New Head of St. Paul’s Looks for the Church's Place in the Modern World
Reverend Judith Alexis became the Rector of Southington’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church this past May. Born in Manhattan to a Haitian family, she grew up surrounded by Catholic and Baptist traditions, but joined the Episcopal Church in her late 20’s, drawn by the way it combined an active laity with traditional practices.
She attended seminary in Texas, served as a curate in Ohio for a time, and then became the Haitian minister for the Connecticut diocese. After the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she pulled back from full-time ministerial service so that she could take care of her mother and her aunt. But, she says, she never stopped being a priest. “Whenever a church needs me, I go. I did that in the Tri-State area. If you called me, I went. My motto was, first call, first served.”
Being in church was and still is the foundation for her life. “On Sundays, I need to be in church. It’s so much part of who I am as a person growing up in Haiti. On Sundays, I need to be in a faith community with worship.”
At an interview in her office at St. Paul’s, I asked Alexis about the challenges she faces, her impressions of the Southington community, and her plans moving forward.
What is the biggest challenge that you face these days?
In general, for the church, the question is, how do we adapt to this new world? How do I do worship on a Sunday morning? Before it was easy: you get up on a Sunday morning, you get dressed, grandma and grampa and aunties live nearby, everybody was at the same church. In the afternoon, one of the aunties would cook dinner, and that was Sunday dinner. It was easy for people to come to church. There was nothing competing.
In this new world, people work on Sundays, kids have sports on Sundays. We are still in our minds in the old world, but we’re living in a new one. The church has to adapt and see the need, and ask, how can people worship in a weekly community, without assuming it’s on Sunday morning.
The church has to make an effort to be modern, without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. An easy example: in our liturgy, it’s good to have acolytes and ministers, to have somebody carry the torches, etc. It’s becoming harder and harder to do that. Not because people don’t want to. But it was such a tradition: you were a kid at a certain age and you did this and this. Now it’s not the same. As a priest, and as a congregation, we have to make more of an effort to make you excited about it.
You mention excitement. How do you combine excitement with the traditional religious promise of inner peace?
I don’t think they’re competing. Being solemn and being quiet are not synonymous. I could be solemn and be very loud. I could be joyous and be very quiet. Some people get excited about something but their faces are solemn.
During the liturgical year, there’s an 8 o’clock service, and it’s very quiet. There’s no singing. At the 10 o’clock service, there’s choir, there’s music. People find their peace in both of them. That’s why we offer more services.
Sometimes we want to put people in boxes: if you’re excited you show it like this. No! There’s a diversity in creation. Some people like chaos but they are very peaceful in their chaos. The challenge is how do we as a church create a safe place that doesn’t look the same as everything else.
You said you got the call to be the rector of St. Paul’s this past January. What are your impressions of the town and the parish so far?
I’m finding that people move away and then come back here. It’s a pretty welcoming community, but people don’t always show it; they protect themselves. Anybody that comes in new is welcome, but people are also like, wait and see. My neighbors are all very welcoming.
Part of Southington wants to remain a secret. ‘We’re good – but don’t tell anybody.’ But I’m in a church – I have to tell everybody!
This is just my first summer, and my first impression. But I have friends who come through, and this is their impression too.
To an extent, the church wants to be a secret. But the church can’t be a secret. The church has to be out there, brave, and take a position, and be what it is called to be. All churches are called to be governed by love, by love of God and love of each other, no matter how you express it.
We have the little food pantry, like a book library we put food in. But people from the community will also fill it up. We know how much the need is depending on how quick it gets emptied. In the summer, if you put something in in the morning, by the afternoon it is gone.
Some people just put in. It’s anonymous. They will fill it up, but they will be anonymous. This is New England, got to be discrete! Shh!
Anyway, I am going to be here as long as God calls me to be here. The congregation and I will have that conversation. But I intend to be here a long time. I tend not to move a lot. I say, the will of God will never take me where the grace of God cannot protect me. That’s how I do my ministry. No matter how hard or easy it is. God is not subtle.
You said the church has to be brave. How does the church be brave?
Each domination has their own way of showing that publicly. For us, the motto is ‘all are welcome.’ That’s for us. When you walk in, if you call, I just need to know that you are calling. I don’t need to know anything else, just that you are a human being.
Or even a dog or a pet! We are going to do the blessing of the animals again this year on St. Francis weekend, the last Sunday of Apple Harvest. All creatures great and small are God’s creation. Creation-care is a big thing for us - how to properly use the resources that God has entrusted to us.
Or, just to be there – the ministry of presence. Say someone calls me at 2 o’clock in the morning and ask for help. I’m not going to ask what domination you are. But I am Episcopalian, so I am going to minister to you based on what I believe in. I cannot impose my understanding on another, I can only share it with you.
That’s why I love the Episcopal church. Things will come up where not everyone agrees. We have to agree that we will meet around God’s table. We will renew ourselves and re-inventory our beliefs, and say ‘I may disagree with you, but I will never refuse you at God’s table.'
Sunday is one day. During the other six days, what is your work day like?
Right now we are reinventing all of that because we didn’t have leadership for a long time. Church service is only on Sunday right now. But the building is open for meetings, open to the community. We have the Scouts that use this space. I’m in a process of assessing the space. It’s finding out what needs need to be met that nobody is meeting.
Right now I’m information gathering, having a lot of conversations, lots of breakfasts with lots of citizens. I’m learning to drink coffee because I’m not a coffee drinker! But that’s it, we are assessing this space and how best to serve the community. I’m open to any idea, if we’re offering stuff that fills a need.
There’s not a limit, the sky’s the limit. But the question is how to do it best, with a Christian background.
