[Magdalen] My announcement (was Quick prayer request)

[Jay Weigel]

May God be with you on your journey.

On Fri, Oct 17, 2014 at 12:03 AM, Georgia DuBose <gdubose at gmail.com> wrote:

> May the Lord lead you in righteousness and make his way plain before
> you place as you travel this amazing new road.
>
> All good wishes,
>
> Georgia+
>
> On Thu, Oct 16, 2014 at 9:59 AM, Scott Rollins <organist at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I hope you'll forgive me for not writing a separate post, but I hope to
> > when life calms down a bit.
> >
> > I sent the message below to the choir on Tuesday, so that they would know
> > of it before our rehearsal last night. And, as had been arranged, when I
> > had sent the message to the choir, the rector forwarded it on to the
> > members of the vestry and the rest of the staff.
> >
> > The message (and then I'll add a bit more):
> >
> > ----- Begin included message -----
> >
> > Friends,
> >
> > A few days ago, I gave Father Derek my resignation. My final Sunday will
> be
> > in just over a month.
> >
> > Part of the reason is burnout. My reaction to the parts of the job that I
> > have found difficult has grown to consume more and more of my attention
> and
> > my energy as time has gone on. Were this the only reason, I would have
> > attempted to find adjustments that would permit me to continue.
> >
> > However, over the past few years, I have also been coming to an
> > understanding of who I am which does not match how I have been presenting
> > myself to you. And I have reached the point where I can't continue hiding
> > who I am; that is, where I can't continue hiding that I am a transgender
> > woman.
> >
> > A word on terminology: a transgender woman is somebody who despite the
> > anatomy they were born with identifies as a woman. It isn't about
> > impersonation or performance, it is about who I am.
> >
> > I recognize that there are those who will be uncomfortable with this and
> > others who will object based upon their beliefs. So while I have come to
> > the point where I need to be more open about who I am, I also believe
> that
> > continuing in a staff position during this transition would lead to
> > controversy and division within the parish, and be a distraction from
> (and
> > detriment to) the real mission of St. John's, as well as adding to how
> > difficult it would be for me to handle my responsibilities as your choir
> > director.
> >
> > I want to thank you all for everything you all do for this parish and for
> > all you have done over the last four and a half years to welcome me and
> to
> > help lead music here at St. John's. I ask for your prayers, and you will
> > continue to be in my prayers.
> >
> > ----- End included message -----
> >
> > The one thing that I left out was my name. I am using the name Kristin. I
> > have been using that name in various places online for a while now, but I
> > wanted to stay as Scott at work until my finish date (which is Nov 16),
> in
> > an attempt to not cause too much of an issue while I'm still in a
> > leadership position.
> >
> > I have been surprised at how positive the responses have been. I received
> > replies Tuesday from most of the choir, and I received a couple of other
> > messages from people in or connected to the vestry. And most of them were
> > fully supportive. (Though, of course, there were one or two that were
> sorry
> > I was leaving but mostly ignoring the reason behind it. I am sure the
> > conversations between parishioners are far more "interesting" than any
> > conversation that I will be part of.)
> >
> > My biggest fear had been the word getting to the parish and now that the
> > situation is public knowledge, I'm feeling freer to let other people who
> > knew me as Scott know. Before this week, the people who knew were my
> wife,
> > my stepdaughter, my mother, my former therapist, our current one, my
> > rector, a former parishioner who moved out of state, and members of my
> > wife's now-former order, and then the online people who have only known
> me
> > as Kristin. Now, I'm both excited and scared about coming out to other
> > people and trying to stagger it enough that I don't drown under the
> > responses, but quickly enough that people who need to hear quickly do.
> >
> > So, that's the situation here. Thank you for all your prayers around the
> > announcement, and I'd appreciate them as I move forward.
> >
> > Kristin
>