2010 RECTOR’S REPORT

Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Your Vestry and Foundation Board have prayed the above prayer before every meeting since Hurricane Ike. It reminds us of several important truths about why we come together in the service of Grace Church and in the Name of God. The first is simply to remember the importance of prayer – that we are to be people of prayer. We pray together because we instinctively believe that our combined prayers carry weight with our Maker; that God hears and responds to the prayers of God's people. And we pray for those things that are necessary for our common life and that will bring us to be of one heart and mind for Jesus Christ. When I contemplate what things are necessary for our life together at Grace, I am convicted that they are not material things. Rather, they are things of the heart. What is necessary for our common life here are things like 1) a shared faith in Jesus Christ; 2) compassion for our fellow human beings, particularly those who are underserved in our community; 3) a vibrant spirit of hospitality that will give evidence of our sincere desire to welcome those who visit; and 4) a passionate spirit of worship. Those are the things that are necessary for us to be of one heart and mind within God's holy Church; therefore, those are the things that we must nourish at Grace in order to be a vibrant and fruitful congregation. And I hope to develop ministries and programs that will enhance those things in our hearts during the upcoming year.

Looking back on 2010, all we need to do is to look around at our campus to know that we have much for which to be thankful. Due to the continued hard work of your Vestry, Foundation Board, and Building Committee, we completed all of the rebuilding work in 2010 that we plan to do. With the re-opening of the Silk Purse in July, all of our buildings are now in better condition than they were before Hurricane Ike. And the best news is that it was accomplished within our budget and without having to withdraw a significant portion from our Foundation.

In 2010, we were also able to fulfill my stated goal to reinstate our outreach ministries from previous years, and add several new ones. I am sure that you have all observed by now that I particularly enjoy ministries that include food, so one of our 2010 additions was cooking and serving bi-monthly meals to the volunteers that were housed at the William Temple Center. We also began a food ingathering ministry for the Pantry at St. Vincent's House.

Another goal for 2010 was to increase hospitality – the things that we do here at Grace to come together in a setting other than Sunday worship. Because we are all together in one Sunday service, I believe it is very important that we use that opportunity to also gather for fellowship. Thanks to Doris Niccolai's team of cooks and helpers, our Sunday hospitality is fantastic!

My priorities for the upcoming year of 2011 are:

• To help our webmaster (and new Sr. Warden), Judy Webb, continue to improve our ability to communicate with one another through the internet. We want to be able to send out e-mail reminders to folks of upcoming events and allow ministry leaders to post their important news directly on our website. Judy has the expertise, but she needs for all of us to participate more fully by providing our e-mails and utilizing the website as a primary source of information for Grace activities.
  
• To work with Rev. Helen to provide more opportunities for the spiritual care of our parish and the Galveston community. She has plans to start Community of Hope training soon; plus, we are indentifying other resources that can provide short seminars in spiritual nourishment, aging, healthcare, etc. Helen and I are very excited about the many ways that Grace can become a center for spiritual care for Galveston.

God continues to abundantly bless our Grace Church in many ways. And I pray that as we begin a new year together, each of us will share those blessings with someone who has not yet heard the good news of God in Christ. Invite a friend (or a stranger) to join us on Sunday or at one of our other functions; and let the love of God and the warmth of our Grace family work together to bless that person's life.

May God bless us and keep us all.
Faithfully, Fr. Paul+