From the Rector Diocesan Convention Resolutions Our annual diocesan convention, which usually happens in May, was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will now take place mostly virtually on September 12. St. James’ delegate Carla Kaufman and I will both be attending. Pre-Convention hearings on the proposed resolutions will also take place virtually this…
From the Rector – A Little Bit of Summer Left As we begin to turn our eyes toward fall and families plan for the start of school, here are a few ideas for some quality family time before everything changes again. Both involve inviting our children into practices that can help to calm and ground…
From the Rector – Supporting St. James’ Thrift Shop Today I have two asks for you – prayer and action. First, please keep our Thrift Shop Manager Sandy Baker in prayer as she faces some serious health issues (not COVID related). Please also keep our dedicated staff (Becki, Sergio, Jeanne, and Ed), and the volunteers who…
From the Rector The one where I talk about prayer. Again. Today while sitting for a spell to think and pray in the Memorial Garden, I spied a hawk gliding high in the sky above, circling and probably searching for lunch. It brought to mind a poem by Mary Oliver. As far as poems go,…
From the Rector Prayers when you feel anxious One of good things that came out of the last few months was so many organizations and companies creating free resources. One in particular that I have loved using is the Prayers When You Feel Anxious coloring pages from Illustrated Ministry. I shared it on Facebook earlier…
From the Rector In Person & Online Worship ~ 2 Services Begin This Sunday Beginning this Sunday we transition back to two services. We will gather at 8:30 am outside for Holy Eucharist in the Memorial Garden and field (more details on that below), and at 10:30 am we will gather on Zoom and livestream…
From the Rector – Re-Gathering Update The Re-Gathering Team has been meeting and working on an action plan to re-open our building for office and group use, and for outdoor in-person worship. Our tentative goal is for offices to open back up on June 29, and for outdoor worship to begin in early July –…
From the Rector We are excited to introduce Compassion Camp! Compassion is an important skill in creating resilient and caring children. Each day, leaders will work with children through bible stories, music, drama and art to teach compassion. We are joining St. Andrew’s, Glenwood and other communities to partner for Compassion Camp, making this summer program…
From the Rector – The Work of Re-Gathering I am pleased to share that our Re-Gathering Team is in place. I will be joined by Vestry members Jeannie Pellicier and Dave Rak, along with Jim Bullington, Vic Pellicier, and Mike Henyon. Our task is to follow the Guidelines and Parameters set up by our Diocese…
From the Rector Next Steps For Worship Following up on my Shell article from last week, here are some more details about the next steps for our worship. As I shared previously, in addition to Governor Hogan’s stages for re-opening for our state, we also must work within the guidelines of our diocese. Last weekend…