This week: The rector shares a poem reflecting on part of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as relayed in Matthew: “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.”

This Sunday, following the 11 am service, Ascension will hold its annual meeting. All are welcome to attend, whether or not you’re a pledging member of the parish. For this special Sunday, we will have three very significant pieces. Starting at 10:45 am, the Prelude will be perhaps the greatest masterpiece of César Franck, his Choral in E Major. The Offertory Anthem will be the highly dramatic and inspiring “In the Year that King Uzziah Died” by David McK. Williams. And the Postlude will be Bach’s formidable “We all Believe in One God.”

This week: The rector explores the Epiphany theme of vocations and what God may be calling us to do. Also: links to ballots will be emailed this week to pledging members to vote in the vestry and warden elections, which take place online in advance of next Sunday’s (in-person) Annual Meeting.

This weekend, when we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., his prophetic legacy, and the call to work for racial justice in our own day, participants in our Racial Justice Group will offer a forum after the 11 am service to discuss their experiences, what they have learned, what they hope for, and what they are trying to do by focusing on the racism in our own lives, our church, and our broader communities.

This week: “A Poem for the Epiphany,” by Jan Berry. Also this Sunday, following the 11 am service, the Sunday Forum will discuss the recently released “The Call to the Churches to Confront Antisemitism,” from the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations in the face of the rise in white Christian nationalism.

This Sunday: The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, celebrated with a service of Lessons and Carols at 11 am and Holy Eucharist. (Holy Eucharist with sermon will also take place at 9 am and the service of Meditation and Sacrament at 6 pm.)