The Rev. Kim Hardy Answers Priest-in-Partnership Call at St. James Essex Junction
The Rev. Kim Hardy has accepted a call as priest-in-partnership for St. James Episcopal Church, Essex Junction, V
ermont. In her new role, Amma Kim, as she is affectionately known, is responsible for assisting the congregation in deepening its baptismal ministry.
Regarding her title, Amma Kim explains, “Though I am not the first to use the title, Amma, I assimilated it from the tradition of the desert mothers of Egypt, where spiritual guides were called Amma or in the case of males, Abba. It seems fitting with my character to take the title Amma. Though it means Mother, for me, Mother has been historically connected with a leader companion in a convent; nuns rather than priests.”
Amma Kim is married to the Rev. Dr. Fred Moser, rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Shelburne. She served as musician and liturgist at All Saints Parish in Brookline, Mass., for almost ten years prior to coming to St. James, initially to server as interim rector. Canon to the Ordinary & Transition Minister Lynn Bates acknowledged that such a move doesn’t happen often, but can be a good exception when the candidate proves best suited to meet the congregation’s pastoral and leadership needs. In a written statement, the St. James Ministry Discernment Committee said:
Our committee feels that the process of discernment has strengthened St. James’s recognition of the Spirit in the parish’s work. The lengthy period of congregational research and inquiry—and the process for Amma Kim, herself—constituted a singular gift that enabled what we feel is a very positive outcome. The responses to the wider Church’s discernment questions gave us the opportunity to articulate a very candid portrait of our congregation, which we expect will positively inform our future life together with her.
We look forward to the months and years ahead with Amma Kim as our Priest-in-Partnership.