Rector's Reflection: On Many Things

Dear Friends,

I have a collection of topics for you today, heavy and light, spiritual and logistical. Thank you for spending these few minutes reading them.

On Barb

I hope you received our email yesterday about Barb and her rise to glory. What a loss to our community, to our world, to her family, and what a testament of beauty her life and death gave us! You can read an obituary on Everett Funeral Home's page here. Rise on the wings of angels Barb, lifted on a current of pure love.

On Getting Covid

So many beloveds among us have tested positive for Covid since Christmas, and in some cases I am hearing that folks feel that it is somehow their fault! I realized that in our diligence around Covid protocol, we have accidentally created a culture of shame around getting sick, as if a positive test reveals some personal failing, as if we "should" have been able to stop every microscopic spiky beastie from getting to our airways. Please know that if you or a loved one has Covid, our hearts are with you, our prayers are with you, and we ALL have been humbled by this pandemic, a pandemic that has been persistently roaring at us for two years now and is not any of our fault. Please also know that with numbers in Massachusetts and numbers in our church community so high, we will be worshiping on-line only through January 23rd.

On Bishop Gayle Harris' Visitation

On January 16th, our suffragan Bishop, the Rt Rev'd Gayle Harris, will be visiting us. She will join us on Zoom to preach and officiate for the 10am service, after which she will login to a 10:45am coffee hour to chat with us and share about her upcoming trip to the Holy Land. At 11:30am she has invited the vestry to speak with her about how things are going at St. Paul's. Please mark your calendars and plan to join us on-line on the morning of the 16th!

On Nomination Season

It is time to consider members of our parish who may be ready to join our vestry! Our annual meeting will be held on the morning of February 13th, and at that meeting we will elect new members to our vestry and leadership positions. If you feel called to this ministry (or curious about it) or if you want to nominate someone else to a position on our vestry, please click here and fill out a nominating form before January 19th. Thank you!

On Bible Study

Our Wednesday 2PM bible study group invites you to join with us to discuss the scripture for each week! They have decided to start sending you questions in advance. So if you are up for the challenge, read John 2:1-11, and click here for a fun quiz:-)

In all things, I am grateful to be here among you.

Yours in Christ,