Rector – Reflections on the College for Congregational Development The first week of June, Vestry member Heather Albertson and I traveled to Seattle to attend the Diocese of Olympia’s College for Congregational Development. Below are some observations and thoughts I’d like to share about the work we did. Heather will be offering her reflections at…
Each year our Sunday School children decorate mite boxes for our lenten donation to A is for Africa. Church members participate by picking up a box and collecting their loose change during lent and returning their full box at our ingathering on Easter Day. Our presentation was made to Rick and Mary Anne Smith, Directors of…
From the Rector – Are You A Match? As many of you know, our former Parish Administrator Christine Burnett was diagnosed with leukemia at the end of January this year. She began treatment immediately with the hope of a bone marrow transplant down the line. Her son was initially identified as a match and she…
Rector – The Summer Day I’m away at the College for Congregational Development this week, and so instead of an article I offer you a poem for prayer and reflection. Yours in God’s peace, Kristin+ “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean-…
Reception After Memorial Service for Jon Fader The church is planning to honor Jon Fader by providing a reception after the memorial service for Family and friends. We are requesting some type of finger food like small sandwiches, chips, brownies, etc. Please contact Cheryl Windsor at dcwindsor@comcast.net if you are able to bring something. Some folks have received a prior email so…
Rector – Have You Heard We’re Moving To A Summer Schedule? We’ve been talking about it since Easter, so I hope you know that on Sunday, June 10 we’re moving to a summer schedule with one service only at 9:30 am. I wrote extensively about the “why” here (https://www.stjamesmtairy.org/2018/04/12/the-shell-newsletter-april-12-2018/), but the short answer is to have more of a critical mass in…
Vestry – Replenish & Establish Going Forward Thanks to the generosity of this community, we have 56 pledges/donations for a total of $180,865 – just shy of our $185,000 goal for our Replenish & Establish Project. Of the total pledged, we have received $66,517 to date. You may be wondering, now what? As the goal of the Replenish & Establish Project stated,…
From the Rector-Reflections on Diocesan Convention Last Friday and Saturday people from around the Diocese met for the 234th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. Carla Kauffman, our Delegate, will be sharing her reflections at a later time. For my part, Convention this year was a bit chopped up. I missed Friday as I was home sick. I…
From the Rector- Comfort In, Dump Out One of the hardest things to know when someone is experiencing a crisis, trauma, or grieving, is what to say – and conversely, what NOT to say. You don’t realize how many trite platitudes there are out there, wrapped up in bad (and sometimes harmful) theology until you are the focus of people wanting to…
From the Rector- Transformation, Building a Stronger Church One of the questions the Vestry and I return to over and over, in various forms, is how can we be a vibrant, healthy faith community in a changing world – and specifically a world in which the role of faith communities is rapidly shifting. As with most things, there’s no silver bullet answer. …