To my St. Peter’s Family:

As you are aware, during the latter part of November and throughout December, I was diagnosed with four different infections over a span of five weeks. With our honorary assistants stepping in during many of those Sundays, I was often able to manage my workload throughout the week, focussing primarily on those things that were priorities. At the end of December, while still struggling with the fourth infection – acute bronchitis – our parish corporation recommended that I go on sick leave for the month of January in order to focus my attention on (1) finding out what was causing these multiple infections, (2) doing whatever was necessary to effectively deal with it, and (3) rebuild my strength.

I am pleased to report that all three of these goals have been accomplished. We now know that each of the infections in November and December for which antibiotics were prescribed were secondary infections. And, with a greater understanding of the root of the problem, the antibiotics prescribed in early January effectively eliminated the primary infection. This, in itself, made a remarkable difference in how I was feeling, and enabled me to then get on with rebuilding my strength.

I wish to thank Margaret Clarke, Colin Dorrian, and Ellen Gould for generously and graciously giving me this gift of time. I also wish to thank you, my parish family, for supporting this decision. I am feeling better and stronger than I have in a long time, and this would not have been possible without this great and surprising gift.

Having shared with you this news regarding my health, there is also a second newsworthy item that I need to share.

In this diocese each parish priest is expected to embark upon a Sabbatical every five years. We are entitled to three months every five years. Some clergy take three months all at one time, leaving the parish completely for that time and returning three months later. Others spread it out over longer periods of time. This all depends on the nature of the study. This coming May, I will have been with you for six years, so have been increasingly aware that I need to make a decision regarding the nature of the Sabbatical I might embark upon. While deliberating over this, l discovered a program at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis which offers a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Studies: Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. This is the only degree of its kind in the world, and would help equip me to: (1) serve as a trainer for CGS, (2) support the ongoing atrium growth at St. Peter’s, (3) make this remarkable experience more accessible to parents, grandparents, and any adults interested, (4) and possibly work with others in helping the wider church within the Anglican context discover this precious gift of Religious formation.

After an intense discernment process, I submitted a proposal to Vestry last fall, and they enthusiastically expressed their endorsement and support of this decision. This would mean that I’d be spreading my Sabbatical time and accumulated study leave over a period of three years, rather than using it all up in one intense three-month period. I applied, and was accepted. Throughout all this, however, there was one detail that needed to be secured before I could share the exciting news with the parish, and this was adequate financial assistance from Aquinas Institute. The program is expensive, and when you add the exchange rate it is – for me - prohibitive. However, since there was a chance that I could receive enough funding to make it more affordable for me to attend, I went ahead and applied for this funding. Unfortunately, I was informed that the funding they could offer was not enough to make this possible for me, so (sadly) I withdrew from the program.

However, more recently, I received a call from Aquinas Institute, informing me that they had revisited my application, and had found a way to provide the funding that I would need in order to re-enter the program. After significant consideration, prayer, and collaboration I have decided to honour vestry’s support and enthusiasm and participate in this program.

Most of this program is done online, which makes it wonderfully accessible, and then three times each year I am required to travel to St. Louis for a four-day intensive. The first of these intensives takes place this coming Tuesday to Saturday. I’ll be
with you next Sunday, following which I am back in the saddle here at St. Peter’s as I am chomping at the bit to be.

This Master’s program is offered only once every four years, so if I am truly called to participate in a way that will also benefit St. Peter’s, this is the one and only opportunity to do so. And, indeed, it is a wonderful opportunity, not just for me, but equally so for St. Peter’s, and possibly the wider Anglican Church.

As I embark upon this, I do so with a commitment to maintaining a healthy balance between my commitments to and with St. Peter’s, my studies, my family, and self care. I ask that you remember me in your prayers as I begin this new chapter in my life and vocation.

Once again, thank you for the gift of this past month, which has enabled me to return to you in good health, and commit to this course of studies that will help each of us grow in faith.

In gratitude and love,

Donna