Full disclosure: before I was ordained, I used to avoid the Annual Meeting at my church. Annual Meeting Sunday? Great! I’ll go out for Sunday morning bagels instead. 

With Grateful Hearts, our 2025 Annual Campaign, is Bethesda-by-the-Sea’s invitation to reflect on our blessings and respond with gratitude.

“Ordinary” in this case refers to the texts in our liturgy that don’t change from week to week. At the 8:00 service, we say the Gloria, the Sanctus, and the Fraction Anthem, using the same text each week. At 9:00 and 11:00, we sing them and mark each new season by rotating to a different composer’s setting.

Merry Christmas! Many folks have boxed up their decorations, but at Bethesda, we’re still celebrating.