Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
One of the great things about being Episcopalian is that we celebrate Christmas as a twelve day feast. Christmas Day is followed in the Church calendar by eleven days of Christmas. Indeed, the joy of the Incarnation cannot be contained in a one day celebration. The birth of Jesus, God made human, is a mystery so joyful and profound that we spend twelve days celebrating it!
As we look at the secular calendar, we prepare to enter into the New Year 2020. New Year’s Day is traditionally a time when we make resolutions, deciding to make healthier choices for our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. As you ponder your resolutions for 2020, I encourage you to reflect on your baptismal call to discipleship. I encourage you to consider how you might follow Christ more closely and authentically in 2020. I also encourage you to give thanks for the people in your life who help you to respond generously to Christ’s call to take up your cross and follow Him.
Speaking of giving thanks, on behalf of all of the members and friends of St. Paul’s, I want to thank our outgoing Vestry members for their servant leadership these past three years. At our Annual Parish Meeting on January 26th, Ron Backer, Craig Dickmann, John Putnam (our current Senior Warden), and Phil Wotton will officially conclude their terms as Vestry members. Each of these faithful servants of God have provided sound leadership to our parish family, particularly in helping us to implement the many initiatives envisioned in our Vision 2020 Strategic Plan and in overseeing property issues important to the life of our church.
As we thank our four outgoing Vestry members, I invite other parish members to please prayerfully consider serving St. Paul’s as a member of our Vestry.
In Christ, the Newborn Prince of Peace,
Fr. Paul+