Braun Campbell | August 11, 2026 

Tempus fugit: “Time flies.” More accurately, it flees or even escapes, according to the Roman poet Virgil. American musician Steve Miller suggests it “…keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future.” Predating these turns of phrase, Psalm 90:12, attributed as a prayer of Moses, offers a bit of a promise in the inevitability of constant change: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” (ESV)

Marking our years — our time — makes us mindful and intentional in life. In the liturgical year, we like to keep count of the Sundays “of,” “in,” or “after” certain holy days or seasons of the Church Year. We Episcopalians seem to be particularly adept at this and even assign colors to the practice. We do not let time escape lightly. We mark it through and in step with the life and teachings of Christ. And hopefully we begin to see him and his kingdom in
the people and events around us. In these ways, we endeavor to live a good life and gain some understanding about ourselves and our role in the world. 

As a parish, we keep up with attendance, baptisms, confirmations, funerals, budgets, meals served to outreach guests, and food pantry and Jubilee House visits. Even though some of these numbers are mundane and others sacramental (sometimes it’s not easy to tell which fall into what category), all help us plan, look at areas of growth, and find ways to improve. Sometimes, this accounting makes us long for the past or desire a better future. All, nonetheless, help us grow in new ways. 

Recently, we marked the joyful one-year anniversary of Fr. Ryan Lockwood. Many of us noted how much we like him and wondered how Grace functioned without him. Fr. Jim has led our parish for six years now — and he might agree that those years of COVID directly after his arrival seemed like the dessert that Moses spent 40 years in wandering with the Israelites. A bulletin board in the parish hall highlights milestones in the history of Grace and celebrates a past that helps us envision an even richer future.

Finally, we are about to mark the end of a decade of service. At the end of this month, Parish Administrator Ellen Schrader will retire. It has been no secret that many among us struggled to understand how we could capture years of what we dubbed “institutional knowledge” before her departure on August 31. We have tried; I doubt we got it all. But even with some of it, we will forge ahead still doing the work God has given us to do.

There will be times we long for the past and some more time with the “Chaos Coordinator” directing us. Whether or not we find a way to coordinate our particular brand of chaos, we will make it. All the while, we will be thankful for the number 10 and Ellen, and those years we found her greeting us and keeping us moving forward, nudging us to get stuff done. As our time with Ellen begins to fly more quickly than we’d like for it to, we will mark her time at Grace full of gratitude, understanding that she has served us well. As we move into a new reality that will, at first seem strange, Ellen’s number — and ours because of her dedication to our parish — is a perfect 10. All in all, that’s a pretty decent sum, full of wisdom and lots of Grace.