Clergy Epistle
Beloved in Christ,
Grace and peace to you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are blessed with a vibrant and thriving parish that has been planted in Annapolis since 1692. At St. Anne’s, our mission is clear: to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ by enlarging the circle through Building, Engaging, Evangelizing, and Forming disciples of Jesus. Our vestry has amplified this by committing to lead St. Anne’s into the future—grounded in Scripture, guided by the Spirit—as together we Proclaim the Good News (Luke 4:18), Act justly and with mercy (Micah 6:8), and Love others as Christ loved us (John 13:34).
On a nuts-and-bolts level, to live fully into this mission, we must deepen our common language and strengthen our shared grammar of discipleship. To that end, several members of our parish staff will soon begin training in a program called “Shaping the Parish,” offered by the Order of the Ascension, a Benedictine religious community within The Episcopal Church. Having personally completed the first year, it is a delight to invite a staff team to be trained.
What is Shaping the Parish?
Shaping the Parish is a two-year training program that integrates the wisdom of Benedictine spirituality with tested methods of parish development. Its goal is both straightforward and profound: to shape parishes that are characterized by prayer and service—parishes of adoration, awe, and service—while making use of the best methods of parish development and growth.
This program invites participants to see the parish not merely as an institution, but as a spiritual community with a sanctifying purpose: to worship God, to be formed in Scripture and tradition, and to bear witness in the world to Christ’s reconciling love.
How will this affect St. Anne’s?
A team of staff members will receive direct training in the modules of Shaping the Parish and in turn will share this learning with the wider staff team.
It is our vision that the staff team will also help train the Vestry in selected modules, ensuring that our leadership is rooted in the same vocabulary, rhythms, and practices.
This direction is inspired by our clergy’s own commitment to spiritual formation, especially through the Rule of St. Benedict, which the priest staff is studying and praying together under the guidance of our spiritual director, Brother James Dowd, OSB.
In this way, we are seeking to model prayerful leadership that supports and strengthens lay ministry and vocation, always pointing us back to our mission: enlarging the circle and restoring all people to unity in Christ.
For your reflection, I commend to you the Collect for Shaping the Parish:
Shaping the Parish Collect
O God, you call us to freedom and responsibility within communities of love;
May our parishes increase in adoration and awe, guide us to real life,
and nurture us as instruments of your love to the world,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
As we embark on this next step in our common life, let us hold fast to the truth that God is shaping us even now—molding us by grace, forming us by Scripture, and calling us to love in Christ’s name.
Yours in Christ,
The Rev. Manoj Mathew Zacharia, Ph.D.
Rector, St. Anne’s Parish