We’ll Never Walk Alone

Dear Friends,

This Sunday’s gospel brings us back to the table - on the night before Jesus died - where he gives his disciples a new commandment: “Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” It’s a high calling. And not an abstract one. By this point in the story, Jesus has already knelt to wash their feet, shared bread with those who would betray and deny him, and prepared them for what is to come.

It’s in this moment that Jesus makes love the defining mark of discipleship - not a feeling, not a theory, but a practice. The kind of love that listens closely, serves quietly, and risks everything to include those who’ve been left out.

We hear a similar story this week in Acts, when Peter stands before the leaders in Jerusalem to defend his decision to enter the home of Gentiles and share a meal - an act that violated Jewish purity codes and long-standing social boundaries. “Who was I to hinder God?” he says, after the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentile believers just as it had on the first disciples. It’s a radical moment of Spirit-led inclusion—one that forever expands the boundaries of the early church. And it reminds us that faithfulness sometimes requires redrawing the lines we thought were fixed.

At St. John’s, we are trying to hold that tension well. We want to be faithful to Jesus, who welcomed outsiders but also called people to transformation. And we’re also navigating what it means to do the right thing while remaining a place where people feel comfortable and safe. In a time when public trust is frayed, political rhetoric is charged, and even the church’s witness is being tested, we are asked to stay grounded - not just in belief, but in belonging.

This weekend, we celebrate a joyful moment in our life together as we witness and bless the marriage of our beloved friends, August Butler and Adi Dynar. It’s a beautiful sign of love and covenant - and all are invited to share in the celebration.

Then, beginning May 19, I will step away for six weeks of medical leave. As you know, I’m preparing for surgery that I’ve needed for some time, and I feel immense gratitude for the support, prayers, and care I’ve already received. We are blessed to welcome back the Rev. Dr. Jenny Montgomery as our Priest Locum Tenens during this time. Jenny, along with our staff, vestry, and lay leaders, will walk with you in wisdom and love.

So, as we move into this next stretch of the journey, I want to leave you with this: we don’t walk alone. The Spirit still leads us. The table is still open. And love—love in action, love that serves, love that listens - is still the sign by which we are known.

With love and gratitude,

Amelie+