January 1 is celebrated in the secular calendar as New Year's Day. It's celebrated in the church calendar as the Feast of the Holy Name.

Jesus was born into the Jewish tradition, and in that tradition when boys were eight days old they were circumcised and officially named. Mary and Joseph named the baby Jesus as they had been told to do by the angel when the baby was conceived. The best translation of the name Jesus, from its Hebrew root, is "Yahweh saves".

Shakespeare wondered aloud in Romeo and Juliet, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." While that may be true, names are important.

New parents take a lot of time and care in choosing names. Sometimes they are the names of beloved family members or traditional names within a family. Some are chosen to capture a sense of the uniqueness and beauty a parent feels in the new child. Some names carry messages of hope or virtues. But each name is chosen as special. As each child grows, they respond to the name in a particular way. Nicknames and formal names bring different responses. No one can mistake the playfulness of a friend's nickname and no one can mistake the seriousness of being called the full name by a parent!

In the book of Genesis ,the naming stories are important. God asks Adam to name the animals and thus shows a bond between them. Our names establish unique bonds between us also.

The name of Jesus is a message that is important. God saves. In our prayers and songs it's a constant reminder of a message of love and grace that we need to hear. It's a verbal symbol of the bond between God and us. It's nice to start the new year by putting first the name of Jesus and the message it bears.

Bernie

St. George's is graced by the quiet, yet steady, service of people - men, women, and youth - as ushers at our worship services on Sundays and other church feast and festival days. This past fall one of the ushers who has provided faithful participation retired after thirty-five years (!!). As is common with St. Georgians, it's an interesting story.

This story is about Esther Spiotta, pictured here with her husband, Roland Spiotta. Esther was one of the first of two women to begin service as ushers in a time when that was generally a role fulfilled by the men of the parish. If you've been worshiping or visiting St. George's for many years or just a few weeks, you know that their participation shouldn't be a surprise. After all, it was at St. George's that The Episcopal Church had its first woman warden - Mary Rankin - quite a number of decades ago. Parishioners here are often trailblazers, trendsetters and leaders in our faith tradition.  

Thirty-five years ago Esther and Jill Knox, another parishioner, were listening to the reports at the annual meeting and heard the presentation about the ushers. Jill turned to Esther and asked, "want to shock them? How about we start to usher?" Being much younger then, as Esther will tell you, she recalls responding with "sure, why not." And since hospitality has always been part of the culture of our church they were welcomed warmly.

Several years later, St. George's once again was part of the pioneering spirit of The Episcopal Church when one of our dear parishioners - Page Bigelow - was to be ordained as one of the first woman priests in our denomination. Page asked Esther to usher at the ordination service, which "was an especially moving and rewarding moment" in the ministry of ushering, reports Esther. She remembers, too, that the ushers wore black and provided similar assistance to parishioners and visitors. "It was fun, too," she says enthusiastically.

Thank you, Esther, for your years of dedicated service to St. George's and for the many times that you greeted the newcomers, the strangers, and the regulars as they entered the front doors of our church. Your quick smile made them immediately understand that they were very much welcomed and had found a home.

God bless you, Esther!