News from the Red Doors - December 18, 2020

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,
There are a handful of passages in the Bible that stop me in my tracks every single time I read them. One of those is this beautiful passage from Luke, that we commonly refer to as the Magnificat.

The Song of Mary     Magnificat      Luke 1:46-55

My soul doth magnify the Lord, *
    and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
For he hath regarded *
    the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold from henceforth *
    all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me, *
    and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him *
    throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm; *
    he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, *
    and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, *
    and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel, *
    as he promised to our forefathers,
    Abraham and his seed for ever.

Something deeply holy, deeply intimate, and deeply human rises up in my Spirit whenever I hear or recite this passage.  It's placement as Scripture on the fourth Sunday of Advent, right before Christmas Eve, reminds us that imperfect human beings also played a role in the birth of the Savior. 

I revel in Mary's faith and the different life she had simply because she was chosen AND she said "yes".   We don't hear of her fears or complaints, we simply know her response to be “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

How are we all a little more like Mary THIS year due to all of the twists and turns of 2020?  Where are we saying “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” in new and different ways?  May you reflect on this in the coming week and allow the Holy to speak to you in the quiet anticipation of the Savior's birth. 

Blessings!

Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226

Please Consider ...

  • Christmas Flower Offering envelopes are available on Sundays next to the bulletins. Please consider making a donation so that our Christmas services are filled with the beauty of the season.

  • Christmas Envelopes are available for those individuals wishing to offer a special Christmas contribution.

  • End of Year Contributions are due to the church by 12/27, if you would like them on your 2020 Giving Statement for tax purposes. Thank you for your generosity, always!

  • Did you know that because of the CARES Act, 100% of your charitable giving can be claimed on your 2020 taxes? Usually only 60% can be claimed. (This has been confirmed with the Diocesan CPA firm.) The more you give this year, the more tax credit you'll receive.

  • One More Vestry Person is still needed to round out our slate for next year. Are you ready to serve St. Paul's in this fashion either for the first time or again! I'm excited to share that we will start off the vestry year with a Saturday retreat in February (in-person or via Zoom) where we will decide as a leadership team what we want to focus on for 2021. Please consider being a part of this team! *Regular meetings are the 3rd Tuesday at 6pm, in-person or via Zoom as you prefer.

News from the Red Doors - December 11, 2020

Please Consider ...

  • Christmas Flower Offering envelopes are available on Sundays next to the bulletins. Please consider making a donation so that our Christmas services are filled with the beauty of the season.

  • End of Year Contributions are due to the church by 12/27, if you would like them on your 2020 Giving Statement for tax purposes. Thank you for your generosity, always!

  • One More Vestry Person is needed to round out our slate for next year. Are you ready to serve St. Paul's in this fashion either for the first time or again! I'm excited to share that we will start off the vestry year with a Saturday retreat in February (in-person or via Zoom) where we will decide as a leadership team what we want to focus on for 2021. Please consider being a part of this team! *Regular meetings are the 3rd Tuesday at 6pm, in-person or via Zoom as you prefer.

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,
As I write this, the sun is shining and the birds are chirping their happy song on the bird feeder right outside the window . I can't help but stop and recognize the beauty of nature.

This week I have been on vacation. Typically my vacations require airports and passports and lots of fun and excitement. However, this has been more of a working vacation than I have every experienced. I've written 4 sermons (Christmas week can get hectic), prepared for and attended my (3rd of 10) Sacred Ground Racial Reconciliation training, studied and outlined my Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program materials, attended 6 different wellness/health & beauty appointments (catching up on all the delayed ones from earlier in the year), and spent 5 glorious hours in retreat. It's definitely not my typical vacation time, but there is nothing typical about this year - for any of us.

For this newsletter, I'd like to share with you a bit of my "wilderness" experience / retreat time from Monday. While I was initially rather concerned about my ability to _simply be_ versus have a 'to do' list of activities, I actually found the time refreshing and wonderful. The best way I can describe this time with the Holy is as follows.

Have you ever watched those commercials on TV for the large plastic storage bags in which you place your bulky items and then use your vacuum to suck the air out of the bag so that it can be stored in a smaller space? Monday felt like that, in reverse. It was as if the Holy said "Enough!" and opened the valve and refilled me with breath, with creation and creativity, with an awareness of the Spirit. I'm blessed to have also had a Spiritual Direction appointment the next morning to help me process the time.

I share this with you not because I want you to think me some Holy and saintly person. I share this with you because I needed this time so desperately and hadn't even realized it. The chaos of life presses in on us continually until we are all like that vacuum-packed bag and barely able to breathe. We all need the valve released every once in a while to be filled with the Holy. It is how we are designed as humans, to be filled with the Holy.

As for what I did in those 5 hours, well I prayed and meditated, I read the first 2 chapters of Luke from The Message (which is not an authorized translation but definitely a unique perspective), I journaled and ate breakfast while watching the birds hop around the yard, and I listened to instrumental chant-like music while making a rather miserable attempt at a mandala (no judgment here ... it's about the process, not the result). None of those activities did anything but help me _still_ my mind and spirit ... something we all could benefit from in these times.

Saints, take time for yourself this coming weekend and week. Take time to experience the Holy. Take time to be released from that vacuum-packed storage container and be filled with the Spirit. The infant birth is coming. Let us be ready to revel in that miracle with our whole selves.

Blessings!
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226

News from the Red Doors - December 4, 2020

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

It is an amazing blessing to St. Paul's that our annual stewardship campaign yielded results comparable to and a bit higher than last year. Even amidst the pandemic, the faithful saints at St. Paul's are committed to supporting our Episcopal presence here in the city of LaPorte. Thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart and with the appreciation of everyone who is able to worship here because of your generosity.

Our pledge commitments for the current year of 2020 are $91,608. The pledge commitments for next year, 2021, are $93,476. This includes two new pledging households and five households that still have an opportunity to be included. (Please feel free to drop off your pledge at any time!)

Our next steps include our dedicated treasurer, Sue, putting together a draft budget for 2021 based on the known expenses we expect to incur. This year's spending, year to date, indicates our known expenses will be higher than our pledge amount. We have experienced this before. We are blessed with investments that can be used, ONLY when necessary, to balance the difference. We will project that amount and be thankful for those monies when we need to use them. Your leadership team is frugal and careful with all of the time, talent, and treasure for which we are stewards!

One last wonderful note, which I can share now, is the rectory will have a tenant beginning January 15th. While we are still in the final stages of signing the lease agreement, the new pastor of The Presbyterian Church and her family will be moving in! The lease is for 6 months only at this point as they hope to buy a home in the area, but it's a start. Please pray for Pastor Jane's safe arrival to LaPorte and for her family to feel welcome in our beloved rectory.

Some newsletters are full of practical ideas while some are more heavily spiritually focused. So I leave you with these two notes:

  • I am on vacation Monday-Saturday of this week. If you have a pastoral emergency, you may still call me. I'm not going out of town.

  • As you reflect up this unique Advent season, keep these words from our Epistle reading from 2nd Peter this Sunday in mind ... Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

Be well friends. Wear your masks. Say your prayers. And be blessed.

Blessings!
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226