December 11, 2025 l ISSUE 50

Sunday service

at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday Morning Adult Formation Conversations

Join us every Sunday

from 9:30 - 10:15 a.m.

in the Parish Hall

as we listen to God's Holy Word

and discuss how it impacts our personal lives.

9:30a.m. in the Parish Hall

Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.

James 5:8

UPCOMING SCRIPTURE READINGS

SUNDAY LEADERS

A Note From Fr. Jeff

I would like to take a moment and offer a heartfelt thank you to all who made generous pledges to the 2026 stewardship campaign that ended a few weeks ago. This is certainly an opportunity to celebrate its success. The data from the final tally shows some ups and downs, as might be expected. 

  You will note:

        In 2025, there were 22 pledges made. 

        For 2026 pledges declined by 10 for a total of 12 pledges, however, there were 4 new pledges made for 2026, which brings the loss of pledges down by 8 pledges.

        Total dollars pledged in 2025 was $57,636. For 2026, the total dropped to $35,076.

        Average pledge dollars remained constant, an average of $2,620 per pledge in 2025 and $2,595 for 2026.

Thank you to everyone who made a prayerful and committed financial pledge for 2026. I am grateful for your generosity and sacrifice to keep St. Paul's as a beacon of hope and hospitality in the Carondelet neighborhood. We all know full well, our neighbors depend on us to be here, and we are grateful to God for giving us the opportunity to serve those in need.  

I am encouraged by the four new pledges for next year, as well as the continued new faces that find their way into our worship services every Sunday. God continues to watch over us and keeps us faithful to our ministry to each other and our community at large. While our deficient operating budget for 2026 will be quite large, it will not defeat our vitality and spirit. Just like the stump of Jesse that Isaiah referred to in this past Sunday's Old Testament reading, St. Paul's has new growth shooting up and the promise of fruitful life ahead. May our loving and generous God continue to bless us and guide us as we go forward on our faith journey, seeking to serve God and our neighbor.

Abundant blessings for our generosity. 

Fr. Jeff

P.S. If you have not made a pledge for 2026, it is not too late. Just let me know and I will make sure you get a pledge card to complete.  

Our St. Paul's 2025 Advent journey will take us Through the Wilderness to find Healing for a Weary World

This Advent, I invite you into a season of sacred reflection and prophetic imagination centered on four visions of Isaiah. Each of these visions arises from the pain and longing of God’s people – realities that echo our own struggles with fear, division, and injustice today. Our Sunday morning Adult Formation time will encourage those who participate to courageously name the brokenness around and within us; explore what it means to embody prophetic love and courage in today’s world; and dream of a world made whole – and begin to walk toward it.

The four 50-minute sessions will be based on the Old Testament reading from the Revised Common Lectionary (Year A), that will be read later at our morning liturgy. 

Adult Formation will begin promptly at 9:30a.m. in our Parish Hall. Please try to arrive a few minutes early so that our conversations and discussions can begin on time.

Session 3, December 14th, will focus on Far from Home (Isaiah 35:1–10) – Isaiah 35 speaks to a people in exile who believed the only way home was a long, impassable road around the desert’s perimeter—but the prophet offers a surprising vision: a blooming highway straight through the wilderness, back to their scattered loved ones and back to God. We will reflect on our own seasons of wilderness and loss, while also considering the real-life journeys of those who cross deserts today in search of safety and home.

Session 4, December 21st, will focus on Choosing Vision Over Fear (Isaiah 7:10–16) – This session will invite us to reflect on the temptations we all face when fear takes hold – especially the temptation to trust in power, comfort, or status quo solutions instead of God’s deeper call to justice and peace. We will explore how to root our decisions not in fear and scarcity, but in God’s larger vision of healing, wholeness, and collective flourishing.

Join in

on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m.

before our service.

May we each encounter special blessings during this Advent Season as we engage in these special opportunities to enliven our faith and bring us closer to Christ's manger on Christmas Day

As I sat at home on Saturday morning watching the snow come down, and then turn to rain, and as the temperatures moved up and down, I felt mystified as to how it would all turn out overnight and into Sunday morning. Would the streets and sidewalks be iced over creating hazardous conditions for getting out and driving or would it all melt and dry up. Who can predict the weather? Certainly not me. But I had faith. The sidewalks around church got cleared by our tenant on Saturday afternoon, and the streets seemed to dry overnight, so icy conditions weren't the problem they could have been. Thanks be to God!

But in the future, during the winter season, I want to have a plan for communicating if the Sunday service would be cancelled. I believe our best tool for communication is our weekly electronic newsletter. We distribute it on Thursday mornings and a quick reminder again on Saturday mornings. Going forward, if a service is going to be cancelled it will be communicated no later no later than 8:00am on Sunday morning, hopefully sooner than that. Either our Saturday brief newsletter will indicate the cancellation, or it will come to you as a separate electronic announcement, again, no later than 8:00am on Sunday morning. Always check your email please, before heading to church if you are unsure of the weather conditions. I want everyone to be safe, especially during this winter season!  

A special thanks to Justin Vitale, Melissa Ketcherside, and Angela Breeher for coordinating our "Care Bag" event and to all those who generously donated items and cash donations to make the activity a huge success! You are all truly God's special angels! We'll all be anxious to hear your encounter stories with those you share the bags with.  

New Year's Eve Taizé

at Christ Church Cathedral at 5:00 p.m.

Join us for prayers, scripture readings, and chants in the style of Taizé in Christ Church Cathedral, 1210 Locust Street, St. Louis. 

It is a deeply spiritual way to close 2025 and open our hearts to 2026.

Stay for refreshments and a toast to the New Year afterward.

• This Taize service is offered by Confluence Spirituality St. Louis.  
• We hope you can join us and bring friends and family. 
• Secure parking is available at the Cathedral.