By The Rev. Alina Williams

I remember my first Episcopal School Sunday ten years ago: I sat in the chancel ready to serve as a chalice bearer for the first time at Church of the Transfiguration.  Fr. Casey had invited me along with some other members of the Parish Episcopal School community to serve.  Though I had borne a chalice many times before, I was unprepared for the magnificence of what I would experience that day.  The specific moment that brought tears to my eyes was not the excellent sermon, the beautiful Transfiguration choir, or even the meaningful prayers, but it was the voices of the Lower School Choir singing at the Offertory; a choir comprised of students who looked different from each other, who worshiped differently from each other, and who had a diversity of perspectives among them.  At that moment, I knew that I wanted to be a part of these communities for a long time.

Having grown up Episcopalian, daughter of an Episcopal priest; having gone through Episcopal summer camp as a camper, counselor, and staff member; even having traversed the ordination process, I was unaware of the glory that is Episcopal schools.  Where the world presents us with a crossroads, where we must turn either left or right, Episcopal schools pave a wider, broader, and longer road where all of God's children have room to be in community together.  Where the world presents us with a dead end sign, Episcopal schools construct a way through that blockade into new life.

In my first year at Parish, I learned about the open and welcoming nature of Episcopal schools.  Though I was hired to teach as a part of my role, I found myself gleaning so much from my students who courageously shared about their religious traditions, how they celebrated their holy days, and how they understood their holy scriptures.  In the years that followed, I have been enveloped into a rich community life that often feels more like a chosen family than simply friends or acquaintances.  As a Parish parent, I have experienced gratitude for my own children growing in empathy for those around our world and in our own city who are suffering.  And as a priest and chaplain, I have received grace upon grace from God's presence in and among our students in Chapel, in the classrooms, and the hallways each day.

The spirit of Parish Episcopal School began as a whisper among members of the Church of the Transfiguration in 1972.  The independence of the school from the church is not something that separates us, but it is something that continues to connect us to each other.  Transfiguration, its mission to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and its role as the parent of Parish tethers us strongly to our foundations.  Even when the school, much like a grown child, ventures out on its own to forge a new path, we have a touchstone in Transfiguration.  The church continues to provide us with an anchor for our Episcopal identity; it provides us a strong foundation for the work we do when we serve the community, when we stand for justice and peace, and when we welcome all who walk through our doorways.

This weekend, as Parish Episcopal School students, families, faculty, staff, and administrators gather to worship among the members of Transfiguration, I pray that you, too, will know the glory that is an Episcopal school; that you will experience the richness of a diverse group of people who feel like family; that you will relish the voices of young students singing in one refrain.  I pray that this connects you to the school that I have come to love so deeply.