  I am especially excited about the potential to (no pun intended) build on the foundation of the good work that has been done to reimagine the school building as an Outreach Center for the people of St. Andrew’s to offer truly impactful ministry in the Newport News area. 

I’ve also been exploring a lot of the Newport News area for coffee shops, Taekwondo schools, places to connect with the natural world, and other venues of interest (arts, music, culture…; real seafood, too!).  At this writing, I’m not exactly sure where I’ll be living yet, but I’m not worried about it; I really appreciate Chris Robinson’s help with this. With all the logistics of selling a house, moving, and for Leticia, securing her RN/DNP licensure in Virginia, she and Elizabeth (who is near completing her Child Development Associate degree) will be joining us sometime later.  Hopefully at some point you’ll get to meet my older daughter, Shelby, who lives in Florida, is a Disney Cast Member and YMCA lifeguard/instructor, and is working on her master’s degree in medical information systems; and my youngest daughter, Rebecca, who is a sophomore at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, studying Speech and Language Pathology (but who is making lots of noise about transferring to a school in Florida, the state where she was born).

So there you have it in a nutshell – as if we can actually keep the Spirit thus contained!  Still, I am looking forward to joining Anne and the staff, and getting to know everyone at St. Andrew’s as we work together to draw people into a deeper knowledge of, love of, and service to the Lord.  See you on March 1!

Peace and blessings,

Marc