Hello St. Ann & the Holy Trinity,
So what is this? What I am doing here? What are you doing
here? This is a blog, of course! We have a number of ways of communicating with you all
email eblasts, the newsletter that is mailed out to all of you, the
announcement sheet in the bulletin each week, and through preaching. But this
blog is meant to be something a little different. It is a place to muse about
news events, spirituality, what it’s like to be a new clergy person, prayer practices,
share what books or articles I’ve been interested in, a place to share my
thoughts as I prepare for a sermon, and a place to enter into conversation with
you all. My hope is that this blog might become an opening for some interesting
discussions.
So what can I start with here today? Maybe an introduction,
and a short list of what is on my mind this week.
I am Sarah Kooperkamp, an assistant priest and Lilly Fellow
here at St. Ann & the Holy Trinity. I was ordained at the Cathedral of St.
John the Divine on September 29th. My sponsoring parish was St. Luke
in the Fields. My time as a seminarian took me to a number of different types
of congregations, from a chaplaincy at NYU, to a small upstate parish that
could fit at most 50 people in the church, to a large cathedral in Minneapolis.
It was an exciting journey, and I am very glad that it has left me off in
Brooklyn Heights for now. I find the challenges of our congregation to an
exciting opportunity, and find our common worship to be nourishing. I feel very
well fed by our congregation (sometimes literally!). I did most of my seminary
time (my MDiv) at Union Theological Seminary where I studied both Hebrew and
Greek and got very into Biblical Studies. I have returned to Union to take
classes the last few years, but my interests seem to have moved towards
Christian Ethics. I think I was a little scared off of theology when I was
first a student at Union. My grandfather was a theology professor, and my
father has a phD in theology—so as a 23 year old it seemed better to choose a
field a little out of their expertise. But as I got older I have become more
interested in Ethics…. In fact, I am totally salivating at this course
description for a class in the spring:
Kant, Hegel and Modern Theology:“ This course studies the thought of
Immanuel Kant and G.W.F. Hegel within their social and historical contexts and
the influence of Kantian and Hegelian idealism in modern theology. It will
focus on the epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and philosophy of religion of
Kant and Hegel and the impact of their thought on Schleiermacher, Schelling,
Kierkegaard, Troeltsch, Whitehead, Barth and Tillich.”
Okay, well salivating might be taking it a step too far, but still it
seems like an awful lot of fun. So that right there probably tells you a lot
about me. Now that you learned that, want to keep reading? Still with me? Okay,
phew.
Maybe it’s best to write about some lighter things, like what’s on the
list for this week. This week I will be working on a sermon for this the first
Sunday of Advent, assisting Fr. John with any preparations for the memorial
service on Saturday, thanking everyone who helped out with our Sheepshead Bay
Thanksgiving, brainstorming about how we can continue to be helpful to that
community (any one got any brilliant ideas?), re-working our Early Church Song
Books, worrying that Advent is (already!) getting away from me, preparing for
Sunday School (got to remember to pick up some popsicle sticks!), finding an able and willing photographer for
taking pictures of singing children, and I have got to re-do significant parts
of our lay rota. It’s not too crazy a week, at least on paper, but if there is
one thing I have learned at St. Ann’s it’s that the week seems manageable on
Monday afternoons, when I am at home, taking it easy, but by Tuesday afternoon,
there is so much on my plate that I am unsure of what exactly I am supposed to
do to get through any of it. The week always presents some new challenges, some
of which are really interesting, and fun to figure out, others are more
mundane, but can take a lot of my time. Anyway—it’s Monday afternoon. I am
going to keep relaxing, count my many blessings, and think about what to make
for dinner.
With excitement for the conversation to come,
Sarah
No comments:
Post a Comment