Meet the Rector
Let me say up front that if you really want to “meet the rector,” you should, well, meet the Rector. Come to Saint Paul’s, and let’s get acquainted. Or send me an e-mail and we can arrange to meet. Or call me at 518-755-9716, and at least we can talk by phone.
The reason is that factoids — not just dry stuff like age and education, but even brief summaries of experience, belief, values, and so on — tend to reduce a complex human being to a list of adjectives, any one of which has way too much power to keep a relationship from ever starting. That’s doubly sad, because the richest relationships are the most unlikely ones. I hope I have a chance to invest in getting to know you, but at this point I have no say in that. It’s your choice entirely. If you click away because of some detail about me or Saint Paul’s that you see — or don’t see — on this site, and we never meet, well then, both of us will be poorer for it.
Still, much as I hope you won’t leave without saying hello, I also hope you won’t pin all your hopes or expectations on anything attractive you find, either. Those, too, are limited. I have way more unfulfilled aspirations than proud accomplishments, and plenty of failure to repent of every day. What I can offer, though, if you decide to get to know me, is a glimpse into what my savior, Jesus Christ, has been doing for me and in me, and at Saint Paul’s, and in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany of which we are part. If you have a relationship with Jesus now, we already have lots to talk about. If you don’t, I hope you will let me introduce you.
I have been getting to know him for more than 40 years now (not all of them here in Columbia County). He, of course, has known me since before I even wanted to know him, and he knows me better than I know myself. To my amazement, he faithfully stays with me, no matter how hopeless and stuck I feel, no matter how poorly I live or love. Day by day he raises me up; he heals, consoles, teaches, admonishes, purifies, and disciplines me. He tells me the truth, whether I find it comforting or distasteful. And he offers me every chance to repent, reconcile, rejoice in his mercy, and start over. The better I get to know him — the more I accept the grace of his sovereignty over my life, beliefs, and choices — the freer I am from knee-jerk fear and anxiety, even in the midst of trial and distress. He endured rejection, betrayal, and painful death so that my own suffering would not be inevitably endless. He did that so that I can live, starting each moment, toward an endless glory. He is perfecting in me the person he created me to be, in a universe that he and the Holy Spirit are restoring to his Father’s original design.
As a result, circumstances no longer control me as much as they used to. Even while following Jesus, I have been up and down, prosperous and poor, beloved and lonely, healthy and near death, joyful and sorrowful, strong and weak. I don’t much care for roller coasters, but riding with him, I have to admit I have never, ever been bored.
Jesus wants a close relationship with you as well. He wants you to see past whatever you are stuck in, or stuck with. He wants to give you his own way of seeing, loving, and living. He wants to share his way, his truth, and his life — his very own self — with you. He wants you to live a life so abundant it overflows beyond the limits of your current body, mind, and heart, your current ways of thinking and feeling.
So by all means, come meet the Rector and people of Saint Paul’s. Come to deepen, or begin, your own relationship with the living One who always has and always will know and love you far better than you know and love yourself, the One who created you and destined you for perfection.
A holy adventure awaits. I am praying for you, hoping we will meet soon, and waiting to hear from you.
Tom +
P.S.: This may help tide you over until we meet:
Born and raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts in 1954 (do the math), I concentrated in Slavic languages and linguistics at the University of Virginia (B.A., 1976; M.A., 1978). A secular career as a translator led me to the U.S. Department of State, first as a translator-reviewer of German and the Slavic languages, and ultimately as a Senior Analyst in the Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Treaty Affairs. After graduating cum laude from Nashotah House seminary in Wisconsin, Bishop Love ordained me in 2009. I then served as Associate Rector of All Saints’ Church, Chevy Chase, Maryland, until I accepted the Vestry’s call to become Rector of Saint Paul’s in late 2014. My wife, Judith, and I have been married for more than 30 years; we have two spectacular grown children.
I could try to give you a taste of what I believe about the Bible, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, doctrine, the sacraments, liturgy, prayer, the nature, purpose, structure, and authority of (and in) the church; politics; sports; why I wear that funny hat; and various other thorny ethical questions or hot-button issues. But those are precisely the areas where pithy quips produce misleading caricatures. Alas, longer, more accurate statements are too dense with nuance and riddled with enticing off-ramps onto rabbit trails. You and I will have to explore them together as we get to know each other. Relationship comes first.
Other than that, what can I say? I spend most of my time trying to let the Holy Spirit melt and mold me into the person, priest, rector, husband, father, son, brother, and friend God wants me to be. The secular “liturgy” I most enjoy participating in is cooking, and my taste in entertainment runs toward narratives with mind-bending plot twists, including, but not limited to, the Bible. I think God smells like incense, and I have been known to enjoy listening to Gregorian Chant and “Weird Al” Yankovich.
The reason is that factoids — not just dry stuff like age and education, but even brief summaries of experience, belief, values, and so on — tend to reduce a complex human being to a list of adjectives, any one of which has way too much power to keep a relationship from ever starting. That’s doubly sad, because the richest relationships are the most unlikely ones. I hope I have a chance to invest in getting to know you, but at this point I have no say in that. It’s your choice entirely. If you click away because of some detail about me or Saint Paul’s that you see — or don’t see — on this site, and we never meet, well then, both of us will be poorer for it.
Still, much as I hope you won’t leave without saying hello, I also hope you won’t pin all your hopes or expectations on anything attractive you find, either. Those, too, are limited. I have way more unfulfilled aspirations than proud accomplishments, and plenty of failure to repent of every day. What I can offer, though, if you decide to get to know me, is a glimpse into what my savior, Jesus Christ, has been doing for me and in me, and at Saint Paul’s, and in the Episcopal Diocese of Albany of which we are part. If you have a relationship with Jesus now, we already have lots to talk about. If you don’t, I hope you will let me introduce you.
I have been getting to know him for more than 40 years now (not all of them here in Columbia County). He, of course, has known me since before I even wanted to know him, and he knows me better than I know myself. To my amazement, he faithfully stays with me, no matter how hopeless and stuck I feel, no matter how poorly I live or love. Day by day he raises me up; he heals, consoles, teaches, admonishes, purifies, and disciplines me. He tells me the truth, whether I find it comforting or distasteful. And he offers me every chance to repent, reconcile, rejoice in his mercy, and start over. The better I get to know him — the more I accept the grace of his sovereignty over my life, beliefs, and choices — the freer I am from knee-jerk fear and anxiety, even in the midst of trial and distress. He endured rejection, betrayal, and painful death so that my own suffering would not be inevitably endless. He did that so that I can live, starting each moment, toward an endless glory. He is perfecting in me the person he created me to be, in a universe that he and the Holy Spirit are restoring to his Father’s original design.
As a result, circumstances no longer control me as much as they used to. Even while following Jesus, I have been up and down, prosperous and poor, beloved and lonely, healthy and near death, joyful and sorrowful, strong and weak. I don’t much care for roller coasters, but riding with him, I have to admit I have never, ever been bored.
Jesus wants a close relationship with you as well. He wants you to see past whatever you are stuck in, or stuck with. He wants to give you his own way of seeing, loving, and living. He wants to share his way, his truth, and his life — his very own self — with you. He wants you to live a life so abundant it overflows beyond the limits of your current body, mind, and heart, your current ways of thinking and feeling.
So by all means, come meet the Rector and people of Saint Paul’s. Come to deepen, or begin, your own relationship with the living One who always has and always will know and love you far better than you know and love yourself, the One who created you and destined you for perfection.
A holy adventure awaits. I am praying for you, hoping we will meet soon, and waiting to hear from you.
Tom +
P.S.: This may help tide you over until we meet:
Born and raised on the North Shore of Massachusetts in 1954 (do the math), I concentrated in Slavic languages and linguistics at the University of Virginia (B.A., 1976; M.A., 1978). A secular career as a translator led me to the U.S. Department of State, first as a translator-reviewer of German and the Slavic languages, and ultimately as a Senior Analyst in the Office of the Assistant Legal Adviser for Treaty Affairs. After graduating cum laude from Nashotah House seminary in Wisconsin, Bishop Love ordained me in 2009. I then served as Associate Rector of All Saints’ Church, Chevy Chase, Maryland, until I accepted the Vestry’s call to become Rector of Saint Paul’s in late 2014. My wife, Judith, and I have been married for more than 30 years; we have two spectacular grown children.
I could try to give you a taste of what I believe about the Bible, God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, doctrine, the sacraments, liturgy, prayer, the nature, purpose, structure, and authority of (and in) the church; politics; sports; why I wear that funny hat; and various other thorny ethical questions or hot-button issues. But those are precisely the areas where pithy quips produce misleading caricatures. Alas, longer, more accurate statements are too dense with nuance and riddled with enticing off-ramps onto rabbit trails. You and I will have to explore them together as we get to know each other. Relationship comes first.
Other than that, what can I say? I spend most of my time trying to let the Holy Spirit melt and mold me into the person, priest, rector, husband, father, son, brother, and friend God wants me to be. The secular “liturgy” I most enjoy participating in is cooking, and my taste in entertainment runs toward narratives with mind-bending plot twists, including, but not limited to, the Bible. I think God smells like incense, and I have been known to enjoy listening to Gregorian Chant and “Weird Al” Yankovich.