Monthly

I’m excited about the temperatures finally falling! As fall approaches, nature transitions into a season of shedding and slowing down, offering a profound reflection for our spiritual lives with Jesus. The fading colors, falling leaves, and crisp air remind us of the cycles of life—growth, harvest, and rebirth. In the same way, our spiritual journey invites us to let go of what no longer serves us, trusting in God's timing and grace.

Rain, rain, rain! We prayed and received 2 inches in July bringing our total equaling all of last year. Just as rain revitalizes the earth, the gentle downpour can symbolize the renewal of our spiritual lives, washing away doubts and nurturing our beliefs. Allow the soothing presence of rain to inspire moments of quiet reflection and renewal. Embrace these times as opportunities to deepen your connection to our Lord and let your faith grow stronger, rejuvenated by the cleansing and calming influence of the rain.

I pray everyone is doing well and staying cool in this season of Pentecost. Our Inquirer’s class is going well, and we may have some folks Confirmed/Received when the Rt. Dev. Dr. David G. Read visits on Father’s Day, June 16th. This will be his first visit to St. Matthias, and we’re really excited to show Bishop Read our wonderful church. We’ll also have a designated offering on Father’s Day for the Diocesan Immigration and Refugee Ministries.

I pray everyone is doing well and staying cool in this season of Pentecost. Our Inquirer’s class is going well, and we may have some folks Confirmed/Received when the Rt. Dev. Dr. David G. Read visits on Father’s Day, June 16th. This will be his first visit to St. Matthias, and we’re really excited to show Bishop Read our wonderful church. We’ll also have a designated offering on Father’s Day for the Diocesan Immigration and Refugee Ministries.

We had a joyous and Holy Spirit filled Easter Worship celebration. We started with the children flowering the cross to start the service. The kids also had a great time finding all the Easter eggs. You can see everyone in the photo having a glorious time. We had 6 adults, 4 kids and 3 dogs on our float for the Natalia Bluebonnet parade. Parade watchers received an assortment of goodies our folks tossed out. A couple of days later we held a solar eclipse viewing event with food, games, and fun. Our new movie theater size popcorn machine was a big hit.

I pray everyone is enjoying our beautiful spring weather. Our Lay Chaplain, Jo Ann and I went with another Lay Chaplain, Rhonda, and our friend, the Diocesan Military Ministry Liaison (Leslie) to visit the Frank Tejeda Veteran’s Home in Floresville. St. Matthias has been sending the Home, Veteran’s Day and Valentine cards for a few years and we were finally able to visit them. They have veterans from WWII to the current conflict in the Gulf. We spent time visiting, listening, and sharing. We also presented veterans with prayer shawls and bracelets, Armor of God challenge coins and pins. Jo Ann and I also visited the Devine Nursing Home to see how we can get involved with visits in the future.

Wow! What a Holy Spirit filled Diocesan Council we had in San Marcos. I accompanied our two delegates, JoAnn and Karen, with other delegates from 87 Diocesan churches representing over 26,000 Episcopalians. They voted for board and committee members, the annual budget, and listened to ministry reports. I loved seeing Council through the eyes of JoAnn who attended her first Council. I couldn’t hope to adequately explain to anyone what they would experience, until they see it in person. Her eyes were lit up, she had the biggest smile and just soaked in the loving experience being surround with hundreds of Christians.

Ash Wednesday is on Valentines Day this year, so we’ll be having Imposition of Ashes during our Ash Wednesday service at 12pm. If you are in the local area and unable to attend the service and would like ashes, please let us know. Our Lay Chaplain, Jo Ann or I will come to you.

2023 was a year of highs and lows for St, Matthias. We continued our tradition of being involved in our community impacting so many lives with our efforts. We lost two of our family, Erica and Harry. They were both a very big parts of our church and will be sorely missed. We held a Celebration of Life service for Harry Trupp last month. He made a tremendous impact at St. Matthias. I want to thank everyone who helped with the service and reception.

We lost one of our saints, Harry Trupp on November 21st. He blessed St. Matthias with his presence and was the epitome of being a disciple of Christ as an evangelist inviting everyone he met to attend St. Matthias. He is our Bishop’s Warden and served as Worship Leader, Lay Eucharist Minister, Visiting Eucharist Minister, and Lector.  He was directly responsible for almost all the recent improvements at our church. Harry was also a key member of our annual community events. Visitation is Monday, December 11th from 2:00-5:00 at Primrose Funeral Home in Devine. We’ll be having a Celebration of Life service Tuesday, December 12th at St. Matthias’ Church, 1:00 pm with reception following the service and internment.

I pray everyone is enjoying the fall weather. We had a busy October at St. Matthias. We held our annual community Blessing of the Animals, annual community Trunk or treat, and attended the National Night Out. We’re looking forward to our second year of entering the St. Matthias float in the Devine Cactus Festival parade. Thank you, Jon and Allison, for spearheading this event and everyone who is volunteering.

We held a Celebration of Life for one of our saints, Erika Gibbs. Family and friends shared their love and stories of Erika during the reception following the service. If you weren’t able to attend the service, you can view it on our St. Matthias Facebook page.

Meg, Luna and I had a wonderful vacation in Rapid City, South Dakota. The temperature was in the mid 60’s to mid-80’s. We visited a small church, St. Matthews Episcopal Church led by Bishop Burnett. All the hymns were sung in Lakota as well as different parts of the liturgy. Maybe I should talk to Phyllis about periodically including a Lakota hymn. I could actually carry a tune. Meg wouldn’t have to cut my mike like she does now for our hymns. I was able to share some info on what our Diocese is doing with small churches as well as the efforts of St. Matthias.

Meg, Luna and I had a wonderful vacation in Rapid City, South Dakota. The temperature was in the mid 60’s to mid-80’s. We visited a small church, St. Matthews Episcopal Church led by Bishop Burnett. All the hymns were sung in Lakota as well as different parts of the liturgy. Maybe I should talk to Phyllis about periodically including a Lakota hymn. I could actually carry a tune. Meg wouldn’t have to cut my mike like she does now for our hymns. I was able to share some info on what our Diocese is doing with small churches as well as the efforts of St. Matthias.

I pray everyone is enjoying the summer weather. It did hit 110 in Devine and the heat index was 119. We’re all counting the days until the Ordination and Consecration Service of the 11th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of West Texas, the Rev. Dr. David G. Read on Saturday, July 8 at 11:00 a.m. at All Saints Chapel, TMI Episcopal. I encourage everyone to watch online at dwtx.org/events/dwtxconsecration2023 if you can’t attend in person.

We had a glorious St. Matthias 50th Anniversary celebration. The Rt. Rev. Rayford High, Assistant Bishop of West Texas and dear friend of St. Matthias received JoAnn, John and Pat. Erika pulled double duty as the Bishop’s Chaplain and our crucifer and Harry was our LEM. We had 39 folks in attendance. We had 2 of St. Matthias’s founders as well as past and present parishioners. There was a celebratory luncheon after the service. Thank you to everyone who put in long hours to get everything ready.

What a glorious April we had, celebrating the Risen Christ on Easter. The children flowered the cross before the service and collected many Easter eggs afterwards. The highlight for this month will be the St. Matthias 50th Anniversary celebration. The Rt. Rev. Rayford High, Assistant Bishop of West Texas and dear friend of St. Matthias will lead our Holy Eucharist and Receive JoAnn, Jon, and Pat into our Episcopal faith. Yes, Pat Leece, our Wednesday and Sunday Psalmist in New York will be here in person! We will have an anniversary celebratory luncheon honoring our 3 newest Episcopal members, after the service.

We have an action-packed April planned. Holy Week begins with:

Palm Sunday, April 2nd, 10:30am

Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem and Jesus’ Passion on the cross. Palm branches will be distributed and waved during the procession. The liturgy of the palms will start outside the church then we’ll process into the church. For the Passion gospel, some folks in the congregation will have specific roles to read with the congregation taking the part of the crowd.