5 out of 6 Sundays now - Rector's Rambling for February 9, 2014

Winter seems to be administering quite a beating upon us.  As I write this on Monday morning we have had four of the first five Sundays of the calendar year affected by snow and ice.  And if the forecasters are correct we have had to deal with snow again this weekend in addition to snow during the week.  At this rate the plowed snow pile near the shed won’t melt until May!

I thank you for your hearty spirit in making the trek down to St. John’s from your home in these less than ideal road conditions.  For many of you that trip to St. John’s in good weather takes between 20 and 40 minutes, and considerably longer in the weather we have had to put up with this winter.  Your being present and active in the regular worship of the Church is greatly appreciated by me and your fellow parishioners.  When I was a young curate in Philadelphia in the 1990s, I was approached to apply to become rector of a parish in Western Minnesota, where they boasted that “most of the Sunday attendees in winter arrive by snowmobile.”  That was not an enticement to me then, but it seems this winter that snowmobile parking might be an option here in Detroit!

We are now less than two weeks away from our second annual parish fundraiser dinner and silent auction on February 22.  Last year it was not only a great evening of fellowship, but we raised money to help us to cover this time of “low cash flow” for the parish.  The Tigers’ pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training in Florida this week, but we will not begin to realize income from stadium parking until mid-May.  As I have said at announcements from the pulpit, we need parishioners to do 3 things: 1) Come to the dinner, 2) Invite friends to come with you, even if you have to pay for their tickets, so they can meet the parish and bid on silent auction items, and 3) donate items for the silent auction.

We need to know this week how many people are coming with you to dinner.  Please be sure to get your reservations in to the office ASAP.