News from the Red Doors - December 31, 2021


A Word about Weather

With predictions of wintery weather that may affect Sunday morning, I want to remind you to use caution in determining whether the roads are safe for your travel. I will always do my best to be there to lead service AND I will appreciate knowing you are home and safe in the event you don't make it to service.

IF there is a cancellation, I will send an email, post to Facebook, and initiate our Vestry calling tree. Sometimes the conditions in my subdivision, especially related to freezing rain, make it impossible for me to get out to the main roads. If that is the case, I'll let you know immediately. I typically leave the house by 7:45am so you can expect notification around 8am. Thank you.

Save the Date - Annual Meeting on 1/16

This is a friendly reminder that our Annual Meeting is scheduled for 1/16 immediately after the dismissal. We will remain seated and move directly into our business meeting, keeping it as brief as possible. Please plan to attend. We must have quorum in order to conduct our business, which primarily includes passing a budget and electing leadership for 2022.

Speaking of leadership, we are still looking for a Junior Warden!

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

Greetings! Can you believe it's New Year's Eve? It's challenging to think the year 2022 is only hours away at this point As we look into 2022 I pray that we can be filled with hope and expectation. I know Advent is OVER, but hope and expectation do not belong exclusively to Advent, to the birth of our Savior. Hope and expectation is also a great way to begin a new year.

For all of us, a new year is a new beginning. It is a time to look at what 2021 provided us as we hope and expect better for 2022. As believers, that hope and expectation resides in our love for and faith in an all-loving God. What do you desire from your relationship with God? With your fellow believers? How do you intend to be more present to the Holy in this coming year?

I choose to begin 2022 believing God has wonderful surprises in store for our St. Paul's family. There are many details and statistics I will share with you in my Pastoral Address at the annual meeting. Until then please know God is present with us here and now, in the past, and in the future.

So however you choose to celebrate this New Year's Eve and Day, remember to whom you belong. Set God first and watch for the surprise and delight that is yet to come!

Happy (almost) New Year!

Blessings,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 (c)

Announcements & Requests

Join us Thursdays at 9am for an offering of Morning Prayer (side altar of church) followed by a book study of Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter (parish hall). All are welcome. (We resume on 1/6 after the Eucharist.)


This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

December is upon us. It hardly seems possible to me that Christmas is only three weeks away. What a whirlwind of a year this has been.

As I mentioned in my sermon last Sunday, Advent is a season of waiting and expectation not only for Christ's first coming as a babe in the manger but also for his second coming in all glory. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations we are also listening for prophetic voices, like that of John the Baptist. This Sunday and next we will hear from John, whose voice cries out from the wilderness reminding us to be ready for the Christ - ALWAYS. How are you preparing yourself this Advent? How are you readying yourself for his birth?

I hope you are praying the Advent prayers of the Anglican Rosary. I hope you are finding time to be still and be with God. I hope you are reading one chapter of the Gospel of Luke a day (Luke is the Gospel most used in Year C). But above all I hope you are noticing the Holy in the many daily moments of your life.

Be well my friends. Take time for God. And see you Sunday.

Blessings,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 (c)


Announcements & Requests

Are you a saver of old Christmas cards? If so, please consider donating them to our Christmas at Sea program. The front of the cards are torn off and used to hand write notes to the mariners (to send along with their knit or crochet items).
Also, if you've made any items for donation, please bring those to church on Sunday 12/5. We will bless them for shipment early next week. Thank you.


Join us Thursdays at 9am for an offering of Morning Prayer (side altar of church) followed by a book study of Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter (parish hall). All are welcome.