2021 Annual Meeting Rector’s Address

January 24, 2022

To view a vide of the Rev. Jeffrey W. Mello’s rector’s address, click HERE

Good morning, church! And welcome to the one hundred and seventy-third annual meeting of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Brookline, and my 13th Annual Address as your rector.

A few weeks ago, I was talking with some of my colleagues who are rectors of their parishes about our upcoming Annual Meetings and writing our Annual Reports.

One of my colleagues commented that she wished she could submit the following, “Rector’s Report for 2021. It was really, really, really hard. Respectfully submitted, your Rector.”

2021 was really, really, really hard.

And it was hard in lots of different ways.

To view a video of the Rev. Jeffrey W. Mello’s sermon, click HERE

Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10; 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a; Luke 4:14-21

This week, I found myself bound in heart, mind and spirit to a varied group of individuals, most of whom I had never ever met.

Their names are, in no particular order, John Mahony, Fannie Lou Hamer, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker and Michelle Go.

Perhaps some are familiar to you.

To view a video of the Rev. Jeffrey W. Mello’s sermon, click HERE

Isaiah 43:1-7; Acts 8:14-17; Luke 3:15-17, 21-22

During a Marriage ceremony, we pray “grant that all married persons who have witnessed these vows may find their lives strengthened and their loyalties confirmed.”

I’ve had more than a handful of seasoned married couples come up to me after the ceremony to say how moving they found the ceremony for themselves. “Thanks for reminding us what this whole marriage thing is about,” they say.

Marriage ceremonies aren’t just for the two getting married.

To view a video of the Rev. Isaac P. Martinez’s sermon, click HERE

Lections: Jer. 31:7-14; Ps. 84; Eph. 1:3-6,15-19a; Luke 2:41-52

May only God’s Word be spoken and may only God’s Word be heard.

Well church, I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.

For if the eyes of my heart have been enlightened or if I’ve increased in any wisdom over the last 2 and a half years, St. Paul’s, it is because of what you have taught me and allowed me to be and to do, with God’s help. I will have more to say of what comes next for me and the role you played in it but, presented with such rich readings this morning, I just can’t help but break open the Word with you one last time.

To view a vide of the Reverend Jeffrey W. Mello’s sermon, click HERE

Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7; Luke 2:1-14

In the name of the One who meets all our hopes and fears tonight.

Merry Christmas, St. Paul’s!

I wonder if you, like me, come to this Christmas Eve with a strange mix of emotions. I am grateful that, this year, some of us can be in person for Christmas Eve. And I am sorry that we cannot yet all be.

To view a video of the Rev. Isaac Martinez’s sermon, click HERE.

Lections: Zeph. 3:14-20; Cant. 9; Phil. 4:4-7; Luke 3:7-18

In the name of One, Holy, and Living God.

It is so good to break open the Word with you again, St. Paul’s. In the Pentecostal tradition of my childhood, the preacher would always have a catchy title for his sermon. Being free to preach without a lectionary, he, and it was always a he, would try to help the congregation connect the main idea of his sermon with the verses of Scripture he chose that day. A memorable sermon title was a handy tool for that.