Annual Meeting Invite 2026

Dear Friends,

You may be surprised to know that January is one of my favorite times in parish ministry.  Full of work on budgeting, reporting, nominating & electing, and planning for the year ahead, there is so much opportunity for rich conversations, dreams, and action!  This is work we do together, and so much of it comes into view during our governance forums and Annual Meeting on the last Sunday of the month.

Last Sunday, we shared the outline of the vestry’s 2026 proposed budget in two forums.  This year’s budget builds on good work, over the past couple of years, developing visibility into the budget process, clearly articulating the dynamics of our financial picture (challenging AND hopeful dynamics), and celebrating the generosity and commitment expressed in a record Stewardship Campaign.  

Now, I invite you to participate in one of the nominee forums this Sunday at 10:15 or at 12:15 in Nativity Hall. You’ll have a chance to become acquainted with our fine nominees and to hear them share a bit about their respective hopes and aspirations to serve this parish community.

2026 Vestry Nominees | 2026 Delegate Candidates | 2026 Budget Presentation

Then comes the Annual Parish Meeting, on Sunday, January 25!  A few things will be different for the day.  We will worship at 7:30, 9:00, (NOT 11), and 1:00.  To make more time for community connection, we’ll share a light, casual brunch in Parish Hall from 10:30-11:30am.  There will be no 11:00 service for the day.  

At 11:30, we’ll begin our one-hour meeting in the nave.  This year, as we continue growing as a diverse parish of “many & one, in the Spirit,” the meeting will be conducted in both English and Spanish.  We’ll elect new members to the Vestry, delegates to Diocesan Council, and members of the Mission Endowment Fund committee.  And, I look forward to sharing the Rector’s Address, reflecting on the year behind us and looking forward with vision toward 2026.

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I also have difficult news to share with you.  After nearly 35 years on staff in ministry to children and families (and so much more), Leslie Sackett will retire this summer. While Leslie and Tim will continue as active members of this parish community, they’ll be discovering new ways to participate and serve with us.

No doubt this announcement will stir many questions.  In the coming weeks, we’ll develop plans to celebrate Leslie and her rich and meaningful ministry among us.  It is important to say “thank you” generously, often, and well.  In collaboration with the Vestry, Personnel Committee, and others, I’ll begin the work of defining a new position for ministry to children, youth and families and setting course for a search process.  (The 2026 budget includes funding for a new role with expanded areas of ministry.)  

For now, please join me in expressing our love and gratitude for Leslie and praying God to guide all of us on the path into new seasons.

With you,
Scott+ 

The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector

The Season After Epiphany

Going by Another Way

“Steer clear of royal welcomes/ Avoid a big to-do/ A king who would slaughter the innocents/ Will not cut a deal for you.” -James Taylor, Home by Another Way

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday we celebrated the Epiphany, when the light of the heavens led the magi to find a baby king in Bethlehem, and then a dream of heaven led them—for the sake of the child and their own—back home by another way.

The entire story unfolds “in the time of King Herod.” It is a poignant account of the conflict between powers and principalities run amok and the reign of God, which comes not by force or violence but in vulnerable love, to renew the world. (True love is always vulnerable, isn’t it?)

The magi, led by a star, come by way of Herod, who is shaken by the news of a new king and sends them on with a duplicitous hospitality. They arrive in Bethlehem, adore the child, lavish him with gifts, and prepare to make their way home. Then the dream comes and warns them: it’s not safe to travel the way you already know. Herod is hatching plans for harm and demise—for this new king and his new kind of reign. So they return by another road.

Like James Taylor sings in that soft-rock Epiphany ballad: “We got this far through a lucky star / But tomorrow is another day / We can make it another way.”

In the season after Epiphany, we are all finding our way. We’ve followed the light, welcomed God into the world, and celebrated with rejoicing. And now, changed by the light to make a difference in our walking, and working, and witnessing to what is coming true, we find new roads to travel through this dangerous world,

In this time of wannabe kings, we live with daily realities of darkness—dependent on violence, fear, and death—coming against this work and witness to God’s dream for this world. Yesterday’s shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis is the latest incident in this real and dangerous conflict.

Amidst these perils, we persist. We follow the light. And we depend on heaven-inspired resolve and resourcefulness to make our way. At times it will lead to confrontation with power; at other times we’ll take different roads to accomplish higher aims. All along the way, we’ll be deeply dependent on the wisdom and courage that come from God and from our faithful companions.

One last part of the magi’s journey that should inspire and embolden us: they do not go alone. We go together.

With you,
Scott+ 

The Rev. R. Scott Painter, Rector