Christmas is coming.
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Dear friends and members of St. Matt's.
I can't believe that Christmas is only a week and a half away. I'm sure you can't either. Please join us virtually on Christmas Eve. We'll have two services, the first will be online on the website and on Facebook as you've become accustomed; the Musical Prelude begins at 4:30pm and the service begins at 5pm. You won't want to miss the prelude - the video that comes after my note will convince you of that! So join us at 4:30pm for a spectacular celebration.
And then, as you've hopefully seen by now, there is another opportunity for you to come into a Zoom room for the late service at 10:00pm. In order to have the full experience of that service, you'll want to sign up in advance to receive communion. Kits will be available for pick up in the circle beginning 12/20. The cut off to sign up is 12/16 (that's tomorrow!), so if you haven't signed up yet - please do that today. Then we'll all receive communion together in a short service of prayer and thanksgiving at 10pm on Christmas Eve. I can't wait to share that with you.
Finally for today, I hope that you were able to join us this last weekend for our live nativity. It was a beautiful day. God blessed us with warm, clear weather and a beautiful sunset. There were really adorable animals to see - and sometimes hear - as they said hello. And so many of you and our neighbors at WPC came to visit. There were also a lot of visitors - folks that Shannon and I didn't know - folks from town who came to participate. And I was delighted to see that. I was most delighted though, to see all of you. Live and in person. There were tears and meaningful connections and conversations and I'm grateful for that. And in the midst of all of this, and what a lovely day it was, I want to thank Sam for all of the extra work she did on our behalf to make the day what it was. We are so fortunate to have the amazing staff team that we have, and Sam is a crucial part of that team. Not only is she so present for our kids, always willing to authentically share her faith, and happy to support and be a part of other pieces of our life together - she did a tremendous amount of work to make our celebration on Sunday so joyful and adorable. So, thank you Sam for all that you do for us - and especially for your good work this weekend.
And thank you all for coming to participate and for supporting our life and our work together in all the ways that you do. I know this season is not how any of us would like it to be, and yet - Christmas is coming. God is still good. And there is much to celebrate and be thankful for. Let me know how I can help. God loves you. And so do I.
Faithfully,
--Marissa +
Tags: Welcome from the Rector