June 2003
Dear All Saints' Family,
I am always grateful for God's blessings and this
month has been especially wonderful for my family and Me. On one hand this
has been a very busy time with a number of our parish family facing
various illnesses and challenges. Keeping up with all of these would have
been impossible without the help of our Deacon, Gina Arents. First I want
to thank God for her and her ministry among us. We are so very blessed to
have Gina, I hope you all will take the time to thank her for all she does
for us.
This month the interview committee met with all of
the candidates for the position of Assistant to the Rector and has made
its
recommendation. We will announce the decision publicly as soon as we
receive formal approval of the Letter of Agreement. The person selected
will begin ministry at All Saints' on July 1, Lord willing. This is great
news for us as we have been praying about adding staff for two years. With
the addition of an assistant we will be better able to serve the needs of
our congregation and increase our ministry opportunities and programs.
The best news for me personally was the arrival of
Sarah and Emma on May 19. Most of you know how much I have been looking
forward to their visit, and Emma is more beautiful than I imagined. On the
twentieth, my son Jonathan and his wife Tirzah arrived. Our whole family
had not bee together for three years, and we had a lot of catching up to
do. As we were sitting around the table, my son got up to take and picture
of the family and said, "Everyone smile and say, 'Tirzah's pregnant!' " It
took our collective breath away, and after many tears we learned that we
will be blessed with our second grandchild in December. The day after that
news, Julia graduated from Towson University with honors and immediately
began her teaching career at Owings Mills Elementary School as the fourth
grade substitute for the rest of this year.
In the midst of a very hectic time in our parish
life, God has blessed me beyond measure. I just wants to share all of this
good news with you, my parish family. I can't tell you how important you
all are to Janet and me. God is very good! All the time!
Finally, please remember to keep All Saints' in
your prayers this summer. Our financial needs remain high as we prepare to
receive our new assistant. We need to complete some work in the house, pay
for the move, and do other work on the grounds. There are special
envelopes available in the narthex for contributions to the capital fund
and new staff fund.
May God bless you,
Fr. David
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