Why am I here? Or rather… why did God put me here?

This is question that I think about quite a lot. There are some easy answers and there are also some answers to this that are a bit more difficult to nail down. Let me start by saying that I am a lifelong Episcopalian, although there were gaps in my journey where I was not involved in any church. In between these little “pauses,” I worked as a music director at a number of different churches. However nothing in those experiences seemed to stick - either musically or spiritually. Then I came to St. Anne’s.

Initially, when I came to St. Anne’s (by this time I was attending church and this is where Molly and I were married…), I was planning on staying a few months to help the choir and music program over a difficult time. What I realized right off was what a special place St. Anne’s is.  I have often said that when I first came here my secular world of music-making informed my sacred or spiritual life and journey.  I was shocked one day to discover that those priorities had shifted and that my church life was the driver of what I did in my secular world.

I think that God took me where I was - perhaps a bit cynical and a bit too sure of what I thought of the world and the role of the church in it - and set me on different path.  This path is why I am here. I believe that the signs and reasons for things are all around us.  We need to choose to not just to see them but also to accept what they are trying to show us. In all honesty, I did not go easily on this phase of my journey, but it was the right path and it gave me the opportunity to share music and my gifts with our parish and my colleagues in the music program. I can’t imagine my life without St. Anne’s.

J. Ernest Green, Music Director & Choirmaster, St. Anne’s