Friends, It was so good to be together this past Sunday as reflected on the "State of the Church."  We are entering 2026 in a strong state of health and with a strong foundation, a clear sense of direction, and a shared commitment to ensure that Christ’s love "shows up" in everything we do. Here are three wonderful opportunities for us to help love show up through our worship, study, connection, and service: This Sunday, we will gather after worship to honor and celebrate Mon

As I sit to write this week’s Pastor’s Note, I am very aware that in the USA we have just come through another week in which news headlines have again been dominated by a tragic event which resulted in the loss another young life. My heart breaks for the family who have experienced shocking loss, and for our nation as we continue to try and make sense of these most distressing times we are living in. I have returned again and again to the ancient cry of the Church: " Kyrie El

Beloved Friends,   Well, here we are. We made it to a new year, to 2026. I like to name my hopes for the coming year, and this year I have a single phrase: slow and steady. Though I do like to set goals, to fill in a planner, to embrace a fresh start, I also like the idea of leaning into the joy of the Christmas season (we’re only on day 9 of the 12 days of Christmas- time to give out 9 ladies dancing!) and taking things slowly. Our Christmas tree will not be down until at le

Dear Grace-filled Family, I hope your Christmas was filled with the light and peace of Christ! I am still reflecting on the beauty of our Christmas Eve services. It was truly a joy to see our Sanctuary and Maxwell Hall filled with so many faces—both familiar and new—as we celebrated Christ’s birth. I want to take a moment to say a massive, heartfelt thank you to our incredible staff and the army of volunteers who worked so hard behind the scenes. From the ushers and greeters

Dear Beloved Friends,             Each Sunday of Advent, my family and I sit down for dinner and light the next Advent candle on the wreath. The hope candle is turning into a nub. The peace candle has accumulated an impressive amount of wax, and the joy candle shines proudly with its height intact. The kids keep asking to light the fourth candle, the candle of love, but I remind them each night that we have to wait. It’s not time yet. Waiting is hard, especially for a little

Dear Grace-filled Family, As we move toward the final weeks of Advent, this season quickly becomes one of the fullest and most exciting times in our church year! There is so much beautiful worship, service, and connection happening, and I wanted to give you a quick rundown of some key dates coming up. This Sunday brings one of the highlights of our musical year: the Christmas Cantata!  Our Sanctuary Choir will lead us in this powerful worship experience during both the 8:00 a

Dear Friends,        I love this time of year. Usually, the tree is up in mid-November, but, surprising even myself, I waited until the week of Thanksgiving to pull the tree out of the box. I have been taking it slowly to get the rest of the holiday decorations up in the house. I’m trying to keep the kids from breaking every ornament on the tree (thank you, Gorilla Glue!), and I am marveling at Aidan’s wonder over all things Christmas. And then I tell him to put the brea

Dear Grace-filled Family, I hope that you and your loved ones enjoyed a truly blessed and restorative Thanksgiving. We have so much to be grateful for, and I give thanks that I get to be part of this grace-filled family . I also want to express a huge, heartfelt thank you to the many volunteers from Memorial who helped ensure that Christ’s love showed up at the "Open Table of Thankfulness & Love" at St. Peter's Episcopalian Church on Thanksgiving morning. What a wonderf

Beloved Friends,                  I pray you are having a week filled with newfound stillness and time to commune with God. I know: I am writing you a note, on a screen, about how wonderful it has been to put down the screens this week. The ironies of this week include that I sat on an eight-hour District Committee on Ministry Zoom call yesterday and have a variety of writings that have required extra attention on my various devices. Wouldn’t you know, though?

Dear Grace-Filled Family, Last Sunday, I preached on the vital nature of finding that place of stillness where we intentionally open our hearts to be nourished by the closeness of God. How has that been going for you this week? Many of you reached out asking for some help in thinking through what healthy daily spiritual practices might look like, and I wanted to share what's currently working for me. I find it essential to do this first thing in the morning, before I check an

Hi Beloved Friends,         The approaching holidays are a wonderful time of joy and celebration, but they can also be a source of stress, frustration or loneliness, especially if you are unable to be with loved ones this holiday season. Or perhaps your source of stress comes from the fact that you will be with your family members over the holiday season, and you are not quite sure where the conversation will lead. As we enter into the last eight weeks of the year, Pastor Cha

Dear Memorial Family, How can it be October 31st already? As we move into November, we start as we always do - by marking one of the most sacred and comforting days in our church year: All Saints' Sunday. At all our worship services this weekend, we will pause to remember those beloved saints from our Memorial family who have entered eternal life in the past year. As we name them, we will ring a bell and light a candle in their memory. This is a powerful, sacred moment of rem

Dear Friends,                  Our stewardship series Wholehearted  draws to a close this week with a saint known for their myriad of wisdom and gifts used for the glorification of God. Pastor Charlie and I had so much fun preparing for this sermon series because we could dive into the interesting lives of many saints (more than what we could feasibly conceive of in a series!), and the striking commonality between all of their lives is their “yes” to God, even if that “yes” m

Dear Memorial, Can you believe we are already halfway through October? The speed with which this year is passing is unbelievable to me, but I also love this time of year - our annual season of stewardship focus. Over the last few weeks in our sermon series, Wholehearted , we've been exploring what it means to be wholehearted followers of Jesus Christ who live lives of wholehearted discipleship - lives that hold nothing back from God. We've been looking at some saints of churc

Dear Friends,                  As we were preparing for the start of our stewardship series, Pastor Charlie and I kept coming back to the...

Dear Memorial Family, Can you believe it's already October ? It feels like we just finished VBS last week, but here we are, with our...

Beloved Friends,   I don’t know about you all, but I thought that the Beatles concert was simply delightful! I am so impressed by...

Dear Memorial, Our mission statement reminds us that Memorial is a place where Christ's love shows up through our worship, study,...

Beloved Friends,                  I write this pastor’s note this week knowing that there is much weighing on us all in our community, in...

Dear Memorial, What a pleasure it was to kick off our new sermon series, "The Gospel According to The Beatles," this past Sunday! It was...