Weekly Letter, 04/13/2023
The Rev. John Mark Wiggers • April 16, 2023

Dear Friends,


Easter blessings to all of you! We celebrated a beautiful Resurrection Sunday and we continue the Great 50 Days of Easter. The political backdrop to Holy Week was quite the show with our own state having a starring role.


As resurrection people, we confess that God brings life out of all situations. In Jesus, God joined in human suffering. God is with us as we seek to heal and as we proclaim hope, healing, and life. 


Many of you show up to make a difference in our community. One way is through Justice Knox. Mark Tuesday, April 25 on your calendar for our Nehemiah Action. It is this event at which we gather a large number of people and ask leaders to make commitments to making our community more just. Your presence matters. See below for more details. 


We also nurture hope as we study and worship together. Tending our own spiritual health gives us strength as we seek to love our neighbor. Just being together is also encouraging. We will have another Friendship Circle event on May 1 at 6 pm. We will have a potluck dinner and enjoy some time together. Come and join with friends. 


I know you have noticed some things coming together during our renovations. The parish hall is almost finished. We will soon be worshiping and gathering in there while work is done in the nave. Thank you to everyone who has pledged to our campaign. Every gift counts as we do this work. It is exciting to think of all the ways we can use our spaces for ministry over the next 100 years. 


May you continue to know Easter Joy. 


Peace, 

Fr. John Mark

Weekly Letter, 06/12/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • June 12, 2025

Weekly Letter, 06/05/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • June 5, 2025

Weekly Letter, 05/29/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • June 5, 2025

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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