Weekly Letter, 07/06/2023
The Rev. John Mark Wiggers • July 12, 2023

Dear Friends, 


God works in time. I allude to that in my birthday blessings every Sunday. God who is beyond all categories chooses to enter into the constructs of time. We have seen the witness of this parish over the past 100 years, and we are here now claiming that God is with us. God calls us to be the body of Christ in this time and place. While there may be unique nuances to the hopes and hardships of our time, the call to love God and our neighbors as ourselves guides still holds. 


The renovations to our space offer an opportunity to explore how we are present in this time and place. How will we use this space in creative ways that declare that God is with us? What voices do we need to pause and listen to? What words do we need to speak in our time? What does loving God, our neighbor, and ourselves look like in this time? I pray that we can all be curious about ways to point to God's presence in our time. 


I know that I am grateful and encouraged to be a part of this parish now. We have many opportunities to be together. There are opportunities to pray, study, and serve together. Note that we will have a Friendship Circle dinner on June 24. Come and join us as these have been times to just be together. Coming together with you helps me see God present in this time and place. May we all know God with us in this time. 


Peace,

Fr. John Mark

Weekly Letter, 06/12/2025

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Weekly Letter, 05/22/2025

By John Mark Wiggers • May 22, 2025

Weekly Letter, 05/15/2025

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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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