In Gratitude
I’ve always found goodbyes to be especially challenging, which is in part why I’ve waited until the last possible moment to write these words. It’s a combination, I think, of feeling overwhelmed by the task of trying to express what these past few years of working at All Souls have meant to me, and the recognition that in leaving this place, things will change. I won’t get to experience the quiet comfort of running into Marilyn, or Jill, or Alan as I make my rounds throughout the property. I won’t get to belly laugh with Emily over a particularly slap-happy moment of a Zoom call about web design, or stop with Phil to admire the robins alighting the birch trees outside our office windows, or linger in the threshold of Dent’s doorway discussing our callings, or hug Breneta in the Jortyard (™ Annie Rovzar 2022, let my legacy live on), or pause to chat with some of Jordan Court residents about the Berkeley of their youth.
As I sit here recalling so many wonderful moments from my time here, for as much as I’m sad to be leaving, above all, I feel so grateful to have walked with this community over the past few years.
I stepped into this position just a few months shy of the pandemic. For everything that was unstable about our world, looking back, I realize that one of the few things I came to consistently count on during those uncertain years was how people showed up at All Souls, with and for each other, global pandemic and all. It was something of a miracle, really, to see all the forces of this community that rallied to make church happen when just waking up into the fog of another interminable pandemic day felt like a feat. If that’s not evidence of the Spirit at work, I don’t know what is.
I’ve been so touched by the kindness, generosity, and commitment of All Soulsians during my time here, and for all the ways you’ve each made working here a total delight. I want to thank Jill Churchman and Kaki Logan for lending a helping hand in so many different ways. From organizing the Ole’ Diggers to clear out the Parish House to filling in for me when I’ve been away, it was a blessing to have your support. Martin Ortega, thank you for making my job so much easier and for being a true steward of our property. Thanks to Charlie Myers for rescuing me from the insanity of trying to figure out how to set up the internet in our new offices. Thank you to Suzanne Nelson for being at the ready to tend to our landscaping. Thank you to every parishioner who stopped by the office and brightened my day with a visit. It has been a joy to serve as your administrative assistant!
To the staff: Emily, Phil, Maggie, Liz, Jamie, Dent, Steve, Scott, Betty (and Michael!), thank you for your patience and grace with the countless bulletin typos–more seriously though, thank you for caring so much about this community and each other, for making me feel so at home on the team, and for making work such a meaningful and hilarious place to be. I will miss you all dearly.
I’m headed to the Redwoods Monastery at the beginning of August for a month-long monastic internship program to discern where God might be calling me next. Lately I keep thinking of lines from this Levertov poem about annunciations, “those moments when roads of light and storm open from darkness”, and I find myself at such a moment, eager and anxious and trusting that God is preparing something new in me.
Please keep me in your prayers, and know that I will be holding you all in my heart and prayers as well. May this community continue to keep turning towards God’s light, growing in communion with one another along the way.
One last thing–I would like to take this opportunity to officially instate myself as the unofficial Camino companion in residence (well, let’s call it a low residency for the time being!) I’ve loved chatting with many of you who’ve made the journey or plan to, and am happy to continue being a resource for anyone looking to make the journey.
My personal email is annierovzar@gmail.com, don’t hesitate to reach out, for Camino talk or otherwise!
In gratitude,
Annie