Dear Friends in Christ, The new school year is upon us, so I thought I’d take this opportunity to share with the wider parish some of the updates and changes happening with our children and youth programming this year. Our young learners in preschool through 3rd grade will continue to immerse themselves in…
Dear Friends in Christ, I recently learned that between 2003 and 2022, Americans increased the time they spent at home by an average of one hour and 39 minutes. To be clear, this is not an extra almost-two-hours of free time. It’s time spent on the same activities—work, exercise, cooking, watching movies—but simply spent…
Dear Friends in Christ, As I continue to think about financial stewardship this summer, I am thinking about frequently asked questions—or, more rightly, the things that maybe feel too awkward to ask. Where does the money actually go? Annual pledges go towards our General Operating Fund, which means that they support the unglamorous…
Dear Friends in Christ, In this graduation season, we have one graduation particularly close to home at Grace: our fifth graders at Grace Episcopal School will graduate on Wednesday, June 10. It’s a moment for them to be proud. It’s a moment for the rest of us to be proud, too. Grace Episcopal…
Dear Friends in Christ, One of the temptations of our lives is to go numb. When we are overwhelmed—by our schedules, by personal challenges, by relationships, by politics—we often shut down. We function in our daily lives, but we are psychologically and spiritually asleep. We shut out those overwhelming emotions. We stop feeling our…
Dear Friends in Christ, Welcome to the rest step. I learned this term—“rest step”—years ago while on a strenuous hiking expedition. I was panting my way up a steep hill in fits and starts, charging ahead as best I could until there was no air left in my lungs, then stopping bent over…
Dear Friends in Christ, At our vestry retreat a few weeks ago, we got trained in something very simple: talking. Jessica Sarriot, the lead organizer for VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) joined with our own seminarian, the Rev. Gabriel Oakes, to model and coach us in relational meetings. These meetings are…
Dear Friends in Christ, Lent is one long journey to the cross. The season has many other aspects, of course. We often think about the practices of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer, as described in the Ash Wednesday invitation to a holy Lent. Or we think about temptation and personal disciplines. Or we think…
Dear Friends in Christ, Do you know how to love? On the surface, this question seems obvious, because of course we know how to love. Attachment to a caregiver is the basis of our human development, and we are taught how to love by the people who love us as children. The relationships…
Dear Friends in Christ, Ash Wednesday throws on the brakes. It jolts us out of whatever road we’ve been barreling down. This year at Grace Church, the days before Lent are especially full. We have our rescheduled Chili Bowl this Sunday, February 15. Sooner after comes Shrove Tuesday, February 17, with its traditional…