A Message from the Assistant Rector:
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You’re alive. That, in and of itself, is a miracle. You have made it through the worst year in decades. There is much to be grateful for. There is also much to grieve. There is probably someone you know who has tested positive for COVID-19. It is less likely that they have died, but perhaps they have. There are also the countless multitude of the dead that seem as distant and cold as the statistical figures themselves: 344,000 (in the United States alone). There are the many losses of independence, mobility, general happiness, physical contact, wages, and hope for the future, too.
We find this tension between joy and sorrow, grief and gratitude in the Gospel text for Epiphany. Technically, the Feast of the Epiphany occurs after the famous Twelfth Night (a Wednesday this year). Many churches often transfer this feast day to the Sunday closest to the actual day. We’re used to adjustments in COVID-19, anyway.
While the date transfer of Epiphany is no epiphany for us, the fact that we can experience the full weight of human highs and human lows to the degree that we have is something novel. It is possible to find yourself hosting royalty one day and to be on the run for your life the next. It is possible to be glad that you’re working remotely and to grieve the fact that you no longer can listen to live music or go out to dinner with friends. It is totally within the realm of possibility that you can be glad you made it through 2020 and to be grieving for all of those who weren’t so lucky. It is possible to have gifts from the unexpected stranger and to lose your house, your village, and all that you know to the whims of a mad despot in one fell swoop. It is normal to cry tears of gladness at the sound of the Christ child cooing in Mary’s arms and to cry tears of sadness at the Massacre of the Innocents.
We’ve always known this to be true at some deep level. As Charles Dickens once quipped in A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” What I’ve discovered, however, in countless conversations with people grappling with how to cope this past year is that 2020 has made this basic intuition of human life far more noticeable, more conscious, more real. What we know to be true has become experientially so in a new way. The chasm between our competing emotions has become more alive. The vast expanse and complex constellation of what it means to be a part of this strange species has burst onto the scene with new fervor, so much so that those parts of our humanity that we deem ordinary have begun to scratch the surface of what we call divinity.
This awakening of what is really real has crept upon us quite suddenly. We are profoundly aware of how beautiful life is and how quickly it can disappear. We are amazed that God would enter such fragility and seek to redeem it. The Epiphany message’s trope, ground through the grater of suffering, has arrived as a new revelation, a sudden burst of illumination, an epiphany about the Epiphany. May the fresh sense of old truths carry us through the coming trials of 2021. Amen.
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The Memorial Empty Chair is here for us to think about and pray for all our loved ones we are missing this holiday season. Drop by the decorated church this week to see it.
Missed 2020's Lessons and Carols?
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THANK YOU MRS. DIXON
Many thanks to Anne Coste and the Flower Guild for the beautiful Christmas decorations and to John and Janna Grigger for the altar arrangements.
We give thanks for our beloved patron who ensures our Christmas greens and flowers are paid for each year, Mrs. Edith Dixon.
So many of us enjoy these annual decorations and Edie dedicates all these magnificent creations to the glory of God and in memory of her family members:
F. Eugene Dixon, Jr., Eleanor Widener Dixon, George D. Widener, Eleanor Dixon Gentle, F. E. Dixon, and Sarah and David Robb.
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An Update from the Search Committee |
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The Rector Search Committee has been setting up its processes, most recently developing specific interview questions to use with each candidate, based on the skills that the parish said we should be looking for. We’ve taken this week off, but next Tuesday, January 5th, we’ll meet to conduct a mock interview. By mid-January we should be able to start our Zoom interviews of actual candidates.
What does a mock interview look like as a part of a clergy search? There are clergy in this area who volunteer to be the interviewee for search committees, so we can develop our answers to the questions that our candidates may ask. For instance, if s/he asks about our outreach programs, we can practice both what we want to say and who will speak for us about outreach. Since our committee members are involved in all the different ministries of St. Paul’s, those ministries will all be accurately and enthusiastically represented.
Please keep praying for us, and happy new year to all!
Louise Thompson
Chair of the Search Committee
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Many thanks to everyone who sent their pledges into the office and online these past couple of months. As of December 30th, we have received 147 pledges for a total of just over $588,891 -- about 93% of our goal! If you have not pledged to the operating budget for 2021, please do so here. Your generosity ensures that St. Paul's can continue to be a positive force in our community for many years to come. We have around 30 families and individuals missing who pledged last year and we hope can do so again so that we can meet the $100k challenge gift.
It is also very important that everyone who pledged in 2020 fulfill their commitment from this past year. We have $51k in outstanding pledge commitments to meet. Thanks to everyone who has already completed their gifts for this year.
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Mr. & Mrs. Charles Affel
Mr. & Mrs. Timothy Albert
Mr. Richard Alexander
Mr. Douglas Anderson
Mr. Henry Ballerstedt
Mr. & Mrs. Justin Baxter
Mrs. Charlotte Betancourt
Ms. Charlotte Biddle
Ms. Linda Boggs
Ms. Patricia Bonsall
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Boothby
Ms. Pamela Bracey
Ms. Elizabeth Brooks
Mr. Colin Brown & Ms. Lauren O'Garro-Moore
Mr. & Mrs. Wilson Brown, III
Mr. Martin Brueckner & Ms. Kristen Poole
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Budd
Mr. Robert Busser & Ms. Karen Richter
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Butler, Jr.
Mr. Sandy L.V. Byrd & Mrs. Bessie Jordan-Byrd
Mr. Stephen Camp-Landis
Ms. Lynn Carroll & Ms. JoAnn Puccella
Ms. Alessandra Cartelli
Mr. Kenneth Class
Ms. Margaret Class
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Clowery
Miss. R. Jeanette Cord
Mr. Henry Crouter
Mrs. Nina Deats
Dr. Mary Anne Delaney & Ms. Helen McBride
Ms. Cheyenne DeMulder & Ms. Shana Stites
Mrs. Ruth Desiderio
Ms. Sandra Dillon
Mrs. Edith Dixon
Mr. Mark Ducket & Mr. Stan Gaddy
Ms. Suzanne Dure
Ms. Margaret Emmons
Mr. Joe Fafara & Ms. Catherine Davis
Mr. & Mrs. William Fikioris
Ms. Janice Fiore
Ms. Joan Fischer
Mr. & Mrs. Walter Foulke
Mrs. Margaret Freeman
Mr. & Mrs. W. Roderick Gagné
Ms. Lee Gast
Mrs. Sandra Glendinning
Mr. Wm. Graham
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Mrs. Jane Gray
Dr. & Mrs. John Grigger
Mr. Clark Groome
Mr. & Mrs. Mark Hanlon
Mrs. Henry F. Harris, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Bob Hayes
Mr. Charles Head & Mr. John Faggotti
Mr. Brian Henes
Mr. Jeffrey Hoeltzel
Mr. and Mrs. & Mrs. Robert Hubby
Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Hyde
Mr. & Mrs. Matthew Hyde
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Irwin
Mr. & Mrs. Kevin Johnson
Ms. Shireatha Johnson
Mrs. Joseph L. Jones
Ms. Bernice Jones
Ms. Denise Jones
Dr. Richard Kagen & Ms. Valerie Stevens
Mrs. Kathleen Karhnak-Glasby
Mr. & Mrs. John Kimberly
Mrs. Charlotte Kleis
The Rev. Daniel Kline
Mr. Charles Klitsch
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Knudson
Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Knup, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Kolb
Miss. Kirsten Landreth & Mr. Scott Smith
Michael & Sarah Latini
Mr. & Mrs. David Leach
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Leonards, III
Mrs. Joanna Lewis
Ms. Chesley Lightsey & Ms. Sherri Hamilton
Ms. Rosaria Love
Ms. Mary Loveland
Mr. & Mrs. Charles Lower
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Mabry
Mr. Myron Manternach & Ms. Tabitha Oman
Mr. Timothy Martin & Ms. Paula Brown
Mr. Tim McLean & Mrs. Anna Marley
Mr. George McNeely
Dr. & Mrs. Kara McShane
Mrs. Evelyn H. Miller
Mr. Harvey Shipley Miller
Ms. Lisa Miller
Mrs. Lyn Montgomery
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Ms. Wendy Munyon
Mr. & Mrs. Alexander Nalle
Mr. Jonathan Nidock
Dr. & Mrs. Daniel O'Connell
Mrs. Suzanne O'Neil
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas O'Rourke
The Rev. Canon Albert Ogle & Mile Petrov
Mrs. Jeanne Omans
Mrs. Harriet Palmer
Mrs. Amy Papa
Mrs. Margaret Pearson
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen Pearson, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Robin Peirce
Mr. & Mrs. Adam Piatkowski
Mr. Michael Pongracz
Mr. & Mrs. James Pope
The Rev. & Mrs. James Proud
Mrs. Rose Randall
Mr. & Mrs. George Reath Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. John Rollins
Mrs. Trudy Roman
Mr. & Mrs. Samuel Scheid
Mr. & Mrs. Steven Schindler
Ms. Madeline Schroth
Mr. Schwarz & Mrs. Jorge-Schwarz
Mrs. Nancy Shepard
Captain & Mrs. Carl Sheppard, Jr.
Mr. Edward W. N. Smith
Mrs. Judith Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Robert Smith
Mr. & Mrs. Harry Southwell
Dr. George Spaeth
Mr. & Mrs. Baird Standish
Ms. Elizabeth Starrantino
Mr. & Mrs. Michael Stockman
Mr. & Mrs. Fred Straub, III
Mr. Newbold Strong
Ms. Charlotte Sutton
Ms. Helen Swain
Mrs. Elaine Sykes
Mrs. Louise Thompson
Mr. David Toliver
Mr. & Mrs. Spencer Tullo
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph Van Sciver, III
Mrs. Patricia Voigt
Mr. & Mrs. James Walker
Mr. & Mrs. Derek Warnick
Mr. & Mrs. William Wemple
Dr. Robert Whitaker & Dr. Hillary Burdette
Mr. & Mrs. J. Randolph Williams, Jr.
Mr. Sheppard Williams & Mr. Stephen Stone
Mr. & Mrs. Hugh Williamson
Mrs. Margaret Woodruff
Mr. John Zimmermann, III
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During this time when most of us are not attending church services in person, we are offering a Virtual Collection Plate. Please contribute what you would normally have given each Sunday and help Saint Paul's continue its important work! |
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Shop and Drop
Your contribution to St. Paul’s Shop and Drop has made a positive impact on so many families in our nearby communities through our weekly deliveries to St. Luke’s food pantry in Germantown. The demand continues to rise.
Consider donating:
Vegetables/rice/potatoes, other: canned vegetables, boxed mashed potatoes, and rice
Protein: Peanut butter (or any other nut butter), nuts/seeds/trail mix, canned tuna fish, canned chicken, soup/stew-hearty, shelf stable milk. Consider donating jelly or jam in unbreakable containers to accompany peanut butter.
Carbohydrates: Crackers, granola bars, cereal
Other: Red tomato sauce, fruit cups, applesauce, canned fruit, and dried fruit.
The St. Paul’s Outreach Committee thanks you for your dedication.
-Charlotte Biddle and Tom O’Rourke, Outreach Committee Chairs
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UPDATE: St. Paul's is unbelievable!!!! We at Outreach are overwhelmed and delighted by the generosity of St. Paul's parishioners -- we delivered 40 coats to Face to Face last week. Thanks to all. Keep scratchin'!
It’s time! It’s getting cold.
Face to Face Germantown again needs gently used winter coats - men’s and women’s - the larger the better. You all were amazingly generous last winter. Jody and I made a trip a week with your coats and they were all snapped up.
So, please check the closet and if you see a coat you won’t wear again and would like it to see new life, you can drop it off in the back of the church, near the usher's table or in the rectory during office hours.
Jody and I will see that it gets to Face to Face.
Thanks so much.
Tom O'Rourke
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Join us as we discuss themes of family, Black identity, LGBTQ+ identity, and how history shapes the present from one of the most talked about novels of 2020!
Wednesdays in January at 7PM
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Wednesdays from 10:30AM-12PM |
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Our new Nativity set, first seen during the Posada and up for the 12 days of Christmas, was a gift to the parish in honor of the 2020 Confirmation Class. Louella Whitaker was the first confirmand to sign the back of the camel, a rite of passage all in the class will undertake! |
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Please continue to pray for Max and Avery Peterson during this difficult holiday season. If you are hurting, please reach out to the clergy for any pastoral care. We are available around the clock. |
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From Ted & Nicholas Peterson (Charlie's brothers):
We are deeply saddened by the loss of our brother, Charlie Peterson.
His children, Max and Avery, will forever carry the love for their father in their
hearts. We have set up a fund on their behalf in order to support their educational growth. All contributions can be made payable to the Charles M Peterson III Family Education Trust using the following instructions:
Fiduciary Trust International
Attn: Carolyn Wyeth
100 Matsonford Road, Suite 450
Radnor, PA 19087
Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and incredible support.
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Missed our Christmas services?
You can watch them (or re-watch them!) here.
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