Friends and Neighbors, 

For many folks, May is a month of celebrations. The school year is winding down, many are graduating, and we celebrate mothers. We continue to celebrate the Great 50 days of Easter and the Ascension and Pentecost are coming soon. The warmer weather and the blooming earth make me feel like celebrating. I especially give thanks and celebrate the community that is St. James. I invite you to celebrate as well. 

We can celebrate by giving thanks and praying for our community. Pray that we can continue to be a place that welcomes all with the love of Christ. Your financial gifts are a way of celebrating. Our gifts help us use our resources to feed and tend God's sheep in ways temporal and spiritual. You can serve. One of our acolytes comments that serving is almost like play for them. Is there a ministry you would like to try? We can all celebrate by sharing our stories and hearing the stories of others. 

I celebrate that many of you have found a place to know and share God's love. For some, that has come after much searching and hurt. I give thanks for all the ways that faithful people come together to be a community. We will have formal ways to celebrate and be together. There is our Sunday worship, Evening Prayer, and the Justice Knox Annual Celebration. There are also little ways we celebrate and give thanks. I encourage you to consider what you are celebrating and the part you play in making St. James a community of celebration. 

Peace,

Fr. John Mark