Each year, our parish comes together for our Annual Meeting.  This year, Annual Meeting will be on January 27, after our 10 o'clock Eucharist.  After reading that first sentence, you may have said to yourself, "The last thing I want to attend is some boring business meeting."  The Annual Meeting is a time when we do the business or our parish, of course, but it is much more than that.  Annual Meeting is like a family meeting, when we make decisions for the coming year, set goals, and celebrate and reflect on what we did in the past year.

One of the things I love about our church is that we are open and welcoming, and, I hope, inclusive.  That extends to the way we conduct the business of our parish.  We are committed to being transparent about our finances, and inviting input from all of the people who are a part of the Good Shepherd community.  We also seek to include our entire community in our leadership, and in all of our ministries.

The Church of the Good Shepherd is blessed with talented and dedicated lay leaders who are extraordinarily generous in sharing that talent with us and in donating a lot of their time.  Our entire congregation elects our lay leaders, and any member in good standing can stand for office at the Annual Meeting.  This year, we will have an opportunity to elect three new vestry members and a senior warden, as well as our delegates to Diocesan Convention.  Nominees for office are posted publicly (our by-laws and canons require a posting right on the doors of the church!) and new names can be added to nomination right from the floor at Annual Meeting.

Our budget is completely transparent.  After the Budget Committee puts together a draft budget based on our past budgets (and reflecting our mission and ministry goals), the vestry considers the budget line by line and approves a budget at its January meeting.  That budget is presented to the parish at Annual Meeting.  This year, our vestry will consider and pass a budget at our January 15 meeting.  Vestry meetings are at 7 p.m. and are open to any parishioner who would like to attend; only vestry members vote, but parishioners who wish to speak at a vestry meeting are welcome to do so.  The budget details our mission and ministry, and is an open document.  We are transparent about our spending, making public big details like, for instance, the rector's salary, and small details like how much we spent on stamps.

Annual Meeting is an opportunity also to celebrate what we did together last year.  Each ministry or committee provides a written report of their activities, which becomes a part of our Annual Parish Report  This is a great way to see what's going on at The Good Shepherd, and to think about whether God is calling you to a new ministry in the coming year.  It is also a time to thank and to honor leaders and volunteers who are finishing their terms. 

During Annual Meeting, we will offer child care for our youngest parishioners, and some of our church school teachers have volunteered to offer special activities for church school students so that all of our parents can attend Annual Meeting.  Kids will be making Valentine's cards for our homebound parishioners or for folks in the hospital or sick at home.  There will also be games and other activities.  We will have a festive reception just before our meeting begins to make sure we have time for fellowship, and that folks attending the meeting have plenty of refreshment.

I hope that you will make every effort to attend our Annual Meeting.  Every member of the parish over the age of 16 is entitled to a vote, and all parishioners are entitled to speak at the meeting.  Join us for this important day in the life of our community.

Blessing the home on Epiphany or during the Epiphany season is an ancient Christian tradition.  The tradition began many centuries ago, probably in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, and it has spread all over the world.  Blessing a house a Epiphany commemorates the magi who were welcomed into Mary and Joseph's house, and invited to worship Jesus there.  It is also an invitation to seek Christ and to welcome him into our homes.  The blessing involves invoking God's blessing on the home and the people who live there, and all whose lives touch theirs, and inviting Jesus to be present in that household in the coming year.  Many people mark their doors with chalk, probably a tradition stemming from Deuteronomy 6:9: "Write [God's commandments] on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

You can perform a simple house blessing ritual during Epiphany.  This is a visible reminder of your prayers for your home and family and a fun activity to do with children.  Here's how to do it.  Stand outside your front door and say a prayer asking for God's blessing on your home and on the people who live there.  You may use your own words, of course, but one prayer, from the Book of Occasional Services, goes like this:  "Visit O blessed Lord, this home with the gladness of your presence, Bless all tho live here with the gift of your love; grant that we may manifest your love to all whose lives we touch.  May we grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of you; guide comfort and strengthen us; and preserve us in peace."

After the prayer, take a piece of chalk and mark the lintel of the door (or the place under the welcome mat, or the front porch step).  The traditional marking is:  20 + C + M + B + 13.  The symbolism is the year, 2013, with small crosses separating the initials of the traditional names given the magi, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar.  Those initials are also the Latin blessing "Christus mansionem benedicat," or "Christ bless this house."

During early Epiphany, we will have blessed chalk in a basket at the back of the church as well as copies of the prayer.

Meghan Sweeney served our parish as an intern while she was in seminary, but she was more than an intern; she became a beloved member of our family.  Meghan will be ordained to the priesthood this Saturday, January 12.  The ordination will be at St. Paul's Cathedral in Boston at 10:30.  Meghan will celebrate her first Eucharist and baptisms on Sunday, January 13.  She has asked our church to keep her in our prayers, and sends her love and thanks to the Good Shepherd family.  Everyone is invited to the ordination.  The service begins at 10:30 a.m. and a reception will follow.