"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love . . ." John 14:9

Dear People of St. David's,

I pray that you and yours are well and want to begin today to share a couple of final reflections on this year's theme of being One Body in Christ and the life-giving gift of community that we share in with God and one another.

Over this past year, we've been living into our mission to know God in Jesus Christ and making Christ known to others by paying particular attention to being a community in God's name. We've been teaching and preaching and talking about how we have been called and empowered by God to be a community. We've focused on how the community or Body requires a variety of gifts and people to make a church, and some have found a new ministry and vision as a result. We've experienced the sense that it really does take a variety of gifts and different kinds of people to be effective, and have begun to enjoy the many gifts God has brought together in this place. We've paid attention to our connectedness in a wider community through our outreach missions and activities and we have opened the way for others to join with us. We've experienced a broader sense of community at St. David's through our 300th Anniversary celebrations and worship experiences as a reminder that we are a Body that has been developing over the centuries by the grace of God.

Being One Body or a community is one of the ways that we make God known in the world, for our God is a God in community. Now our limited human language and human perspective can never even begin to describe the nature of God and all that God is and all that God will be. But when we use the Biblical language and talk about God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we are attesting to the mysterious reality that though God is one, God is in community within God.

And when we consider how God reveals God's self in the world and in our lives, we begin to gain a sense of who God is and what a Godly community might be like. When we consider the love that permeates our lives and our life with God, we know that God is a community of love. When we look at the world and the universe, we see that God is a community of creativity. When we begin to grasp the forgiveness and mercy through Christ, we can know that God is a community of redemption. And when we have a power at work in us that enables us to accomplish deeds beyond our capabilities, we catch a glimpse of a God who works all things together for good and is willing to include us in these purposes.

As we celebrate Trinity Sunday this weekend, I encourage you to consider how we, in our limited capabilities, have been called to be an expression of this God who is in community within God. We, who have been called to be One Body have been invited to be like God in a community of love, creativity and redemption, and a purpose that is for the good of all.

See you in Church!

Grace and Peace.