Discipleship | Making Church Matter

Growing Through Audacious Goals

I’m not entirely sure where the number even came from. One moment, we were talking generally about the desire to increase participation in our small group program. The next, my associate Tom Corcoran was declaring in front of the whole congregation and our online audience that our goal for this year was to get 1,000 […]

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Discipleship | Leadership

Who’s Stealing the Joy at Your Parish?

For our first message series of the new year, we’ve been looking at “thieves” of joy: things that threaten to steal our joy: things like worry, disappointment, fear, anger, rejection, and all the rest. The purpose of the series is to name those thieves and then identify strategies that will protect us and help us […]

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What's new at Nativity

An Overview of 2022 at Nativity

After two years of COVID everybody is really ready for a return to normal, which may or may not come our way in 2022. Regardless of the circumstances in our community, however restrictive the state and county mandates, and mindful of the very real fears of many parishioners, we intend to march into the new […]

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Vision | What's new at Nativity

The Best of 2021

It has been a unique and, frankly, strange year that now comes to a close. And while the restrictions we faced this year were certainly less strict than those experienced in 2020, they certainly were challenging. Mandates and masks, pro-vaxers v. anti-vaxers created confusion and conflict. And from a staff point of view, there was […]

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Evangelization

Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas (Eve)

Thus says the LORD: You, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel. – Micah 5:1 It was the prophet Micah who foretold the birthplace of the Messiah. Like other Old Testament prophets, his is a challenging message […]

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Evangelization

The Opportunity of Advent 2021

Advent is far and away my favorite liturgical season of the year. Perhaps it’s because I was ordained just before Advent and the season was my first experience as a priest. Perhaps it’s because the days are getting shorter, the evenings darker and colder, and all that seems perfectly matched with the themes and readings […]

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Stewardship

Stewardship Season

Every year, around Thanksgiving, we celebrate stewardship here at Nativity.  Here’s the basic blueprint for what we do and why we do it. What Is It? Stewardship Weekend is an extended reflection and celebration of giving in our parish. Stewardship, when it comes to discipleship, also includes gifts of time and talent, but we talk […]

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Discipleship

Missions Weekend

Missions Weekend You are my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. – Acts 1:8   The final instruction from the Lord to the Church clearly teaches there are to be no limits to our missionary service. The three-fold nature of the instruction indicates that the Christian community has […]

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falling leaves
What's new at Nativity

Fall Update

Rebuilt has always been about sharing our real-time experiences in a real-life parish. Now that we are solidly into our fall semester here at Nativity, it seems like a good time for an update on what’s new and what’s next. If I had to identify one central theme of this update it would be that […]

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