Hello – Tomorrow marks the beginning of the penitential season of Lent, a season where we prepare our hearts to receive with joy the remembrance of the mighty acts by which we were saved in Holy Week. Come to St. Paul’s and receive the imposition of ashes on your forehead with the words ‘remember you…
The Restoration Project The Rev. Christopher H. Martin January, 2016 If you were to visit my parish of St. Paul’s, San Rafael, California, I believe you would find it familiar. We are a pastoral size parish with just under a hundred people on most Sundays. The sanctuary is in the carpenter gothic style, from 1869,…
An Essential Update Hello – Creating a courtyard that is safe accessible and beautiful is the major work of our generation for the St. Paul’s campus. Here’s the latest from our Capital Campaign co-chairs: SPRIF III News Thank You Our SPRIF III Capital Campaign continues to march forward vigorously, and in many ways we are…
Hello – Our great busy season continues for another ten days: 1. This Sunday is the Annual Meeting, from 11:15am to 1pm. This gathering is essential for the health of our community and so your voice and vote will be deeply appreciated. And there’s Jambalaya for lunch! 2. Ash Wednesday is a week from tomorrow,…
Hello – The next two weeks (and a half) feature four important events. After that, things mellow out a little. It’s been a very rich and productive beginning to to 2016. I hope for your continued attention because the four things I list below have the potential to make us a stronger, more loving community.…
Hello – A saying repeated often through the course of the Psalms is the admonition to “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” Since I came to St. Paul’s nearly twelve years ago that phrase has nicely summoned up our attitude to worship. Next Saturday, the 30th of January we are taking two hours,…
Dear Friends – I write to let you know that Walter D., a strong and faithful leader of St. Paul’s and a good man, died on Monday night at his home. Walter had been living with cancer for some time. It was a cancer that began in his neck. A couple of months ago his…
Hello – The first quarter of 2016 is unusually full at St. Paul’s. Last week I sent a series of four emails that outlined many activities under the categories of ‘”Together,” “Prayer,” “Worship,” and “Service.” These four are words from our mission statement. This week, I send to you a simple calendar with the major…
Hello – This is the last of four daily emails that orient us for 2016. The four emails focus on four different key words in our mission statement which is “following Jesus together in prayer, worship and service.” Today I focus on “service.” “Service” means what Jesus points to in Matthew 25 when he says…
Hello – This is the third of four brief emails based on our mission to follow Jesus together in prayer, worship and service. Each email is based on a word in the mission statement. Today, we focus on our shared call to “worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” When we worship we do…