New Cape pastor finding 'hope' during coronavirus

The Rev. Annette Joseph became pastor of Christ Episcopal Church in Cape Girardeau on Sept. 1, but she is not new to Southeast Missouri.

Joseph, a native of Bridgton, Maine, first came to the region in 2011 to lead Holy Cross Episcopal in Poplar Bluff.

In 2019, she became priest-in-charge of St. Paul’s in Sikeston, adding the duties of the Cape Girardeau church, located at 101 N. Fountain St., earlier this month.

As the leader of two congregations, Joseph said her official title is “regional missioner,” meaning she sees her work as tying together the efforts of the churches under her care.

Joseph succeeds the Rev. Edie Bird, who retired over the summer as Christ Episcopal’s rector after a six-year tenure.

Ministry challenge during pandemic

Joseph, a 2010 graduate of Bangor (Maine) Theological Seminary, called ministry “strange” during COVID-19.

“This is nothing like we’ve ever experienced,” said Joseph, who noted that while worship at Christ Episcopal is entirely online, in Sikeston, St. Paul’s began meeting in-person Sept. 20.

“(Coronavirus) numbers are so high in Cape, we can’t meet inside yet,” she said, but hoped an event Sunday would help her familiarization with her new parish.

“We’re planning to meet outdoors at May Greene Park,” Joseph said last week, “not for worship, but as a ‘get-to-know you’ occasion.”

“I’m looking forward to gathering safely,” she added, noting masking and social distancing protocols were to be observed.

Joseph said her encounters with Cape Girardeau congregants have been limited to phone calls or by Zoom, the online video-conferencing platform.

Lifelong church vocation

Before turning her attention to pastoral ministry, Joseph served as a church secretary, an assistant youth missioner and as an assistant at the diocesan level in Maine working with teenagers.

“I felt a call to (pastoral) ministry three different times,” she said, noting an important moment was attendance at a preaching workshop weekend in her home state.

Joseph confesses to a sort of Road to Damascus moment, a reference to St. Paul’s conversion while traveling as noted in the Acts of the Apostles, part of the New Testament.

“At least a year after the preaching workshop, I was driving home and felt a strong moment of call, so I decided to check (seminary) out,” she said.

Coming to Missouri

Joseph said her husband of nearly 22 years, Richard, retired from his work in special education to enable a move more easily to the Midwest.

The pastor’s five children — four boys and a girl — were younger then and admits relocating from Maine to Southeast Missouri was quite different for them.

“It was culture shock,” admitted Joseph, 54.

Goals

Because of the ongoing coronavirus emergency, Joseph said her pastoral imperative in both Cape Girardeau and Sikeston is straightforward.

“Just getting people through (the pandemic) is a priority,” she said.

“Helping people to find hope and places of connection (and) finding ‘streams of water’ in the midst of COVID, racism and political (chaos),” Joseph added.

“All these things are tearing at our souls,” she said.

Finding biblical inspiration

“We’re studying Exodus right now because the church is experiencing a wilderness moment,” Joseph said.

“We’re tired and weary (of COVID-19),” she said. “We all want to go back to the way things were,” noting the experience of the Old Testament prophets can be instructive in this time of health emergency.

Trend

Joseph is the latest female clergyperson to head a Cape Girardeau church — The Rev. Jennifer Long has served Centenary United Methodist since July, while the Rev. Ellen Gurnon and the Rev. Renita Green serve First Presbyterian and St. James AME, respectively.