Rector – General Convention Wrap-Up Before we look ahead to being the host Diocese for the 80th General Convention of The Episcopal Church in 2021 in Baltimore, I invite you to take some time to review what happened at the 79th General Convention in Austin, TX earlier this month. You can find a concise wrap-up…
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 – Becoming Church – The Acts of the Apostles Throughout Lent folks gathered to study the Gospel of Luke, and this Eastertide we will continue The Good Book Club by exploring the formation of the early church in the Acts of the Apostles. We will meet on six Sundays, beginning April 15. …
From the Rector – The Sunday of the Passion: Palm Sunday Every year I feel the same tension between the celebration of Palm Sunday and Passion Sunday (March 25 this year). It feels like whiplash to have such a brief Palm celebration and then immediately dive deep into the solemnity of the Passion reading. Why…
From the Rector – The Great Litany We will begin the First Sunday in Lent this year with The Great Litany. This ancient prayer can be used at any time, but is especially appropriate in Lent because of its penitential tone. This intercessory prayer, which can be said or sung, was used as early as…
From the Rector -Christmas is coming! With joyful hearts we are preparing to celebrate Christmas and the gift of the birth of Jesus. In the midst of the holiday hubbub in your life, your help at church would be appreciated as well. The floors are being scrubbed to clean all the salt dust tracked in…
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 – 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 – 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…
It is the policy of St. James’ Nursery School to allow church members to register their children for new spots in our Two, Preschool Three, and Prekindergarten Four classes before registration is open to the public. Completed applications with registration fees will be accepted in the Nursery School Office beginning at 8:00 AM on Monday, February 6. Please be aware that there…