“People will know you’re my followers because you love one another.” John 13:35
Dear People of St. David’s,
I pray that you and yours are safe and well and that you are filled with a deep sense of just how loved you are. That’s the first gift of the Christian life, you are loved. God loves you with an infinite depth of favor and affection. When we take hold of this first gift of the Christian life, allowing it to seep into our hearts and minds, then we are ready to experience the second gift of the Christian life. God calls us to love others with that same regard, favor, and affection so they can begin to grasp just how loved they are.
We are a church on a mission to know God in Jesus Christ and to make Christ known to others. A mission that connects us personally and communally with God and gives us a purpose. It is a broad mission, so each year we choose some aspect of the mission and Christian life: a focus to better connect us with God, God’s purposes for our life, and for the life of St. David’s.
This year we will be living into our mission by focusing on being A Community of Love. It is a focus that helps us to remember and live into the first two gifts of the Christian life; we are loved, and we can love others. It is my hope that we will be drawn closer to God’s community of love while at the same time building a broader community of love with one another; one that is life-changing for us and for all who are touched by the love we share.
It may seem a little self-evident that we have been called to be a community of love, but we live in a world in which judgementalism, indifference, division, and hatred infect our daily lives. By God’s grace and love at work in our lives, we have an opportunity to allow God to change our hearts through love; to share that same love with others for their good. You and I need to be part of a community in which love is the main focus. The world needs the power of love to bring about a closer vision of God’s desire for this world. Love is the measure Jesus uses to determine whether we are Jesus’ followers or not, nothing more, but certainly nothing less.
We’ve also chosen the foundational theme of the Christian life because God is preparing St. David’s for a change in leadership with a new rector joining in the mission sometime in the new year. How nice might it be for the new rector to find that God has called them to a community filled with God’s love and a parish who is ready to love the new rector as God loves them.
I look forward to this new program year with a deep sense of excitement and hope as we experience God’s love and share our love with one another in ways great and small.
See you in church!
Grace and Peace and Love,
The Rev. W. Frank Allen
Rector