If you’ve ever read any of St. Paul’s letters, you’ll know that he spent a lot of time giving thanks. In each of the 13 or so ancient letters that have come down to us from Paul, and which form a significant portion of the New Testament, Paul spends a lot of time just thanking God for stuff.

Paul thanks God for the goodness and love made known in Jesus Christ, for the gift of salvation and the ongoing work of the Spirit in his life and in the lives of his fellow Christians. And of course, Paul encourages his readers to make a point of giving thanks as well. In his first letter to the Thessalonians, for example, Paul says that we should “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” This is an important reminder that whatever may be going on around us, there are always many things for which we can and should be thankful.

But as we prepare for another Thanksgiving holiday, I’m reminded in particular of how important it was for Paul to thank God for the people to whom he wrote all this letters.

Paul thanks God for the faith and love of the people to whom he wrote in Rome, Ephesus, Colossae, Thessalonica, Philippi and Corinth. He thanks God for their steadfastness, especially in difficult times. He thanks God for their spiritual gifts, for their partnership in the Gospel, and for their shared history and mutual affection.

And like Paul, I am deeply grateful to serve and to be part of a church in which I’ve been able to experience so much of the same. In other words, I’m deeply grateful for all of you. I’m grateful for your faith and your love. I’m grateful for your steadfastness in difficult times, your spiritual gifts, your partnership in the Gospel, and how we’ve been able to bless our community together in so many ways.

In short, please know that this Thanksgiving, I am giving thanks for you, the people of St. Paul’s Church, Hampton, and for all the ways that God has continued to bless me and my family and our wider community through you.

Thank you and thank God for you, this Thanksgiving and always!

Sincerely,

Rev. David Turner+
St.Paul’s Anglican Church, Hampton

Making a Thanksgiving Offering?

Many of us at St. Paul’s have adopted the age-old tradition of making a special Thanksgiving Offering at this time of year.  It’s a simple way for us to express our gratitude for all that we have to be thankful for and turning that gratitude into generosity.

If that is your tradition and you plan to make your Thanksgiving Offering through St. Paul’s this year, thank you! The life and mission of St. Paul’s, Hampton is only possible with the collective financial support of parishioners, friends and community members like you.

If making a special Thanksgiving Offering isn’t a tradition you’ve tried before, we invite you to prayerfully consider it. How much you give is not what’s important. What makes it special is simply the spirit of gratitude in which your offering is given and the recognition that everything we’ve been given is ultimately a gift from a good Creator who loves us more than we could ever fully imagine.

Thanksgiving Offerings can be made in-person (envelopes are available at the back of the church) or online through Interac e-Transfer to stpauls-hampton@outlook.com