Dedication

Today is the 82nd anniversary of the dedication of St. Ignatius' Church. On February 8, 1925 Bp. Manning presided at the dedication which was to the glory of God, in honour of St. Ignatius, and in memory of Fr. Arthur Ritchie, rector 1884-1914.

I finally got back up to Cooperstown the day after Christmas and got the Zabriskie photos of Fr. Ritchie copied. The picture above was taken in the summer of 1900 in Cooperstown during a visit to the Zabriskie summer home there. I'm working on a web page now about the Zabriskies and will elaborate more in that space soon. I've been learning Dreamweaver the past few weeks and have taken over updating the Church website, which has been fun but a steep learning curve. Our previous webmaster has left the parish so I have been honored to try and fill in until we can find someone who actually knows what they're doing.

I'm happy to report the West End door has now gotten a coat of marine spar varnish and the new lantern has arrived and awaits installation. The new sign should be here in a couple of weeks and this project can finally be finished, more than 3 months from when it started. It has been a hard fought battle but I think the finished product was worth the effort. I hope to turn our attention to the Common Room next and get that place renovated this year as well as the Sunday School room, not to mention the garden area.

I'm glad I have some time off from the vestry at least, having reached my term limit for at least a year. I'm returning to altar duty this Sunday for the Solemnity of the Dedication, so that will be nice. I have enjoyed coming in late, sitting at the back and generally being not at all concerned about who's doing what at the altar. But it has had its downside, especially having to watch the woman who makes a big scene lighting candles at the shrines and touching every saint in the house twice before prostrating herself before the altar. That is a bit distracting. At least when I'm serving I can pretty much totally miss anything like that, although there are other types of distractions up there. What I'd really like is a private booth up in the gallery, but that wouldn't quite be church, would it?

We also give thanks that the Profile has been filed and the search for a new rector has officially begun. On this anniversary of the Dedication, I pray that God prepare us all to discern His will for the ninth rector of St. Ignatius.