Thank you, St. Martin’s! 

I am writing to you today with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. In advance of what promises to be a hectic couple of weeks preparing to welcome Love Incarnate to be born in us once again, I am already feeling so very grateful for all the ways this community of faith is showing up for one another. 

Thank you to the folks who have been graciously organizing our community suppers, and thank you for holding space for the sacred connections that take place when we break bread together. This coming Wednesday, we will enjoy our final community dinner until we resume in Lent. And we’ll give our volunteers a break by ordering food from Little Carmine’s (thanks to folks who have contributed monetary donations to our community suppers!) We will finish our time with a Blue Christmas Service, holding space for the grief, loneliness, and bewilderment that sometimes accompanies us through this festive season. God is in all of it. 

Thank you to our three choirs who are preparing a very special Lessons & Carols service this Sunday afternoon! And for our Hospitality Guild preparing a reception to celebrate newcomers after the service! Thank you to the Flower and Altar Guilds, preparing to transform our worship space with color and light! Thank you to the AV Team, ensuring folks who are unable to worship with us in person never worship alone! Thank you to our Ushers who seek the face of God in every person they greet! Thank you to the Servers, Acolytes, Lectors, and Intercessors who facilitate our prayer! 

Thank you to the Vestry and Officers for their honest leadership and thoughtful collaboration. This church is so blessed to be cared for by faithful companions who lead for a season with integrity and imagination. As I met with the nominating committee last night to discern who God is calling to partner in leadership next, I gave thanks that this parish is ripe with possibilities, not only for the upcoming Vestry class, but for the class after that and the class after that. Thanks be to God! 

Thank you to the 113 households who have pledged to support our share ministry in 2026, and thank you to all responded to the request to increase their giving over last year’s pledge—more than half of our pledging households increased their pledges! And 9 new households have pledged! Thank you! And, yes, I am still hoping to reach 150 pledging households and will continue reaching out to folks to share the good news of how pledging to St. Martin’s sparks joy in the life of the giver. 

Thank you to the 30 households who have given to the Memorial Garden! While our work is complete, the real gift will come in Spring when everything begins to bloom, and the gift will keep giving in the coming years as the garden fills in with greens and flowers we can use to adorn our worship space.  

Thank you to the 47 households who have given to the Endowment Fund! We have met and exceeded the generous anonymous matching gift, raising over $200,000 and growing our Endowment 10-fold in one year. This will have a real lasting impact in the life of St. Martin’s for generations to come. I am so very grateful. 

Thank you to our Finance Committee, Endowment Committee, Stewardship Committee, Counters, Treasurer, and Buildings & Grounds Committee for their faithful stewardship of the gifts entrusted to us. Thank you to all who care for the spiritual formation of our children, youth and adults! And thank you to all who care for the needs of this parish and beyond with Eucharistic visits, meals, rides, and for all the ways folks show up for the most vulnerable of our extended community. 

Thank you for your prayers as we accepted applications for our Associate Rector and Chaplain, and thank you to the discernment team for calling Rev. Grace Rigby to serve alongside us! I ask your prayers in our search for the next Head of School as our Interim, Kathy, prepares to pass the torch. 

Finally, I give thanks to the staff and office volunteers who keep me, and this parish, afloat. They have weathered so much transition this year. They have held space for the joys and sorrows of the parish, even while tending to their own grief and celebration. Their work is often invisible—yet what you cannot see, you can feel. Amber, Grace, HyeSung, Jory, Sandy, and Susan, I give thanks every day that I get to create meaning and mischief with each of you! 

I know this sounds a lot like an end-of-year letter. It sounds like something I might send after we celebrate the birth of Christ with wonder, fanfare and joy! But I want to tell you now: I am already grateful. I am already giving thanks. I am already overwhelmed for all the ways Jesus is showing up in each of you. No one is excluded. Each one of you is a gift, and I mean that with all my heart. 

Thank you! 

Click here for the worship bulletin

To date, 113 households of our parish family have responded to the blessings that God has given us by pledging $680,309. Thank you! Our goal is to receive $850,000 for the 2026 Operating Budget.  If you have not yet filled out your pledge card, please take some time in the coming week to prayerfully consider how you will partner with St. Martin’s in funding the ministry we share. Pledge cards are in the Narthex and pledging online is simple and fast. Consider adding the ACH automatic payment option, details and the form are both online. Thank you for pledging!