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The Third Sunday after the Epiphany It is the Season of Epiphany, our Season of Light, and we have so much to be thankful for as a community of faith of St. Mary’s. I think of all the ways we have been faithful in our service of our Lord and each other this past year, and my cup runs over with gratitude. This parish is truly a repository of grace, and the light of Christ is manifest in our life together. What a blessing it is to be the vehicle of God’s light, and what responsibilities this lays before us as individuals and as a parish! Most of what I want to say this morning you can read in my annual report. There are a few things, however, that deserve special mention. -I want to acknowledge our wonderful staff, This next year, I have great hopes for us as a parish. The first has to do with providing a comprehensive program of pastoral care, so that all of us can be assured of receiving compassionate attention in our times of need. In the past few months, we have been able to assemble a team ministry for pastoral care at St. Mary’s. This involves coordinating the work of our lay Eucharistic visitors, our neighborhood caregivers, our parish nurses, and our clergy, with Hilary Greene as its coordinator. From here on in, I hope all of us will direct our pastoral concerns to this committee, so that we can respond quickly and caringly to individuals in our parish who need our support. Secondly, I want to highlight the growth we experienced in outreach this past year. We have taken very significant steps to make outreach a cornerstone of our ministry at St. Mary’s. $400,000 of the Deal Bequest has been designated to provide income to fund our outreach programs for years to come. The vestry voted to support our Diocesan Episcopal City Mission by providing a short term micro-lending loan to those facing economic challenges on the Cape. Our ECW and Outreach Committee in partnership met the MDG goals to contribute $3500 to GAIA for AIDS relief in Malawi, Africa. This next year, we are able to provide a line item in our budget for the MDG’s. Also, in the next year, we will be sending a mission team to New Orleans to work on a Habitat Project for victims of Hurricane Katrina. And all of this is on top of the continuing outreach efforts of our various ministries to the homeless of Cape Cod, and the many ways the ECW through their budget fund local charities. This has been such a vibrant part of our work together, further evidence I believe that the light of Christ is reflects brightly in our common ministry. Lastly, I have also said in my report that we need to grow. Since I arrived three years ago, we have done what I think is a remarkable job in coming together as a spiritual community. In worship and music, education and outreach, fellowship and managing our resources, we are now in a good place, a secure place, a place that nurtures us and keeps us healthy and alive. In all of this, the light of Christ burns brightly in the ways which love and provide for each other. But now the time comes, I believe, for us to stretch and grow. We need to embrace these words we have heard in our collect this morning. It is time for us to answer readily the call of our Lord Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation. With this in mind, under the leadership of Janis Umshlag, we are forming an evangelism committee to direct our efforts of sharing our Gospel joy with the world around us In a few minutes, Janis will lead us in an open conversation on what direction we should take in this endeavor. But before she does, I have a personal request to ask of each of you. The simplest and most time tested way for parish growth is the one found in our Gospel this morning. Jesus invites his disciples to follow him. And they in turn invite others who invite others who invite others, and so the Church is born. I would like to ask each of you, as a part of our evangelism at St. Mary’s, in this next year to invite one new person to come to church. It could be a Sunday service, it could be one of our music programs, it could be a fellowship event. Whoever it is, I am asking each of you to think of one other person, a neighbor, a friend, a work colleague, someone who seeking the light that burns brightly in this community of faith, someone who would find a place of spiritual sustenance and renewal at St. Mary’s. What a singular joy and privilege it is to share this ministry with you. We are light of Christ, and God willing, our light will increase as we, together, invite others to share in our Gospel faith.
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