From the Rector – Seeing the Face of God in Each Other Last weekend over 20 Vestry members, staff, and ministry leaders from St. James’ attended a two-day antiracism workshop sponsored by the Diocese. It was challenging work – listening and dialoguing – about issues of power, class, and race in American history and today. …
From the Rector – The Power of Grieving In this week after another mass shooting, this time 26 people killed in their place of worship last Sunday, my heart has been heavy. Should we have had another service of lament, ringing our bells for those who died? How do we decide when to do this,…
From the Rector – The Journey Continues Last Sunday we heard the last two of our stewardship reflections on generosity. I was blown away again by the power of people sharing their stories with bold vulnerability. Thank you Jane Barger and Alan Nanavaty. This Sunday we will celebrate All Saints’ Day, giving thanks for all…
From the Rector – The Nature of Generosity Over the past month we have all been invited to reflect on the ways we’ve experienced generosity in our lives. From the way we see each other offer it on Sundays, to our reflections from Vic Pellicier and Jennifer Meisenkothen the last two weeks, it is clear…
From the Rector – Summer 2018 Service Trip! I am thrilled to announce our Summer 2018 service trip! Mark your calendars for the week of July 22-28, 2018. We will be joining folks from St. Andrew’s, Glenwood for a week of service in Kentucky at St. Timothy’s Outreach Center, which is a part of Episcopal…
From the Rector – Parish Vision Update As we settle into the fall and the hubbub from our amazing Basket Raffle quiets down, I want to share an update about the parish vision work we announced at the Annual Meeting last January. The Vestry spent time on retreat in February delving deeper into core values…
From the Rector – Seeing the Face of God in Each Other Next month St. James’ will host the Diocesan antiracism workshop Seeing the Face of God in Each Other. This is one of the required workshops that all clergy, lay employees, and lay leaders in the Diocese of Maryland must take. This is part…
From the Rector – Stewardship 2017 Generosity changes lives. Whether we are on the giving or receiving end of generosity, when we experience it, we come close to God, and God comes close to us. This month we will be using this image as life as a journey to generosity to help us each prepare…
From the Rector – Sabbath in the Daily Life One of the most counter-cultural things I think religion has to offer our over-scheduled and over-stressed world is the practice of sabbath. It is a foundational part of our faith found in the first creation story in Genesis: after six days of work God rested, and…
From the Rector – The Church Does Not Need Volunteers Over the summer at our Vestry meetings, we began taking a few minutes each month to reflect on a brief article or resource about congregational life. One that really struck a chord with all of us was an article written by Erin Wathen about volunteering…