Pastor Jeni's Monthly Newsletter article

This year, as we have done every year for the past several years, we will have a beginning of the year meeting for our council members and board members. That meeting was scheduled for Sunday, February 12, but was postponed until a later date. It will be a great day to celebrate a new year of ministry at St. James!

If you are not on council or serving on a board this year, I ask you to pray for these new leaders, pray for the meeting that day, and volunteer to help our boards and council
out when you are able. The ministry in this place isn’t just done by the boards, by the
pastor, by the council, or by the staff. It is all of us working together to do God’s work in this
place and out in the world. If you are serving on a board or on council, I ask you to join us for the meeting that day. This is a good time to brainstorm new ministry ideas, to get to know your board and other boards better, and to see how ministry works in this place. Please work to get as many of your board members here as possible. Brunch will be
served, and childcare will be provided. The great thing about not only this meeting, but a new year of ministry in general, is that it gives us a time to reflect.It gives us a time to think about the bigger picture. It gives us a time to plan new things. I hope this work will get started at our meeting, but it is really something everyone in this congregation can do.

Where do you see new ministry that can happen? Where would you like to serve? What ways can you imagine reaching out to our community and to the world? A new year is a good time to think about that...and then to put those thoughts into action! Talk to me, to a  staff member, or to a board or council member if you want to get something started. Ask for support...and then make it happen!

The last couple of Sunday sermons have been about sharing the Gospel — being evangelists. And how we all have the gifts necessary to do that very thing. You don’t have to serve on a board or on council to be an evangelist. You don’t have to be a pastor to be
an evangelist. Everyone here can share the Gospel. Everyone here can invite someone to
church. Everyone here can use their hands and feet and hearts and voices to proclaim God’s love and God’s grace to a world that needs to hear it.

So join us and pray for us as we plan our new year of serving God and God’s people!