Looking Ahead to 2016
For most, New Year's Eve means resolving to improve in the new year, however short-lived that may be. But for area clergy, most view Jan. 1 as a day like any other in terms of personal growth and spirituality.
Still, some clergy are looking forward to changes in 2016.
The Rev. Tara Lynn, pastor of Grace@Calvary Lutheran Church, 123 E. Diamond St., said the new year will mark the end of her settling in at the church.
Lynn took over Jan. 1, 2015, at Grace@Calvary.
The church had been without a full-time pastor since the Rev. Don Short left in 2012.
“I think it's the beginning of my second year as pastor. Now that we have had some time to get to know each other, we can start to ask how we might be of service to the community around us,” Lynn said.“I think what I am always trying to remind people is that the grace and love of God is for all people,” she added.The Rev. Ward Stakem, pastor of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 315 Stoney Hollow Road, Cabot, said he has a more concrete plan to follow in 2016.“We have a pastoral plan that we are working on with the parish council,” he said. “It is an ongoing process whereby we try to provide leadership for the parish.”Stakem said, “We also are working in conjunction with their plan for On Mission for the Church Alive, which is the whole project for the diocese and all the parishes in the dioceses.”On Mission for the Church Alive, he said, is “to make the church more alive in this particular area, the Diocese of Pittsburgh, rejuvenate the life and spirit, changes we have to do to rejuvenate the life of the parishes.”
Stakem said part of every new year is the Feast of the Epiphany, Jan. 6, which will be celebrated Sunday by Roman Catholics. It commemorates the visit of the Magi to the Christ child and is also known as 12th Night.“We encourage them to be more tuned to the light of Christ, to manifest it,” he said.Big changes in 2016 might be coming to Congregation B'nai Abraham, 519 N. Main St., said Cantor Michal Gray-Schaffer.“We are investigating downsizing our physical plant to meet the size or our congregation,” she said. “In the last 20 years we certainly have shrunk to a smaller size.”She said the synagogue members were thinking of moving from their North Main Street location where B'nai Abraham has been for the past 65 years.The Rev. Barbara Love, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, 557 Perry Highway, Lancaster Township, hopes to reach more people in 2016.
“My resolution always is for more outreach out into the community,” Love said. “I think we will be looking at that.”She noted 2017 will mark the church's 175th anniversary, and the congregation is already beginning to look into how best to mark the event.“My resolution for me is to rest more and to take a greater positive attitude to what the new year will bring no matter what that is,” said Love.The Rev. James Murphy, pastor of St. Fidelis Roman Catholic Church, 125 Buttercup Road, said, “My resolution would be to serve the poor and take care of the sick more.”“It would be to try and bring light where there is darkness and to not be afraid to be a person of sacrifice,” he said.“I think you could be more concerned about the other person than yourself. I think that seems inappropriate in the philosophy of our culture.“It was a mystery that Christ revealed to us. By being more concerned about your neighbors needs you are creating light in our culture,” Murphy said.
