My dear friends,

I have just celebrated my 4th Christmas in San Diego - and I am still not used to how busy January is! In Australia it is the heart of summer and vacation time. Many people take 3-4 weeks break and business can be quiet. In parishes it is like July in the USA. Here at All Saints' every Sunday in January was very busy. We started off on January 7th with our celebration of the Epiphany. This was a wonderful conclusion to our lovely Christmas celebrations, and High Mass began with the procession of the Kings to the Creche. Afterwards a very enjoyable parish Christmas lunch was held in the hall. My sermons over the Christmas/Epiphany Sundays received more comment than usual. If you missed them they can be read and heard on our website, thanks to George Dreyer.

Sunday, January 14th I experienced a first in an Episcopal parish - Visitors Sunday. Several parishioners brought visitors with them, and we also had in attendance staff from the Community Coaching Center - our tenants who look after autistic children. At High Mass Sheila Hilliard gave a commentary on what was happening at key points in the Service. This was well received by parishioners as well as visitors. The following Sunday our Bishop was with us. At 10 am he celebrated the Mass and administered the sacrament of Confirmation to 7 adults. This was the culmination of many months of study and