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I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."
Psalm 122:1
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
Genesis 1:1
"This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it."
Psalms 118:24
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And he shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5
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Rector's Study
"AND NOW THESE THREE REMAIN: FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE.
...BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE."
1 Corinthians 13:13
Beloved friends,
I hope you won't mind me addressing you in this issue of our wonderful newsletter with a general "thank you note." Today is a significant occasion for me to say thank you to all who are members of the Body of Christ in this place. St. Mark's parish is healthier and stronger in faith at this time in our history because of the dedication and commitment of each of you.
I write before Stewardship Sunday, but I'm already confident that I can say thank you for the success of this year's campaign. Many of you will join me in saying thank you for this year's vestry and the great work they've done to insure our continued financial well-being.
But what I really most want to thank you all for is your ministry over the last seven years, during which I have been your rector. On this date in 1995, I was officially installed as the Fifth Rector of St. Mark's Episcopal Church. But today is much more to me than "my" seventh anniversary. It is "our" anniversary of ministry together.
Through these first seven years, we have learned much, we have changed significantly, and I believe wholeheartedly that we all have grown in one particularly important way. And I don't think it has always been easy. We have grown in that most significant, primary Christian virtue, love.
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"These three abide: faith, hope and love; but the greatest of these is love."
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Thank you for loving me, as difficult as I so often am, as obsessive as you recognize me to be, as off-puttingly zealous as I appear. Thank you for loving my family, and for growing in love with each other, because you are the parish family of which I am the father, by God's grace.
On this, our anniversary, I am deeply mindful that we have come to know and are growing in knowledge of Christ, through the love we share. This is so apparent in what Jesus teaches us in the New Commandment, "love one another." It is clearly seen by all who perceive our common affection. "By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 12:35).
So, dear friends, thank you.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Timothy P. Perkins  , SSC
Previous Issues:
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
Summer 2006
June 2006
Lent 2006
Advent 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
Summer 2004
Easter 2004
Lent 2004
February 2004
Epiphany 2004
Advent 2003
Easter 2003
Lent 2003
February 2003
Epiphany 2003
October 2002
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