Letter from the Rector
But the News Stays the Same
The infamous Yogi Berra was once quoted as saying (he really said this one, his website says so), “The future ain’t what it used to be.” Though that can be hard to argue with, I’d like to offer another famous pearl of Yogi’s. I’ve been sifting through old parish newsletters and in issue after issue, “It’s like déjà vu, all over again.”
Questions about membership? A study of the impacts of the canons on the definition of membership were written about. Again. CDSP looking for more support? You bet. (the regional average support was 9 cents per communicant per year) And unbelievably, on February 15th, 1970, as part of the, “Festival of Flicks” the featured film was…“King of Hearts,” the very same film we just screened this past July 22nd as part of our “Reel Theology” series. In a very surreal way, many of the names have changed but much of the news of All Souls Parish has stayed the same. Even as change swirled around the corner of Cedar & Spruce (oh, the lament of the shifting meanings of words of the day, e.g. hippie, grass, the pill, fuzz, square, swinger, bread), some things stayed the same: the All Souls Parish newsletter continued to roll off the presses describing the lives of followers of Christ in North Berkeley.
And yes, times have continued to change. What began as the Crusader changed (thankfully) to the not-so-memorable Parishioner before in 1972 taking the name you read today, the Pathfinder. And no longer do we print most of the Pathfinders that we publish (the count for this issue was 8). Mimeographs have given way to duplicators, rulers to Adobe InDesign. And finally, with this issue, our Parish Newsletter will take its next step into the future––though just as it used to be.
In the course of the past year it has come clear to me that the monthly Pathfinder wasn’t serving the communication needs of the parish. Just as Paul needed to rapidly (by courier) follow up with those willful Corinthians, we were realizing a need to quickly send the news of the life of All Souls in ways that people will be most likely to read it. Too often the monthly Pathfinder’s deadline was too far out (not like in the 70’s), or had just past. Simply put, a body that meets on a weekly basis needs information just as often. This, of course, is not a new idea. Starting in the late 60’s and extending into the early 70’s, for this very reason, the parish newsletter (then called the forgettable All Souls Parishioner) was indeed a weekly publication. Consider this a return to former glory, with color photos, links to the google calendar and donation by paypal.
So be on the lookout, for on August 18th and every week thereafter, the Pathfinder will be crossing the internet to your inbox (and on our website, allsoulsparish.org), bringing with it the reflections of staff and parishioners, and events of All Souls Parish and news of All Soulsians throughout the world. It will once again, week in and week out provide us with a snapshot of life at All Souls, in the Diocese of California and the world beyond. At least until we start streaming video newsletters.
Peace,
Phil+
