Dear Cathedral Family,
Thanksgiving is a whole way of being and of seeing the world, so much more than the kick-off event to Christmas consumerism. This weekend, as schools and universities dismiss for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, we work to resist the Christmas displays all around us so that we can be fully present to this Thanksgiving season.
We have so much to be thankful for in our bicentennial year as the Christ Church Cathedral Family. Our many children and young families, an emerging generation of strong lay leaders, a faithful and active wisdom generation, a long and loving legacy of Christian and community service in this place. I hope that you will all join me during this Thanksgiving season in expressing gratitude to God for all these abundant gifts.
In our faith tradition, gratitude is inextricably tied to giving, in the same way that love of God and love of neighbor are not sequential but simultaneous. Our stewardship season is grounded in discipleship, recognizing that love of God and following Jesus Christ compel us to give back to God for the life of the Church out of the gifts we each have been given. This Sunday’s gospel, the well-known parable of the talents, is a clear statement of God’s expectation that we should make the most of the “talents” we have been given, financial and otherwise.
I am thankful this year for the strong and effective leadership of Bragg Van Antwerp as stewardship chair and for the witness of Adrienne and Lewis Golden in sharing with us their family’s discipleship of giving. This Sunday will be our Giving Sunday, when estimated giving materials are made available for those in worship. You should receive an email this week containing all this information, which is also posted on our website. Next week, look for an envelope in the mail containing all these materials for you and your family.
As always, I am thankful for our life together as the Cathedral Family, and I hope that you will join me in praying for our continued faithfulness in giving.
Faithfully,
Beverly+
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