29 December, 2005

Dear Parish Family:

Greetings in the name of our new born King as we prepare to enter the New Year.

It has been quite a year here at St. Anselms, probably the year with the most significant changes since I started my tenure. Chiefly among these is that we are making great progress in bringing all the language ministries here at St. Anselms under the umbrella of the parish. For the last three years St. Anselm of Canterbury Episcopal Church has been ministering and celebrating the Holy Eucharist in two languages, English and Spanish. In addition to this, Redeemer Mission has been celebrating in Vietnamese and Resurrection Ministry has been celebrating in Korean. Both of these are diocesan ministries not connected to the parish. As of 2006, the parish will absorb Redeemer Vietnamese Mission. This means that in effect, we will be a parish with three language ministries. If all goes according to plans, Resurrection Korean Ministry could also become part of the parish in 2007.

Related to all of this is the arrival of our new Associate Rector, Mother Minh Hahn Nguyen (please note that her first name is Minh Hanh pronounced Min Han). She has been serving the needs of our Vietnamese congregation part time for the last few months and beginning in January, she will be with us full time and will be involved in all aspects of ministry here at St. Anselms. Most recently Mother Ginna Benson has also attached herself to our parish as an Assisting Priest (non stipendiary) until she gets a new parish calling. It feels great to have more than one priest available to our parishioners. We are beginning a new page in the history of St. Anselms and I anticipate plenty of new and fresh ideas for the future.

Very soon you will also see a statue of the blessed mother of Jesus surrounded by a garden on Galway Street. The statue will serve as a magnet for evangelism in the Latino community but also to persons who have left the Roman Catholic Church and may still be looking for a church where they can hear the Good News of inclusivity contained in the Gospel of our Lord. The statue will also improve the appearance of the church outside especially at night since it will be lighted. People passing by will see it; it will become a new landmark for St. Anselms. Some have suggested that to give the church even more visibility we should have lights pointing out through the stained glass at night. It is a great idea and if anyone knows or has an idea as to how this can be achieved, please let us know.

Our Christmas Eve celebration was well attended and very festive. Singing "Silent Night" by candlelight was very moving and uplifting. In a matter of days we will enter 2006 and a new year will begin. It is not the best of times with wars going on and soldiers and civilians dieing on a weekly basis. What is most tragic is how this is all fueled by religious fanaticism and fundamentalism both here and abroad. The Evangelical Christian Right in this country with its wealth, influence over politics, and its great numbers is dictating to a large extent our policies in the Middle East. Policies that simply move us toward more chaos, hatred, destruction, and greater violence, all for the sake of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ. It seems the world is asleep to this, and it goes largely ignored. What is known in theological circles as Dispensationalist Theology (also know as Christian Zionism) is fueling the tensions in the Middle East. In 2006 I propose to run a series of Adult Christian Education sessions to study this phenomenon. Recently the History Channel has produced some excellent programming on this topic, and I hope to get the programs so we can use them in our discussions and explorations. In a time of religious fanaticism, I am thankful that we belong to a church with its feet on the ground.

Before closing this letter I would like to share with you that our resident poet, John Harrell and I are in the beginning stages of planning what we are calling the St. Anselms Cultural Arts Program. We recently met with the Canon for the Arts at St. Pauls Cathedral in San Diego to get ideas and exchange ideas with him for a community arts program here at St. Anselms. We are moving ahead and extend an invitation to anyone interested in the arts (painting, dancing, music, photography, etc.) to join us. I now have my own website for my photographic work: www.BenitezRivera.com and I invite all of you to visit the website and have a relaxing time browsing through the pictures in the various albums.

I wish you many new blessings in the year to come. Please note that our Annual Parish Meeting will be held on Sunday January 29^th and we are organizing a brunch that day to welcome Mother Minh Hanh Nguyen officially. May the New Year bring us all new realizations and wonderful blessings.

In the name of our Newborn King,

The Rev. Wilfredo Benítez,
Rector

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