Last Wednesday was our final Midweek of the program year. In closing our time together, we did a liturgy of gratitude and created an altar of photo collages of our community throughout the whole year together. As a sentimental and nostalgic person, I loved looking through all the photos from the year that Kathryn, our communications person, put together and printed out for us. There were images from Midweek, Parish Weekend Away, Sunday mornings, the Blessing of the Animals service, Choristers, youth events, young adult gatherings, parent gatherings, and so much more. We had a very full year together! As we were preparing these collages, I couldn’t help but notice that many of the kids picked photos that had themselves in them. Of course, this makes sense! Yet, it was meaningful that each of our kids were able to find at least one photo with them in it. A testament to their presence within this community. And this tells a simple yet profound truth about who we are becoming — we are becoming a community that you can literally see yourself in. I hope we continue to lean into this in the years to come to continue to become more and more of a welcoming place for all.
With gratitude,
Rev. Janelle
