Dear ASBC Members and Friends,

Happy "holy" days. Can it be? It seems like just yesterday that the Council met for its September planning retreat. And now we're already in the second week of Advent! As you can see from the calendar of upcoming events, Christmas falls on a Sunday this year. We'll celebrate beginning with a Saturday 5PM Christmas Eve service and then at our regular Sunday morning time of 10:30AM. I realize many of you will be away with family, but I'm sure we'll have a nice service with those who can make it. I'll be heading out afterwards to meet up with family members myself (in Georgia). Time marches on, marked by ritual, and shared with those we love.

Glancing back over the summer and fall, it's safe to say that it's been a difficult time for people of faith. In addition to the natural disasters in the Gulf Coast and Pakistan, conditions in Iraq continue to disintegrate. But true to our identity as a progressive, inclusive church, we've been able to get involved through our contacts in the community. One of those contacts is the Community Action Project or CAP, a faith-based grassroots network seeking to empower individuals in the community. As I write this I'm just back from a two-day CAP retreat where I gave a presentation on linking up faith and justice. I talked about the life of El Salvador's Archbishop, Oscar Romero. And I talked about the kinds of things we do, reaching through interfaith friends in the community, and marching in DC!

I hope this letter finds you feeling a bit of the Christmas cheer. My prayer is that, as we continue to be the Church, you will get glimpses beyond the commercialized dimension of Christmas to the sacred space at the heart of it all. And I thank each one of you for the glimpses you've made possible by your support and faithful presence.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Tom Martinez