Letter from the Pastor – Advent 2025
Dear Church,
October was Clergy Appreciation Month and I would like to say ‘Thank You’ to the people of Central Woodward. Thank you for the gifts and lunches and the cake and other tokens of support and appreciation I received. I felt very supported, blessed, and appreciated. As we approach the Holiday Season, I also feel very grateful. Not just for the gifts of appreciation I received, but also, grateful to be your pastor.
Ask any friend or acquaintance of mine who I may have chatted with in recent months. Anyone who has asked me how I’m doing. One of the first things I will say is that I feel very grateful to be serving at CWCC. I feel grateful to be part of this church, this community, and to be entrusted with the work of tending to this particular flock. So, I thank God for it, but I am also grateful to all of you.
I expect that when you read this it will be sometime around Thanksgiving. This time of year is always a reminder of the importance of gratitude. I believe that it is an important part of our spiritual journeys. Gratefulness helps us to, simultaneously, remain grounded and mindful of the things going on in our daily life, but also, it helps us to be aware of God’s loving presence that is with us always. All are things for which we can be grateful.
Central Woodward’s council of Elders are currently reading a devotional called Awakened by Caleb Lines. It is a year long devotional that guides the reader through different themes using scripture and spiritual practices. This week the theme was gratitude and the suggested spiritual practice was something called a “gratitude jar.” The idea of the gratitude jar is that each day you would write down on slip of paper something you are grateful for and put it in a jar so at the end of a month you can see how abundant your blessings are.
I know the month of Thanksgiving has almost passed us by, but I think this could be a valuable exercise any time of year. Certainly, during Advent. Perhaps this month as we count down the days until Christmas, perhaps you are opening a panel on an Advent calendar each day, we could take that opportunity to also stop and acknowledge something we are grateful for. Let it keep us grounded and mindful during the busyness and hectic pace of the Christmas season. And let it keep us connected to and grateful for our relationship with God as we prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ. That gift for which we are ever grateful and always celebrating in any time of year.
Season’s greetings and blessings,
Pastor Zach