A letter to the congregations of All Saints and St. Paul's,

     The days are dramatically shorter since my last letter. As I'm writing this month's letter, the fields around my apartment are still tan, brown and green, but I can drive ten minutes and feel like I'm in a snow globe. As I was driving to Vergennes on Sunday morning, I had to slow down to avoid hitting a murmuration of starlings, not once, but twice. All of Vermont's natural beauty inspired me to preach on E.E. Cummings, Robert Frost, Mary Oliver, and Lydia Marie Childs today. All sermons are stored on the websites.

  Though I'm still feeling grateful for so many things -- this call to two very special parishes, for my family and friends, especially my daughter who came for two days, this new season of Advent brings a sense of anticipation. Even in these dark days, I feel hopeful. Hope comes in the form of a young mother from Vergennes who came to St. Paul's this morning because she passed the church and thought she would come to a service. Hope comes in the form of parishioners who are beginning to express an interest in helping me look for new community partnerships with connections you already have and new ones we will make. The Holy Spirit is moving.

  There are some wonderful opportunities for learning, reflection and community-building coming up. Be sure to check out the Advent Book Study offered by the Revs. Kim Hardy and Fred Moser in December. At St. Paul's, several more parishioners are interested in being received or confirmed, so we will be preparing on Dec 15th. During Epiphany at All Saints, the Rev. Ann Boyd will teach an enriching in-person adult forum on Richard Rohr's book, Hope Against Darkness. "The word change normally refers to new beginnings. But transformation, the mystery we're examining, more often happens not when something new begins but when something old falls apart. The pain of something old falling apart -- chaos -- invites the soul to listen at a deeper level."

  Let the old life fall away and the new life come. That message is at the heart of the season of Advent. May God be with us in these weeks, as we wait with anticipation for a new life in Christ.

God bless you all,

Anne+