(stained glass window from Saint Séverin Church in Paris)

Luke 2:8-14
And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

Merry Christmas!

my women’s group at church got together for a mini-high tea after finishing a study on the life of david. i made some scones which didn’t quite rise perfectly, but still tasted really yummy… with some creme fraiche and strawberry preserves. i’m actually craving them as i write this entry right now. after the cream cheese-cucumber-bacon sandwiches and plethora of desserts, we were really stuffed. oh yes, and we had some tea too.

the weather was perfect for our church yard sale this past weekend. after a lot of donations, we ended up with a pretty good variety of things, including a kitchen sink! we had a great turn out and it was fun being able to meet people from the neighborhood.

interesting neighbors.

thanks team!

happy easter! we hosted a lunch in the parsonage for our church today after the service. i opted to try and cook most of the food myself this time which was a challenge; figuring out fine vs. coarse crumbles, a couple days of marinating, and a lot of chopping was well worth it. it was a great blessing to me watching people eat, relax, and have full tummies!! (not to mention full mouths, as you’ll see below…)

church life has been keeping us busy. a few weeks ago we helped paint one of the back rooms from a shadowy blue into a refreshing pale green.

then last week, we transformed the sanctuary into a coffeehouse. although we didn’t try to plan it this way, it ended up being quite ‘international’, with some african music, middle-eastern flute music, as well as french rap!

I guess it’s about time I talked a bit about the major change in my life this school year. Back in September, I accepted a position as pastor of Hyde Park Alliance Church, the church I’ve been attending for the past five years here in Chicago. I must say I feel truly blessed to be able to serve such a loving, supportive congregation, who are understanding of the academic side of my calling, alongside my current pastoral work. It’s also very rewarding to apply much of the ‘theory’ that I gained from my time at Regent College, though it’s also been a great learning experience, even in this short time. By the way, the picture above is of me in my ‘office’… er… our Sunday School room.

last weekend our church held a fall yard sale. we hoped to meet some people from the neighborhood, serve some coffee and apple cider, and if we were lucky, make a few bucks for the church. on the day it was a bit wet and cold, so we opted for the warmer option…indoors.

we had a mish-mash of things, including a kitchen sink! one yard sale visitor even thought he found an authentic medieval chant score (which we thought was just a cheap poster). very antiques roadshow.

thanks to everyone who donated items and helped out!