This has been a hard week as I know we have all been shaken by the senseless killings that took place. We continue to pray for the Reiner family, for the families and friends of those injured or killed at Brown University and MIT, and for all who were injured or killed at Bondi Beach in Sydney Australia as they gathered to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah. Holiday time is usually a time when we gather with loved ones to celebrate but, unfortunately, there are people who use it as a time to lash out at others and wreak havoc on the world.
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP p. 823)
Christmas is coming… Only six more days until Christmas, which really means, only five more shopping days until Christmas. We know Advent is a time of preparation, but it never seems long enough to me! Ready or not, Christmas still comes. I know we’ll be ready in the Cathedral come Christmas Eve. Our decorations have grown over the course of this Advent and will almost be complete this Sunday but won’t fully be complete until Christmas. I hope you will join us for one, or more, of our Christmas services this year. Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we have two services: 5 p.m. with children’s pageant and 10 p.m. Thursday, Christmas Day, our service will be at 10 a.m. All three services will be live-streamed. The late service on Christmas Eve will be preceded at 9:30 p.m. by a music prelude including choral anthems, congregational hymns, and a piece for organ and alto saxophone. I look forward to celebrating with all of you.
Looking ahead:
- Deacon Clare will be ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests on Saturday, January 10, at 10:30 a.m. in Grace Cathedral, Topeka.
- Our (now) annual Chili and Game Night will be Friday, January 16 at 6 p.m. Please bring your favorite chili to share and a game to play as we usher in the Epiphany season. You may sign up for the dinner here.
- Also in January will be our Diocesan celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. on the 17th with the Rt. Rev. John Harmon, Bishop of Arkansas, as preacher. Diocesan ordinations will take place at the Cathedral on the 24th.
- Our Annual Meeting will be Sunday, January 25, where we will present the 2026 Budget and elect four new members to the Vestry.
This will be my last “From the Desk” for the year. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year.
Please continue to pray for one another, for our Cathedral family, our nation, and the world.
Expenses:
MTD Budget $159,947; MTD Actual $197,291
YTD Budget $1,780,462; YTD Actual $1,780,856
Our 2025 Annual Giving Campaign goal was $455,000. As of December 1, we have received $405,401.
Our 2026 Annual Giving Campaign goal is $465,000. To date, we have received 67 Pledges for a total of $286,881.
Please continue to pray for one another, for our Cathedral family, our nation, and the world.
