What a Difference a Year Can Make
I was looking back at last year’s Annual Meeting notes and almost one year ago to the day we were getting excited about starting to re-normalize in person worship, bring back all our beloved events, and renew many of the ministries we had missed during the pandemic. It is hard to believe that that was just one year ago, and I am grateful for how far in the rearview mirror such a moment seems. It is not lost on us how wonderful it is to finally have begun to forget what it felt like to yearn for in-person shared ministry.
This year will be different. All of those events and ministries we missed are back in full force. Our three First-Sunday Breakfast this fall have been wonderfully attended. Our Trunk-or-Treat, Blessing of the Animals, Thanksgiving Eucharist, Lessons and Carols, and Christmas Pageant events were robustly enjoyed. Church attendance is close to what it was pre-pandemic and our finances were stronger that hoped for in 2022. Christmas and Easter were glorious and the faith of Holy Spirit is tangibly vibrant.
The beginning of 2023 already feels like all is back to normal with our Blessings in a Backpack Food Bowl and Annual Community Auction (this year is the Diamond Jubilee Gala in celebration of 60 years of church and school partnership!) back in full effect in the coming weeks. We have baptisms, an Evensong service, Scout Sunday, Vestry Retreat, Shrove Tuesday Supper, and more coming in the next few weeks and people are already signing up for VBS this summer. My heart overflows with excitement and joy to see Holy Spirit back in the swing of things.
I don’t remember every sermon that I preached to my iPhone as we made our way through those long months of staying home, but I do remember promising you that one day the pandemic would be behind us and we would be looking back on that time as something we endured and overcame. It certainly took longer than any of us expected, but we have emerged. I pray you will join us on Sunday after church for our Annual Meeting to acknowledge and celebrate where we have been and where God is calling us to go.
We love you and God loves you,
Josh Condon+