I hope and pray that you are well. One of my favorite St. Martin's "traditions" is a day that is not really on the calendar, but it happens nonetheless. Typically, one summer day or evening, I will get a text or call from either Chad or Shannon Poteat saying they have corn and they will be heading to the church. Shannon's dad, John Till, also a member of the parish, always plants some sweet corn for family, friends, and, thankfully, St. Martin's. Well, I got the call last night. This Sunday, Father's Day will also be Corn Sunday. Come get some corn to go with your Sunday night BBQ. Gather around the truck, fill a bag, tell a story, and have fun. 

I hope and pray that you all are well! I also hope that you are enjoying summer. I know our family is. On a personal note, I want to thank everyone for the well wishes last weekend and your support as I raced in the Beaufort River 5K Swim/Run. The swim truly was one of the more challenging events I have done, but it was also a lot of fun. As donations continue to come in from around the country, I am pleased to report that next week we will deliver a check for over $41,000 to Lutheran Services' New Americans Program to support refugee ministries in the Carolinas. That check represents funds you all have given, combined with a Cloak & Sword grant from our St. Martin's Foundation. I am overwhelmed by your generosity. Thank you!!!

I hope and pray that you are well! I want to begin by saying thank you for all of the birthday wishes. I was not expecting Nicholas to call out from the balcony last Sunday, but it was fun, and I am grateful. I also want to say thank you for your support of our Circle of Welcome program. Our fundraiser has received money from all over the country, from New Mexico to Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, Iowa, and many places in between. Thank you! One of the things that drew me to St. Martin's when I first interviewed was St. Martin's desire to say yes when it comes to ministry. Even when we are unsure how to accomplish something, we say yes and work to figure it out. This "can-do" attitude is a part of our DNA. 

Summers in Columbia, South Carolina, truly are famously hot! Just walking the campus today, I began to sweat and thought to myself, “It’s going to be muggy.” I can see why so many people take time each summer to head to the coolness of the mountains or the waters of our coastlines. They are lovely places to escape to! 

As Caitlyn said this past Sunday, our church, the past couple of weeks, has seen a lot of death. Five funerals in such a short amount of time is a lot — lots of volunteers, lots of emotion, and lots of sadness, but also joy. We are a church of the resurrection and a people of Easter. We proclaim that in death, life is not ended, but changed as we go to a place that has been prepared for us by a loving God who knows each of us by name. In this, there is joy. There is also joy in the laughter of families who, in the midst of sadness, are still able to share a funny story or a good joke. There is joy in meals shared and in the remembrance of days past. There is joy in the stories we share with one another.

To my family and friends around the country, I’m asking you to sponsor me as I participate in a charity race. I will be racing in the Beaufort River Swim/Run, a 3.2-mile open water swim followed by a 3.1-mile run. The race will be on May 31, 2025. All donations will go to our migration ministries at St. Martin's and the New Americans Program/Circle of Welcome at Lutheran Services. The first 90 days for a family cost roughly $30,000. Until three months ago, we thought that money was guaranteed. 

I hope and pray that you all are well. This Sunday is Youth Sunday. Our seniors will lead the 10:30 AM service. To be honest with you all, I imagine it will be a Sunday filled with emotion for me. It has been a pleasure to watch these young people grow up. They are each amazing. They are the first class I have been able to watch go all the way from middle school to the end of high school. They are also the first class to have fully benefited from the Clark Fund.

I hope and pray that you all are well and enjoying this Eastertide! Yes, Eastertide! The longest liturgical season (not counting the summer months known as Ordinary Time) is Eastertide, or the 50 days of Easter. It is a time when we celebrate the resurrection! This year, our Outreach Committee is calling us to celebrate with them through service. This Eastertide, they are issuing a "50 Days of Joy Challenge" to help us give back to our neighbors by collecting items for Harvest Hope. Click here to learn more and for a full list! Items can be dropped off at the church office or placed in the Harvest Hope wagon on Sundays. We're only four days in, so there's plenty of time to join the fun! How do you plan to celebrate the resurrection? Happy Easter Tide!

I hope and pray that this e-Messenger finds you well. I wish you all a blessed Holy Week and a Happy Easter. I want to start by thanking everyone who helped make our week beautiful. From Allison, Clayton, and Jim, who helped set up the prayer stations in the Parish Hall, to our Altar Guild, who are helping make our worship space beautiful, to our acolytes, some of whom are serving while on spring break, to Shari Hutchinson and her beautiful flowers and vision, to our musicians and Ronnie who have been rehearsing beautiful music for worship, to the Dougalls who are helping to make tonight's Agape Meal happen. Thank you all! The liturgies are given meaning by the people who gather, work, practice, and offer themselves in service to our Lord and the community we serve. Thank you to all who have, as the Prayer Book says, made themselves into "a living sacrifice to the most High."

I hope and pray that you are well. It is sometimes said, "Time flies when you are having fun." We must be having fun because it feels like Lent has flown by! Fish fries, Bible studies, campus work days, weekly worship, and so much more have filled this season with blessings and busyness. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered! From the work days to the Friday night fish fries to acolytes, altar guild, choir, children's formation, and youth group, over a hundred people have worked to make this Lent at St. Martin's special. Thank you! 

I hope and pray that you are well. This past Sunday was Laetare or Rose Sunday. If you didn't notice, the altar, which typically has no flowers during Lent, was adorned with beautiful pink roses, and we wore our pink vestments. In ages past, this 4th Sunday of Lent was a reminder during a penitential time and a time of fasting that Easter was coming. It was a reminder that Lent's soul-searching work would pay off and lead us to a higher purpose. On Laetare Sunday and in the following week (where we are now), we are reminded that drawing closer to the divine and our divine purposes are not one-off tasks but rather a process, and a part of the process is celebrating the gains we have achieved. 

I hope and pray that you are well. I want to begin my e-messenger with a BIG thank you! Thank you to everyone for participating so fully in our Lenten journey. From our Friday night fish fries to excellent attendance at worship, organ recitals, and full Sunday school classes, St. Martin's has been buzzing with life. Last night at 7:45 PM, I swung by the church to grab a few things. I ended up smiling ear to ear as I approached our campus. Everything was lit up. The gym was packed with basketball players, our choir was rehearsing, a person was playing the organ, the community house was full, and a couple of wonderful folks were picking weeds in the garden as the light began to fade. As I walked around the church last night, I said a prayer of thanksgiving. I thanked God for you.

The opening prayers (known each Sunday as the Collect) that we use during Lent are, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful and poetic in our Prayer Book. These prayers are, in many cases, expanded forms of prayers found in earlier versions of the Prayer Book. The Collect for the Third Sunday is a great example of this. In the 1928 Prayer Book, the opening prayer is just two lines asking God to look upon our “hearty desires,” and asking for his defense against all of our “enemies.”

How did the first full week of Lent treat you? I was grateful to be able to take some time yesterday to teach a parishioner about walking the labyrinth. Walking the labyrinth is a spiritual practice that I personally love. I love it because I am easily distracted, so the movement of the walk and the focus on my breathing lets my brain do multiple things at once, which makes it easier to find my center.

If I were to title this e-Messenger, I'd call it "Adventures in Swimming." I started swimming at a very young age and started competitive swimming at 7 or 8. My progression was pretty typical. For any swimmers out there, I swam at "Zones" at age 12, Junior Nationals by 15 or 16, Nationals a little later than that, and eventually at the collegiate level. In addition, I've swum and placed in the Wiki Rough Water (a 2.4-mile open-water swim), and I have done multiple Ironman and Half Ironman triathlons. It was a fun and full chapter of my life. Then, life, kids' activities, moves, youth sports, and other fun things took their place. Flash forward 13 years, and here I am. 

I am writing from the lobby of my hotel in Kansas City. I have been attending the annual Episcopal Parish Network Conference along with a team from St. Martin's. EPN was formerly called CEEP, the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes. Time here is well spent, with educational tracks for treasurers, vestry, clergy, parish administrators, and endowment managers. This year, I was blessed to be asked to teach and share some of what St. Martin's has done to get back to pre-COVID numbers in attendance and finance.

Yesterday, Caitlyn and I met with some of the area's leaders at Lutheran Services Carolinas about the New Americans Program. Caitlyn and I were trying to figure out what it takes financially to get a refugee family on their feet here in the United States. Unsurprisingly, the most expensive part of bringing a legal refugee safely into the country happens in the first 90 days. The expenses are high as people find jobs, register for school, and move into housing, but then drop after that initial rush. For the family we support, we estimate that the first 90 days (which they are still in) cost roughly $24,000 to $30,000. Considering our family moved here from a refugee camp in Turkey with just the clothes on their back, this number is quite frankly low and reasonable. While there will be expenses after the first 90 days, the cost is largely front-loaded. We have already had one generous gift donated and another pledged. With support from our missions budget, Foundation, and individual donations, we can and will support the family in our care. All of this is exciting and hopeful, and also there's more!