Dear Friends, 

Don't forget that we are meeting in the parish house for worship at both the 8 am and 10:30 am services on Sundays until early September. Things have been moving around this week at St. James. We still need to clean things up some more. If you can come help on Saturday (May 20) from 9 am to noon, that would be great. I am excited to see what will emerge as we move around. 

I was moving around during the chant Laudate Dominum this past Sunday. On the one hand, I learned a dance that goes with that chant a couple of years ago. I have danced, banged my drum, and moved around many times. I swing along that spectrum of painfully reserved and completely comfortable in my skin. This past Sunday I truly had an awareness of deep gratitude as I celebrated the Eucharist at 8 am. That gratitude rose and grew into an energy that continued into the afternoon and involved many senses and emotions. I will definitely say it was the Spirit. I wanted to share that limited description of my experience as many of you saw that turn into a dance. 

I don't think I am special because I got to have a moment like that. We don't all have to dance to feel close to God. You don't have to look or dress a certain way. Most of us have very different ideas of what is happening when we come to receive the Eucharist. We don't have to believe the same way about God, the Church, or politics. St. James has been a place where people with different experiences and ways of believing have found a home. More important than dancing, sharing the stories of how we have experienced God matters in helping others feel welcome and know the love of Christ. 

So share your story. Those stories of hope, healing, and belonging are why we are taking great efforts to enhance our buildings. It is why we come together around the altar and are then sent out into the world. Share yours with someone at St. James. I know that it is a community that can accept the likes of a middle-aged dad dancing in the aisle. 

Come and share your story. Come and make the story of the next 100 years of St. James. (Oh, I just might teach you that dance.)

Peace, 

Fr. John Mark