St. Thomas Episcopal Church   

January 18, 2010

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It was after the His disciples were unable to cast out a demon from a young boy that Jesus gave them the reason why. He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."(Matthew 17:20)  The good news for us is that even amidst the demons which have sought to plague and possess us in 2009, mustard seed faith has brought us through and mountains have moved.  Not only did mountains move supernaturally making possible the inauguration of the first African-American President of the United States, Barak Obama, but the mountains have supernaturally moved for St. Thomas.  This was indeed a year where faith became substance!

It was mustard seed faith that moved the mountain of a well used and leaking roof atop the church and a broken furnace.  Thanks to God’s grace and all of you, who have been faithful stewards, we did it!  Our Raise the Roof/Turn On the Heat Campaign was a success raising nearly 28,000.00 dollars to date and still counting!  It was through efforts big and small, from an estate sale to bake sales to dinner sales to coupon booklet sales to car washes, that we came together and achieved this objective.  We can move mountains with a little faith.

It was mustard seed faith that allowed us to continue to welcome mew members to our ranks.  Several were baptized and for the first time in a number of years confirmands were presented to Bishop Scantlebury on his official visitation.  God has continued to add to our numbers despite the overall statistics which show a decline in church membership across the country.  Indeed God has honored our faith.

It was mustard seed faith that allowed the various ministries of the church to prosper; ministries that moved mountains in the area of grocery relief, education on healthcare reform, men’s fellowship, homeless ministry through TRC, and keeping families together at our Safe Haven Home, just to name a few.  We have faith that even our fledgling ministries- the Arts Ministry and Prayer Shawl Ministry will grow in 2010.

Mustard seed faith has attracted students to this place who sought us out to learn about our ministry.  We have even crossed denominational affiliation in theological education.  While we continue to thank God for the presence of Dr. Raymond Massenburg from Seabury, we welcome Mr. Kenneth Coleman from Chicago Theological Seminary, a Baptist seminarian.  We are also thankful for our own Karen King, a student at Seabury who is also in discernment for ordained ministry.

We have, with mustard seed faith continued to look to the future.  We have, with courage, faced the loss of income as Ada S. McKinley Headstart departed, seeing instead a chance to broaden our ministry in the Guild Hall.  God has given us a new beginning; a new chance to do new things, and we are excited at the prospects!

And so as we look forward to the year ahead, we do so with this faith.  It is with this faith that we will continue to grow not only in numbers, but spiritually.  With this faith, we will move the mountain of our mortgage and be debt-free.  With this faith, we will continue to realize the purpose for which God has sustained us for 132 years.  With this faith, new ministries will be created and old ones strengthened or replaced if need be.  We are not afraid to give up the old and yield to the new if it is God’s will.  With this faith, we will use the power of our imaginations to dream of our role in brining God’s kingdom on earth.  With this faith, we will even begin to dream of creating a school to serve this community and the Chicagoland area.  With this faith, lives will continue to be changed by the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ who tells us plainly that “nothing will be impossible.”   

I am thankful for another year of ministry with you and it is with great humility that I serve you as your rector and priest. I am thankful for all of the officers of the church whose unwavering dedication has been invaluable.  I am especially thankful for the support of my family as I seek to answer God’s call in this place at this time. I pray that God will continue to bless each one of you and your families in the year to come, and may God’s peace surround you now and always.

With Gratitude,

The Very Reverend Fulton L. Porter, III, M.D., M.Div.

The Sixth Rector

Dean, Chicago South Deanery