“Were not our hearts burning within us while He was talking to us on the road?” Luke 24:32
Dear People of St. David’s,
I pray that you and yours are well on this weekend of St. David’s Annual Meeting. I hope that you can give thanks with me for all that God has been doing in our lives as individuals and as the community on a mission.
As I prepare for my short annual meeting address, I find myself remembering all the ways that God has graced my life and our lives together. It’s been an amazing life-giving year in many ways and it has also been filled with challenges; I give thanks for it all.
I am giving thanks for the beautiful worship we offer to God in-person and online and the hundreds of people who make our worship what it is. I am giving thanks for our outreach ministries and the way we are sharing our gifts to lift up the lives of people in need in the wider community and in the world. I am thankful for the learning and prayer that permeates so much of our life and ministries. I am thankful for the disagreements that have encouraged us to think again and to be kind to one another even when we have different views. I am thankful for the faithful leadership of all of us who are offering ourselves to the mission of St. David’s. I am so very thankful for this community of love and the way we welcome and care for one another in an organized way. Those moments of personal welcome and love are at the very core of the vision Christ has for all of His followers.
Of all the moments and people, I give thanks for at this time of the year (and throughout the year, truth be told), I am thankful to God. I am deeply thankful to God for His presence, guidance, grace, and love that energizes each of us. Just like the two disciples on the road to Emmaus who found themselves walking with Jesus, I feel my heart burn within me for God’s goodness and blessings that surround us on every side.
It’s such a gift to be walking in the presence and grace of God; remembering who God is and all the blessings and gifts that God showers on our lives. I hope you feel the same way and that you will remember God’s goodness and blessings in your life each day, and in the life of our beloved community. When we do, God’s presence will burn in our hearts, and inspire us to do more.
Please join us this Sunday for the Annual Meeting. It’s a wonderful time to remember God’s goodness and blessings at St. David’s over the past year, and to catch a glimpse of who God is calling us to be in the coming year. It’s also a chance to catch up afterwards with conversation and refreshments outside the Chapel.
See you in church!
Grace and Peace,
The Rev. W. Frank Allen
Rector