In this week's edition:

- Annual Meeting and Potluck Lunch tomorrow, Sunday, January 18



- Annual Meeting written reports

• Priest-in-charge
• Co-wardens
• Music Director
• Treasurer

- Holiday office closure, and Rev. Nathan travel

- Congratulations, Interim Dean Harlon Dalton!

- January 24: IONNE Live with Trevor Babb and Dylan Rowland

- News from the Wider Church: MLK Day, Episcopal vigil for Minnesota, and more

- This Sunday at St. PJ's

• Cycles of Prayer
• Video: Last Sunday's Service and Sermon

- Support Loaves & Fishes and Sunrise Cafe during renovation

- Reach out to Rev. Nathan to schedule your household visit

- There's Always More...

Annual Meeting and Potluck Luncheon,

tomorrow Sunday, January 18

Our Annual Meeting is tomorrow, immediately following worship. Please bring a dish to share for the potluck luncheon if you can. An enormous thank you to Aggie Zichichi-Evans and Joyce Sanseverino for overseeing the potluck setup. Please stay if you can to help clean-up; many hands make light work!

This will be a wonderful time to be in community with one another and with God. Presentations will be briefer than in past years, so that we can spend more time in lively table conversation about what St. PJ's means to us. We will also elect our vestry members and diocesan convention delegates.

Reports have been written and are provided below; please read them before the meeting if you can, as the presenters will give only brief summaries and take questions. To that end, I apologize for not sending this eNews earlier and giving you more time. A personal emergency delayed things, but I promise everything is sorted now and everyone is fine.

Annual Meeting Reports

• Priest-in-Charge Report

• Wardens' Report

• Treasurer's Report

• Interim Music Director's Report

• Capital Campaign Committee Report

Holiday office closure and Rev. Nathan travel

The church office will be closed this coming Monday, January 19, for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Rev. Nathan will also be out for the rest of the week, attending a faith-leader conference.

Congratulations,

Interim Dean Harlon Dalton

As you may have heard, the Very. Rev. Miguelina "Lina" Howell, Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, has been elected Bishop of Western Massachusetts.

Beginning February 1, the new Interim Dean of the cathedral will be St. PJ's very own Rev. Harlon Dalton! In addition to being a St. PJ's member, Harlon is also an associate priest at the Cathedral who served as interim during the previous dean transition as well. We look forward to his return at St. PJ's and send him back to Hartford with our prayers and love.

January 24: IONNE Live with Trevor Babb and Dylan Rowland

WHAT: IONNE Live, with guest musicians

WHO: Maurice Harris, Trevor Babb, and Dylan Rowland 

WHERE: Lost In New Haven

80 Hamilton Street

New Haven, CT 

WHEN: Saturday, January 24, 2026

Doors open: 6:30 p.m.

Performance begins: 7 p.m. 

Tickets: $12 - $25 General Admission (All Ages) 

Join New Haven-based electronica artist and St. PJ's member Ionne for an immersive evening that blends music, art, and storytelling!

This performance features guest musicians and St. PJ's members Trevor Babb (guitar) and Dylan Rowland (piano), fusing electronic soundscapes with live instrumentation and synchronized projections in a two-part set drawn from Ionne's 2025 dual releases, Pathos and A Light Untruth.

Guests will also have opportunities to explore Lost in New Haven, a whimsical new museum dedicated to celebrating New Haven memorabilia.

News from the Wider Church

- [RNS] The US — and its churches — can’t look away from MLK’s warnings about power any longer: https://religionnews.com/2026/01/16/us-and-its-churches-cant-look-away-from-mlks-warnings-about-power-any-longer/

- [ENS] Episcopalians to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day with services, events:

https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2026/01/14/episcopalians-to-observe-martin-luther-king-jr-day-with-services-events/

- [ENS] RIP: Former Florida Bishop Frank Cerveny dies at 92: https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2026/01/09/rip-former-florida-bishop-frank-cerveny-dies-at-92/

- [ENS] Thousands join Episcopal Church vigil to lament violent immigration enforcement actions, unite in pursuing justice: https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2026/01/14/thousands-join-episcopal-church-vigil-to-lament-violent-immigration-enforcement-unite-in-pursuing-justice/

- [RNS] Two Episcopal bishops say clergy may have to put 'bodies on the line' to resist ICE: https://religionnews.com/2026/01/15/two-episcopal-bishops-say-clergy-may-have-to-put-bodies-on-the-line-to-resist-ice/

- [RNS] Black church leaders aid Minneapolis, seek laws curtailing federal agents' mask usage: https://religionnews.com/2026/01/16/black-church-leaders-aid-minneapolis-seek-laws-curtailing-masks-on-federal-agents/

[This article quotes New Haven's Pastor Boise Kimber, now president of the National Baptist Convention USA]

- [BNG] We do not know all the names: https://baptistnews.com/article/we-do-not-know-all-the-names/

- [BNG] Kentucky church foregoes FEMA aid because of demands made: https://baptistnews.com/article/kentucky-church-foregoes-fema-aid-because-of-demands-made/

Come to worship this Sunday, January 18, at 10:30 a.m. for the second Sunday after Epiphany and the St. PJ's Annual Meeting and potluck luncheon.

Serving this Sunday:

Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.

In person and online

Wednesday Prayer

12:30 p.m.

In person

Thursday Compline 8 p.m.

On Zoom

Cycles of Prayer and St. PJ's Prayer List

In the Episcopal Church in Connecticut's cycle of prayer, we pray this week for Trinity, St. Gabriel’s, East Berlin; St. Stephen’s, East Haddam; All Saint’s, East Hartford; parish volunteers & parish historians; and the Ecumenical Ministry Network.

In the Anglican Communion Cycle of Prayer, we pray for Province de L’Eglise Anglicane Du Congo (Province of the Anglican Church of the Congo).

On the St. PJ’s prayer list, we pray for: Rachel, Doug Parker, Anne Matthies, Calvin Griffin, Rev. Walter MacNutt, Kevin Gerbe, Leota Tucker, Edwina Johnson, Cynthia King, Paul D'Agostino, Richard Holcomb, Tiras Jaske, Uli Mackert, Charlie & Bridget Farrell, Alyce, Pam, Tommy, Beverly Lett, Stephen Lett, Vanetta Lloyd, Janea Barthle, Lydia Hamnquist, Rita Valenti-Piovane, Rev. Nihal de Lanerolle, Marietta D’Albero, Leonilda Sanchez, Maria Rodriquez, Marietta Coppola, Heather de Lanerolle, Paul Mangels, Alexandra Sanseverino, Dr. Milton Coke, Rev. Deacon Felix Rivera, Pam Yesner, Rev. Carl Scovel, Karl Mini, Patrick Reynolds, Margaret Perry, Ryan Welch, Jack Welch, Freddy and Amy Swindal-Endres, Kyle Park, Carol Brennan, Fr. Tom, George Moore, Nancy Lupi, A. J. Crosby, Molly Clayton, Adrienne Brady, Jeannie & Clemente Campos, Marilyn Bergen

Postulant for Ordination: Milton Gilder

Birthdays: Hazel Roach (1/21)

Deceased: Antti Jäske-Ryösä (nephew of Juhani Jäske), Sara Ohly

VIDEO: Last Sunday's Service and Sermon

Last week was the second Sunday of Christmas. Rev. Nathan Empsall celebrated the Eucharist and theology PhD candidate Samuel Ernest preached an outstanding sermon about Baptism. Seriously, watch it if you missed it!

If you either missed or want to revisit previous Sundays at St. PJ's, you can find the recorded videos on our Facebook and/or YouTube pages. (Facebook automatically deletes videos after four weeks, but you can always find older archives on YouTube.)

Support Loaves & Fishes and Sunrise Cafe during renovation

The long-awaited replacement of the steps to the undercroft, right on the corner of Chapel and Olive, is underway! The old steps have been ripped up, and the work proceeds. This means that our front yard along Olive Street is fenced off while construction is underway. It is anticipated that the process will take about eight weeks total.

While we are disappointed that we are not able to include a ramp in the project, the new steps will be wider, safer and more welcoming to the community. Please direct questions to Brian Fillmore as Capital Campaign Project Manager.

Sunrise Cafe and Loaves & Fishes continue to operate, using alternate entryways to the undercroft. We acknowledge that this may be difficult timing for such an inconvenience -- first during the holidays, now with winter ongoing, and with some still reeling from the pause in SNAP benefits -- so please donate to either important organization if you can:

Reach out to Rev. Nathan to Schedule Your Household Visit

By the Rev. Nathan Empsall, priest-in-charge

By now, you've likely heard me say that I want to visit every St. PJ's household. I want to hear about who you are, what makes you tick, what you believe and love, your history at St. PJ's, and your hopes for the future of our common life together. Ideally this meeting would be at your home, where I can get to know you in your own environment and also offer a home blessing, but coffee shops and walks in the park are okay too.

These meetings are happening, and I have greatly enjoyed them -- but I am also realizing that I am my own bottleneck when it comes to scheduling, as I reach out to families one or two at a time. To try and speed things up, I invite you to reach out to me with some suggested times and dates we might meet.

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are ideal, but Fridays and Saturdays are okay too. While weekday daytimes are certainly best, I understand that work schedules can necessitate evenings or Saturdays. Please email me at revnathan@stpaulstjames.org, and I hope to see you outside the church building soon!

There's always more...

Please remember that there is a blue Lost & Found bin in the church office.

If you would like to submit an item for consideration in the eNews or bulletin announcements, please let Rev. Nathan know at revnathan@stpaulstjames.org by next Wednesday afternoon.

Please contact Monifa Atkinson in the church office at office@stpaulstjames.org or (203) 562-2143 if you are interested in receiving more information about any of the following:

- Renting space at St. PJ's for your next party, meeting, concert, wedding, or other event. More info at the St. PJ's website here >>

- Volunteering with St. PJ's

- Adding a name, birthday, or anniversary to the St. PJ's prayer list

- Arranging pastoral care needs

- Purchasing grocery-store gift cards to benefit St. PJ's

- Reserving a place in the St. PJ's columbarium or purchasing a plaque on the Memorial Wall

St. PJ's Staff and Contacts

Administrative Office Hours: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - Noon

Priest Office Hours: Tuesday - Thursday by appointment

office@stpaulstjames.org

(203) 562-2143

• Priest-in-Charge: The Rev. Nathan Empsall, revnathan@stpaulstjames.org, (203) 278-9199
• Administrative Director: Monifa Atkinson, office@stpaulstjames.org
• Sexton: Sammy Rodriguez
• Children's Ministry: Molly Clayton
• Director of Music: Will Cleary
• Associate Director of Music: Dylan Rowland
• Tech and Music Intern: Dontae James
• Seminary Intern: Kelly Park
• Priest Associate: The Rev. Steve Crowson
• Vestry: Bill Evans (co-warden), Juhani Jaske (co-warden), David Hill (treasurer), Maggie King (clerk), Roni Holcomb, Steve Crowson, Maurice Harris, Pam Sayre, Vanetta Lloyd, Lynne Severance