Comings and Goings

Change is a way of life in the outer suburbs. Buildings go up, shopping centers occupy what was pasture land, roads and traffic exchanges challenge our sense of direction. Even at Christ the Redeemer we’ve seen the growth of our new church, chapel, and pastoral center in the last ten years.

We are good at bidding fair well to parishioners, friends, and neighbors. People come in and out of our lives all the time. Our parish life is punctuated by the comings and goings of hundreds of people over the years. We call ourselves a “community,” but we don’t realize that our gathering and coming together is marked with stories and names of those who have been blessings here at Christ the Redeemer. All kinds of people play roles in life here at CTR. They share life with us. They come into lives in various and sundry ways.

This week marks a goodbye and God-speed to Amy Harr, our parish secretary for eleven years. To some, Amy is the first real contact with CTR. She is at the front reception area of the office. To others she is the voice, which welcomed as we called by phone, “Hello, Christ the Redeemer Parish, this is Amy, can I help you?”

Over these eleven years, Amy has been part accounting office, part religious education program, parish welcoming committee of one. At other times she is the source of all kinds of parish and local information to newcomers. She may have arranged the baptism of your child. It may have been Amy who began the process of your wedding celebration. Amy may have been the first person to offer consolation at the death of a loved one. Many of our seniors know Amy as a good listener and conversationalist either on the phone or as a welcome to the office before the Seniors Meeting.

In short, Amy Harr was the front line of pastoral service and care here at Christ the Redeemer. She was the liaison and contact point with the other pastoral staff.

Things Unseen
Beyond the obvious tasks and services, every parish depends on a person like Amy for many things. Future years will find us grateful for well kept sacramental books with patient and careful records of baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations, and funerals here in the parish. Many were happy for Amy’s posting and financial records, especially as tax time came around.

The parish staff would be quick to list Amy as the glue which often enough held us together. Whether it was her early start at the workplace and the getting the coffee started, or the before hours conversations in the unlit office, or the occasional, not to mention, famous poppy cake, it was the extra things which the staff will only slowly note over time.

Little known among the parishioners, but well known among the staff, was Amy’s poetic and musical abilities. The treat at staff events like birthdays, anniversaries, farewells, and holidays was the high point of our social events with not only an original poem, but one actually set to a tune and performed by our parish secretary. This was just a hint at an earlier career in central New Jersey as a child as one of the singing “Oliver Girls” in many a church or Sunday school function.

Beyond Ecumenism
Little known to the parishioners was that Amy, her husband Tim, and daughter Melissa were long time members of Providence Baptist Church in McLean. Her annual trip to the Women of Faith Conference in Washington brought great enthusiasm to our staff’s view of faith, hymns, scripture, and women’s issues in the Church.

Amy, over the years, learned our “Catholic vocabulary” about Mass schedules, confessions, Holy Week. She learned all about Mass intentions and prayers for the sick and dying. She became conversant about words like “Eucharist”, “confession”, “catechumenate”. She learned about why there needed to be at least one Godparent at Baptism or a “Christian witness,” a believer from another Christian Church. To all this Amy brought here faith and her encouragement to the business of being Church here at Christ the Redeemer.

Friends and Believers
As Amy Harr goes off to Florida with her family, we can mark our goodbyes with stories of this friend and good Baptist believer. May the years be blessed with stories of Jersey tomatoes, white bread, and mayonnaise. May the fragrance of coffee begin our days. May Amy’s kind deeds continue to encourage us all. As you move on this week, Amy, we send you with our “Catholic” blessing, prayers, and big thanks for your time with us.

CDH