Dear Rob,
Do you read this while you are on sabbatical? If so, know that we miss you!
Things are going well here. Rachel is handling your white collar duties with skill and grace beyond her years. It can't be easy stepping into this role so early in her ministry, but you wouldn't know it. Jim is adding his well seasoned brilliance on his occasional visits to the pulpit and attendance is up for the summer time so they must be doing something right. Phil is keeping us organized with his usual blend of thoroughness and humor, Tommy and Angela have everything looking spiffy inside and out, and of course we all know that Betsy could run the whole place by herself if necessary.
We celebrated our first "cat's away" Sunday with a visit from the Cathedral Brass on Trinity Sunday and followed that with a wildly successful Vacation Bible School, again thanks to Rachel's hard work and a team of wonderful volunteers. Now we are hopefully settling in to the quieter flow of the summer months and looking forward to some vacation time. I'm thinking next summer might be a good time for the rest of us to take a three month sabbatical.
One of the signs of a good leader is to have that which they oversee be able to continue well without them. We are glad that you have this time to reflect and refresh and are pleased to report that your ministry here continues well in your absence. Even so, we look forward to your return.