Dear Friends in Christ,

 Today's readings are full of references to proclaiming the "Good News" of salvation. For instance, the first line of today's collect reads: "Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation.."

  It is all well and good to be admonished to proclaim the "Good News" but first we need to know what is meant by "the Good News." Specifically, the "Good News" is the reality of Christ's triumph over death through the Resurrection, resulting in Eternal Life for Him, for us, and of His abiding presence with us.

  The second step on the way to being able to "proclaim" the Good News is experiencing the Good News. One can't with integrity proclaim anything without having experienced it! Poet Christian Wiman says that we are fully alive when we feel "one's ultimate existence within one's daily existence." In other words, experiencing the "Good News" means getting a glimpse of the transcendent - of the Risen Christ - within the course of our ordinary, daily lives.

   A critical aspect of the work of the church is to help people catch glimpses of the transcendent, of the Holy so that we know that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. Here at St. George's in 2014 we attempted this in the following new ways:

In worship we:

 -          Invited the Brass Roots Trio to play during our Good Friday noon liturgy.

-          Invited the Traftons to do a dramatic reenactment of St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians.

-          On a regular schedule, invited our young people to be involved in all aspects of "Youth Sunday" worship.

-          Celebrated the 50th anniversary of the installation of our organ through Evensong.

-          Invited the Rev. Canon Dr. Rob Droste and the Rev. Marjorie Lindstrom as guest preachers.

-          Hosted Bishop Stokes for Confirmation, Reception, and the Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows.

-          Hosted musicians Pam McCoy and Sam Sims to lead Sunday worship.

-          Hosted a carillon concert (with Frances Newell playing) in worldwide observance of the anniversary of the 1914 WWI Christmas truce.

In Outreach to our neighbors we:

-          Installed Christmas lights on our campus.

-          Blessed our restored neighbors' houses on the northern end of the West Park neighborhood.

-          Participated in Cardboard Box City to raise money for the homeless.

-          Hosted a presentation by Aslan - a ministry to at-risk youth.

-          Implemented a monthly "Skeptics and Suds" discussion at Molly Maguire's

-          Completed the restoration of 13 Lincoln Ave.

-          Began lending our kitchen to the RFH Cooking Club.

-          Established 2 new AA groups, bringing our total to 7 weekly meetings.

Through Education we:

-          Completed our corporate reading of The Story.

-          Hosted a Safe Church training session for our diocese and parish.

-          Hosted a Planned Giving dinner for the "1874 Society."

Noting the Holy Spirit in certain individuals we:

-          Invited Paul Chalakani to be our deacon "intern."

-          Elevated Jeff Roy from "Curate" to "Associate Rector."

-          Sponsored Kevin Keelen for ordination in the Episcopal Church

-          Celebrated Anthony Puca's ordination to the priesthood.

-          Hired Suzanne Culhanne as a stewardship consultant.

Miscellaneous:

-          Hosted a "Jr. Connections" "Road Rally.

-          Sent 5 parishioners to camp at the Girls Friendly Society "Holiday House" in Cape May.

-          Replanted the Memorial Garden (thanks to Bob Lawrence)

Already for 2015, we have plans for new initiatives! In all that we have done and will do, we pray that we will experience the "Good News" so that we might with integrity proclaim it and invite others to join in.