The answer to this question has undergone a dramatic shift in the past few decades. For hundreds of years the answer was a quick and easy “church holiday.” What else could celebrating the birth of our Savior be? Of course, there were family celebrations that often accompanied Christmas church celebrations, but these were understood to be secondary. 

One of my favorite traditions here at Redeemer is our J-Term. Every January, we close down our Small Group gatherings and encourage everyone to take a class taught by a staff member or lay parishioner. I absolutely love seeing the diversity of gifts and variety of passions that our people have! So many of you have fascinating areas of expertise and it is a wonderful expression of generosity within the body of Christ for you to share your gift with others. 

As 2023 winds down and we prepare for the holidays, time off of work, and (hopefully) a time of rest with family - I’d like to invite all of us to consider a few different ways to think about giving before December 31. 

One of the key features of city life (as compared to suburban or country life) is close, physical proximity to neighbors. We are all up in each other’s space all the time! Proximity has the potential to create either friction or blessing. Sometimes it is a gift to be close to others, but sometimes it’s a real pain! One place of potential friction or blessing is Redeemer’s proximity to the VMFA. Every Sunday we host our coffee hour on their lawn and we experience the blessing of the beautiful space they have cultivated. However, there are moments when we wonder if our proximity is a blessing to the VMFA. 

A blessed All Saints' Week to you! We are in a special week of the year in our Liturgical Calendar. Tuesday was All Hallows Eve, yesterday was All Saints Day, and today is All Souls Day. This week, we remember the saints, martyrs, and all the faithful departed who have gone before us and whose lives serve as signs, pointing and inviting us toward become more like Jesus..

Every Tuesday morning, at 9:00 a.m., our staff meets for prayer, coffee, breakfast, and discussion. Often, what you read about in Parish Newsletters is coming from the discussion that is happening around the staff table. So today I’d like to invite you to pull up a chair and listen in to what our staff is talking about. 

As we continue this series of articles on Gospel Formation for Missional Presence, I’d like to help us understand that word presence just a bit more deeply. So let’s think about what it means to be missional in regards to our own homelife. 

On Sunday, November 12th, we have the joyful opportunity for many of you to be Confirmed by our Bishop and welcomed as new Members into the Parish. This is a wonderful event that takes place only twice a year! Since this process is new to many of you, I thought I’d take a moment this afternoon to share a few details about what it means to take this important step in your faith.  

In this next installment of this series of writings on what it means to be missional, I’d like to make the case that Missional Presence is not one of many ways to be missional as a Christian, it’s actually the only healthy way. 

Today I’d like to press in just a bit more into that word “mission.” It’s a word that nearly all Christians use, but that is often used to mean very different things. Often when followers of Jesus hear or use the word mission, they mistakenly assume that everyone agrees and means the same thing. This wouldn’t be a big deal if “mission” was something small and peripheral, like using the correct brand of shampoo. But it is enormous and central - it is the way in which we participate in what God is doing in the world. God Himself has a mission and we, His children, are invited to be a part of it. For a Christian, therefore, mission is not a side dish, it’s the whole meal. It’s not one aspect of life, it’s what your life is about. 

Today I’d like to move forward to a different, but intimately related question, “What is missional presence?” One of the ways we talk about our life together is that the Church of Jesus is called to be a missional presence in the world. But what does that mean? “Missional Presence” sounds somewhat lofty, abstract, and vague. How can I tell if I’m doing it? How can I tell if it’s working? 

Over the past few weeks I’ve found myself in numerous conversations about the first phrase in Redeemer’s Vision,  “Gospel Formation.” As I’ve listened, I’ve heard some confusion on what exactly Gospel Formation is and is not. Is it something God does? Is it something we do? How can you tell if it’s happening?

What a joy to be back in the parish and to worship together this past Sunday! From the whole Marotta family to all of you - thank you! Thank you for the gift of Sabbatical rest and for the privilege of returning to shepherd such a wonderful parish. Our hearts are full with gratitude. What follows is a brief report of our time away: 

Every summer we ask our Small Groups to take a break from meeting to create space for what we call “Redeemer Summer Book Clubs.” These gatherings are (hopefully) exactly what they sound like - groups of people who all agree to read a book together and gather a few times over the course of the Summer to discuss what they are learning from the book. If you would like to lead one this Summer, here are your next steps

From time to time it’s appropriate for us to pause and remember that our young little parish here in Richmond is part of a much larger, much older network of churches called the Anglican Communion. This history of this larger body stretches back 500+ years to the Protestant Reformation and presently includes more than 85 million members. 

I have one very important action item for you this month—for every member and non-member alike. When new members join the parish, we ask you to take what we call Membership Practices of giving Time, Talent, and Treasure to the Lord Jesus through his body, the Church. 

Every year or so, as our parish grows and changes, there is some reorganizing that happens at the staff level. Some leaders conclude seasons of ministry and new opportunities and roles emerge. This Summer, two of our staff are transitioning off the team and there are two new positions on staff that are opening up. 

This Summer, after fifteen years of full-time ministry (6 in Charlottesville, 2 in Falls Church, and 7 in Richmond), I will be taking my first Sabbatical. This is something that we originally planned back in 2016, before our family had yet moved to Richmond to plant Redeemer. We told ourselves, back then, that at the seven year mark, we would take a three month Sabbatical. And now the time is here! I can hardly believe it…

Good afternoon! A blessed Holy Week to you. I want to take a moment to ask you to consider attending the 7AM Sunrise Worship Service on Easter Morning. Now, of course not everyone is able to do this and we understand! However, if you are able to flex your schedule, here are three good reasons to attend the 7AM: 

Good afternoon! Holy Week is nearly upon us. I want to take a few minutes to explain what it will be like to participate in the most important days of the year together. Please, if you can, read the following in its entirety.

Our annual Vestry election is taking place this Sunday. We have five excellent candidates and must elect two of them to serve a three year term. 

Our Vestry Election takes place the Sunday before Holy Week, which is April 3rd this year. In between now and then, I would encourage you to prayerfully consider which two of the following five people would be best suited to serve and lead our parish in the coming years.

On Sunday evening, March 19th, at 5:30pm in the basement of 2715 Grove Ave., we will kick off Foundations Class for the Spring semester. 

This past Saturday was a significant day for us, our diocese, and the Anglican Church in North America. Our beloved Bishop, John Guernsey, officially handed over his spiritual authority and retired from the role of Bishop of the Diocese of the Mid-Atlantic. At the very same time, a new Bishop was consecrated and the Rt. Rev. Chris Warner will now serve as our Bishop. We look forward to welcoming him and his wife Catherine when they come visit us on Sunday, May 14th. 

Next week you are invited to participate in one of the most important days of the year in the life of our church. February 22nd is Ash Wednesday and we will all gather to receive the sign of the cross in ashes on our foreheads. Strange as it may sound, we won’t wash off the ashes right away, we'll bear the dirty smudge right there on our faces the rest of the day. 

On Sunday, we introduced Practice #5: Context in our Gospel Formation for Missional Presence series. If you missed the sermon, here’s the link. I would encourage you to find some time to listen this week so we can continue to track together as a parish. 

If you’ve been around our parish for any length of time, you’ve likely picked up on the fact that we take Small Groups pretty seriously. We like to say that, “If the Sunday morning worship service is one anchor, Small Groups are the second anchor.” 

Now, some of you have asked about what it means to move deeper into Story Practices and so I want to take a moment to share some helpful resources. 

This coming Sunday, January 8th, we will kick off a very important season in the life of our parish. Throughout the seven weeks of the Epiphany season, we will walk through a seven-part sermon series that is designed to focus and clarify why we exist as a parish.