Good morning everyone-

So nice to have a big crowd yesterday with several folks away. We had 43 at Mass and I was pleased to see our new oil candles in place, dedicated to the memory of Donald Mark Farley.

Christmas attendance was good and consistent with the years from 2022. Several of our regulars were away visiting family so many were visitors. I am also pleased at how many we see at Midnight Mass. We will have annual attendance numbers for everyone at the annual meeting. Annual attendance has grown and we have welcomed several new members. Our Citadel Cadets are back from Christmas leave-keep them in your prayers for the upcoming semester.

The vestry finalized the budget yesterday and reviewed some ideas and the placement of the new graveyard, which will go on the north side of the church near the sanctuary. Our first interment will be in March, Navy Veteran Tom Dixon. We also will be adding some lighting to the new sign, solar powered for right now.

We have distributed about half of our personal items and food supplies, some to veterans in need thanks to Chad Hartwell of the Tri-county veterans Association. He also connected us with an associate who cares for 11 homeless encampments. We supplied her with food, blankets and personal items. This ministry will continue through the winter. Our brothers and sisters with Faith Methodist Church, who worship at the church at noon on Sundays, turned out last Monday to help distribute items. They are a wonderful group, and our association has worked out well. They are very Scripturally focused and want to participate in some of our programs.

The Deep Recovery program went very well on Thursday. We had 24 signup which was much more than we were comfortable with, but 13 came and stayed for the first session. That is the right number for one of these programs. Deacon Dan did a great deal of preparation and did a wonderful job with his presentation. His long years of teaching was apparent.