Dear Ones of St. Columba,

What an amazing feast day and bishop's visit we had this past Sunday! I cannot begin to name all the people who put in hard long hours to help make the day happen, both before and after. I am so grateful for Jenti and Cecily and the many women from the Sudanese Community Church who cooked delicious food, and for Paul and Stephen who smoked 40 lbs of tri-tip beef for all of us and our guests to feast upon. Thank you to all who brought pot-luck items - truly we feasted! I also want to thank Maeve who found a beautiful red painting which will join our seasonal hangings, and to our Bishop's Committee, especially Karen, who worked tirelessly for set up and tear down. I want to thank everyone who sponsored one of our candidates for Confirmation and Reception, and of course I am so thankful for Stephanie P., Stephanie S., Sherrie, Helen, Nate, Kirk, and Annette: the world's newest Episcopalians. Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Here is what we saw this past Sunday - we saw a real community, reveling in the opportunity to host each other, to feed each other, to worship together, and to celebrate together. It was beautiful. You are beautiful. 

Your Bishop's Committee had the opportunity to meet one on one with Bishop Greg over lunch, to tell him about what is working at St. C's, and to hear from him as well. It was a wonderful meeting, and we talked about what we love here, and some of the challenges we are experiencing. One of the things Bishop Greg mentioned was the difference between "Family" and "Community" when we talk about what we experience at church. Families are small, and full of people who are very similar to each other. Communities, however, can be large and diverse. Yet both words describe groups of people who, at their best, choose to see and love and celebrate being in relationship with each other. 

St. Columba's is growing, and as we grow we are stretching from a family into a community. We saw the best of this on Sunday - where we heard and saw and celebrated just how diverse and loving one church can be and become. This way we are learning to be church together will not always be easy. We are a place that is stretching - stretching to become a place where people who are different from each other in some ways (race, ethnicity, political viewpoints, age, economic class, country of origin and more) can be together for the sake of Love, for the love of Jesus, and so that we can learn from each other and be sent out to love our world better. 

I am so excited and blessed by these possibilities, and I hope you are as well. There will be (and are) growing pains. There will be, and are, new faces being called into our midst to be welcomed and loved. And there will always be new things that these changes call us to consider - new gifts brought by people new and familiar to us, new ideas for us to consider as we seek to serve God and our world together, new ways of loving and learning together.  

St. Columba's - I love our community. I am so grateful to be here, with each of you, and with all of you, in all that is to come. 

with care and gratitude,

Alissa