Weekly Letter
John Mark Wiggers • April 28, 2022

Dear Friends, 

St. James has been blessed by the ministry of The Rev. RJ Powell for seven years now. I am excited that he will take on the full-time role as chaplain at Tyson House on June 1. Click this link to see the full announcement. We will celebrate his ministry on Sunday June 5. We will all miss his regular presence at St. James. 

Here at St. James we will continue to do ministry and share the Good News that God is with us. We are all named as ministers when we are baptized. Your ministry matters to the life of the congregation. We have a variety of gifts that help us serve our world. 

Some folks are using their gifts to help us be good stewards of the earth. Please make use of recycling bins around the church as you worship and serve. Volunteers are gathering those items and getting them to recycling stations. Note that we are also going back to not printing the entire service in the bulletin. All of this is an effort to be responsible and efficient. 

Your ministry of presence is needed on Monday May 2 at The Nehemiah Action at World's Fair Park. We start at 7:00 PM, but get there early to park. Justice Knox will ask community leaders to make commitments for change in the areas of gun violence, school discipline, and public transportation. A large gathering of folks sends a message that these issues matter to the community. 

Your ministry of prayer matters too. Pray for our church and our ministries. Hold up the concerns of your fellow parishioners. Pray that we will all be open to where God is leading us. Pray that we can all faithfully live out the ministry we are called to. 

Peace, 
Fr. John Mark

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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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