November Rector’s Letter
Dear Parish Family,
In this month's Rector’s letter, we discuss All Saint’s Sunday, Stewardship, the Capital campaign, the 2019 Book of Common Prayer, the War in the Holy Land, and the Thanksgiving holiday. Let’s jump in:
All Saints’ Sunday
It was a wonderful celebration of all of the Saints on Sunday. The Communion of Saints that we say we believe in every day during the Apostles' Creed—it’s the Church. The Communion of Saints are all of those who are redeemed by Jesus Christ, which is us. This doesn’t mean that we are perfect but rather that He is perfect. His goodness and mercy extend to us sinners, making us His. The right response to Him is rejoicing and leaning into the call to personal holiness that He presents to every single one of us.
Adding to the joy of the day, was the First Holy Communion for two of our youngest members, pictured above. Congratulations!
Stewardship
Thank you to everyone who’s already turned in a pledge card for 2024. Your generosity is so appreciated. If you haven’t seen our Stewardship packet yet, you can click here to take a look. Please spend some time in prayer about what you see God doing here at St. Laurence. If you’re ready to make a pledge, you can bring your pledge card on Sunday or you can pledge online here. Being good stewards of God’s many gifts is a really important part of our walk with Christ. I’m so grateful that so many of you know this and have made such a strong commitment to it.
Capital Campaign Check Point
Thank you so much to everyone who came to our Capital Campaign check point this Sunday! There was a great spirit during the meeting, with lots of emphasis on our Lord and the mission He gives to His church. It was standing room only in the parish hall, highlighting the need to expand that space. If you didn’t make it to Sunday’s meeting, please join us this coming Sunday November 12 at 5:45pm for wine & cheese, and an identical meeting to the one we just had. The only difference is that there will be more time for Q&A this Sunday.
We are in good hands with our Campaign chairs: Mark Jameson, Greg Jones, and Lisa Lapiska, alongside our Expansion Committee, chaired by Shea Kirkman. These are great leaders for us, who love our Lord and love St. Laurence. As I said yesterday, the expansion project is not primarily about bricks and mortar; it’s about the mission of the church and the ministry that will happen inside of the new buildings. We’re building a bigger boat, so that we can welcome more and more followers of Jesus Christ into His Church and thus fulfill the Great Commission.
2019 Book of Common Prayer
We will begin using the 2019 Book of Common Prayer in just about a month’s time. I’m really hoping that’s not news to you. We begin on the first Sunday of Advent, December 3, 2023.
If you’ve been coming to our Sunday morning adult Sunday school class in the parish hall, then you’ve been working through the 2019 Prayer Book with me in great detail over the last several months. While the class has been very well attended, I know that not everyone has been able to make those sessions. In an effort not to leave anybody behind, I will be offering a one hour crash course on the 2019 Book of Common Prayer at 6pm on Sun, Nov. 26.
As a reminder, we are moving to the 2019 Prayer Book for two main reasons: 1. Our Bishop has asked us to. 2. Not doing so would put us out of step with the worship throughout the rest of our diocese. Most of our sister parishes throughout the diocese have already made this move or are in the process of doing so. If we were to dig in our heels and commit to using the 1979 Prayer Book that we currently use for the foreseeable future, then we would be locking ourselves in the past, and ensuring that we are out of sync with the rest of our churches. That would not yield good outcomes.
The main difference will be at the 8:30am Sunday mass, and at all of our weekday services. When the celebrant says, “The Lord be with you.” The reply will be: “And with your spirit.” There are a number of other small changes and if you’d like to know more, then join me on Sunday mornings during the Sunday school time or on Sunday Nov. 26 at 6pm.
War in the Holy Land
We are all watching with incredible sadness the war that is underway in the Holy Land and praying that it will end quickly, with a minimal loss of life. I hope we are spending at least as much time praying as we are following the news. Please continue to pray for peace and for the Prince of Peace to reign in the hearts of all of those involved.
We are approaching the feast day of St. Martin on Sat, Nov. 11. It’s no mistake that this day is also Veteran’s Day. St. Martin was a general in the army of Gaul (modern day France). He had a vision of Christ one day, who called him to lay down arms and serve the church. It’s the church’s prayer on the feast of St. Martin every year that there would be a day where all weapons would be laid down and all people would live under the banner of the Prince of Peace. We pray for the fulfillment of Isaiah’s vision in Isaiah 2:4, "He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.”
And so we pray for two things on November 11:
We thank God for all of our Veterans
We pray that there would be a day when Veterans are no longer needed, when wars have ceased and all people can live together in harmony
Thanksgiving
With the Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, I want us to notice what an amazing thing it is to live in a country that has a national holiday dedicated to giving thanks to God for our many blessings. No, I’m not naive about the fact that many of our fellow Americans don’t treat it as such and mainly think it's a day to eat a lot and watch football. That reality doesn’t change the facts about the day’s purpose. When Abraham Lincoln issued his famous Thanksgiving proclamation in 1863 setting aside a day to give thanks here’s what he wrote:
"I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility, and union."
To that I can only say Amen. It’s beautiful and the clarity contained here is moving.
I consider it a great blessing to be able to serve here at St. Laurence and I give God and all of you thanks for that blessing.
Faithfully,
Fr. John Jordan
P.S. Go Rangers! I’m still so excited!