From the Rector

Dear Friends in Christ,

In this time of election stress and pandemic anxiety as our discourse and norms of civility are under increasing strain, I’m looking for ways to support and lift up that which is beautiful and life-giving.

One way we are doing that is with our pledge to Saint Philip’s. In a time of division, it brings people of all backgrounds together. In a time of superficial anger, it provides a place of deeper peace. In a time of feeling helpless in the face of so many big challenges, it makes a tangible difference to so many in their daily lives. 

Whether it’s helping to stave off eviction with rental assistance, helping the lights stay on with utility assistance, helping kids read through our volunteer programs, helping to put food on the table through our feeding ministries, or giving fresh clothes and a backpack to those newly arrived in our country — you make a difference with your support. 

There’s so much that is ugly — that feels like it’s dragging us down — in our culture right now. Saint Philip’s responds with the only thing the Church has ever had to offer — the love of God and the love of our neighbor. Have places like this ever felt so vitally needed to you?

They haven’t to me. We’re starving for connection, meaning, beauty, and kindness right now — and we see it all playing out on tv, in our social media, and on the radio. The Church is one of the few places left that invites us to respond to fear with love, to anger with mercy, to injustice with resolve, and to an ever-coarser culture with beauty and truth.

The Church’s first “job” is to worship — to love God with all that we have and all that we are. Our second call is to love our neighbor as ourselves. We exist as something that is called to be holy, to be a living sign of love, in the midst of so much division and distraction.

We need more signs of love in this world. We need more ways to connect. We need more ways to go deeper, to serve, and to grow in hope.

I hope that you will join Karrie and me in making a pledge at stphilipstucson.org/pledge or by sending in your pledge form so that we can continue to be what so many desperately need — so that we can continue to be the Body of Christ offering healing, mercy, love, and peace to so many.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Robert