New Year, New Life

Pastor’s Epistle—January, A.D. 2017 A 

New life, new hope, new beginnings, new birth. These things are promised to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ every morning that we arise anew in our Baptism. But these promises shine all the clearer, I think, at the start of each New Year.

I know it’s an arbitrary date. I know that our society could’ve picked literally any day on the calendar to represent a fresh new year. But this January, as the days grow ever longer—as the sun rises a little earlier each morning and sets a little later each evening, further brightening our world with each new dawn—it truly feels like a breath of fresh air. We’ve made it through the darkest days of the season, through a long and difficult year. 2016 is dead! Long live 2017.

I’m at the phase in life, with little children, when the days wax long but the years wane short. Our son is born, learns to walk, and is suddenly in fourth grade. His sisters grow up even faster, taking their cues from him. We’re losing touch with old friends, but for good reason: most of us have young kids now. Reconnecting will have to wait until they get a little older, a little more independent. My piles of books will have to wait as well, until my wife and I can reclaim our evenings. Someday, we say. Hope springs eternal.

This year we enjoyed something we’ve never had before: a big family Christmas. Usually it’s just my folks who join us, helping out with the kids during holiday services, making sure we eat something other than chicken nuggets or Chinese take-out for Christmas dinner. This year we were far more ambitious. 18 friends and family, ranging in age from four months to 88 years, joined us for a days-long celebration of food, films, games, gifts, legends, libations, and yet more food. It was wonderful; also, fattening. But it was a time that none of us shall soon forget.

This January, as we wrap up our Christmas celebrations with Twelfth Night, and delve into the wonders of Epiphany—that season of the Church year wherein God intimately reveals Himself to us in the works and wonders of Jesus Christ—St Peter’s looks forward to a joyous New Year. We’ve had many families join us recently, folks of all ages. Our ministries are going strong, especially such as involve our youth groups and charitable giving. Confirmation has never been bigger, and from the pastor’s perspective, at least, never better. We’ve got great kids and wonderful parents committed to living the faith both at home and in this congregation.

I want to thank you all for this past year. Through all the challenges of 2016, the people of St Peter’s have been faithful, supportive, generous, caring, loving and brave—towards each other, towards those in need, and towards your pastor. You have truly been Christ’s hands and feet still at work in this world. We gather every Sunday to be nourished—to be resurrected!—in Word and in Sacrament, and then we are sent out to be the Body of Christ for a world very much in need. Like the beating of a heart, like the rhythms of breath, the Spirit calls us in and sends us out. St Peter’s stands as a source of life and hope, of stability and sanctuary, in this community. And I thank God for you.

Now let’s take a deep, refreshing breath—we’ve earned it—and make 2017 even better.