Weekly Letter, 02/08/2024
The Rev. John Mark Wiggers • February 9, 2024

Dear Friends,


The lenten roses are beginning to bloom at St. James. Lent is almost here. At the Ash Wednesday liturgy (February 14 this year) you will hear an invitation to a Holy Lent. The prayer book calls us to that observance "by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and by self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word" (BCP 265). I encourage you to consider how you might take on something in one or more of those categories. In particular, I encourage you to pray. Our Book of Common Prayer has many resources for that. I highly recommend the daily devotions that start on page 136. I also want to point you to the Forward Day by Day webpage where you can access these prayers and even find out how to get the app for your devices. Take time to pray this Lent. 


I know that I encourage this against a backdrop of many problems in our community and world. The call to pray about things can and is sometimes used as a way to bypass engaging in making a difference. Prayer changes us. The act of prayer orients us in time. Taking time to pray acknowledges that we aren't controlled by time. I need to pray about some of the heaviest things that I feel helpless to address because it keeps me from becoming hopeless. I offer those intercessions for all those things and trust that God will work through the likes of you and me to bring some hope to others. Take time to pray this Lent. 


There are many opportunities to pray, study, and be together listed in this newsletter. There is the Shrove Tuesday pancake supper on February 13 and don't overlook weekday prayer opportunities like Centering Prayer and Evening Prayer. Practicing our faith doesn't have to be a solo journey. In fact, Jesus kept calling people to come together to live faithfully. The acts of faithfulness, mercy, and justice all call us to a relationship with God and our neighbor. In the process, we learn to be loved and to love ourselves. We pray with words, with actions, and with just being in God's presence. Take time to pray this Lent.


Peace,

Fr. John Mark

Weekly Letter, 06/12/2025

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Weekly Letter, 05/29/2025

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Weekly Letter, 05/22/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • May 22, 2025

Weekly Letter, 05/15/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • May 15, 2025

Weekly Letter, 05/08/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • May 12, 2025
Friends and Neighbors, This Sunday is Mother's Day and also Good Shepherd Sunday. Both celebrations have been shaped and changed over the years. Good Shepherd Sunday got the name as we do read the passage from John 10 about Jesus the Good Shepherd, and Mother's Day has roots going back to Mothering Sunday in England. The establishment of Mother's Day in the United States was motivated by the recognition of the work of Ann Reeves Jarvis, Julia Ward Howe, and Anna M. Jarvis. These women worked for sanitary health care for soldiers and were advocates for peace during the Civil War. They imagined a union of mothers who would call for peace because mothers knew so deeply the loss of their children to war. Mothering and shepherding call for similar qualities of protection and care.

Weekly Letter, 05/01/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • May 12, 2025
We continue celebrating Easter as we move into a month full of celebrations and transitions. I am looking forward to just hanging out with folks this Saturday night at our spaghetti dinner. You can find details about that in this email. Please mark your calendars for the annual Justice Knox Celebration on May 19 from 6:30 PM- 8:30 PM at First Presbyterian Church. We will have dinner and share stories about the next steps. You will also be asked to consider making an investment in the work of Justice Knox. I hope that you will consider giving to this important ministry.

Weekly Letter, 04/24/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • April 24, 2025
Alleluia. Christ is risen. We celebrated the resurrection with so much joy this past Sunday. The Easter feast continues for 50 days. Thank you to everyone who made Holy Week and Easter Sunday so special. You helped people feel welcomed to this place where we proclaim the welcoming love of Christ in word, deed, song, Easter egg hunts, and something good to eat. We welcome others because we have known the love of Christ and want to share it.

Weekly Letter, 04/17/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • April 17, 2025
Friends and Neighbors, As we journey through Holy Week, I encourage you to pause and consider those events that lead us to the joyful celebration of Easter. May that also be reflected in our lives. We walk through hard things and know that God is with us. We hold to the hope that nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Weekly Letter, 04/10/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • April 17, 2025
Friends and Neighbors, As the weather teases us with warm days followed by chilly ones, we enter Holy Week. You have probably heard me encouraging folks to experience the journey to the cross and the grave so we might celebrate the resurrection with that insight. God has shared this human experience and is with us in the darkness and the light. Our liturgies of Holy Week take us on that journey with Jesus and remind us that God is indeed with us on our own journeys.
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