Hello and welcome to 2021. As I write this the sun is shining through the garden window - a blessing on this chilly morning. The 2021 Board of Stewards met on Saturday the 23rd for our annual orientation retreat and again for our first regular BOS meeting of the year on Thursday the 28th. We welcomed Dan St. Romain, Scott Boynton and David Kinder to the Board.

As we finish out this unbelievable year, I reflect on the fact that even though this year was filled with monumentally difficult challenges, it was also filled with great blessings. Personally, Chip and I are blessed that our youngest daughter, Shelby, has graduated college, and our oldest daughter, CJ, is having a baby in January.

The Live Nativity, a 70 year tradition at AHUMC, was held Sunday, December 6. We are so grateful to God for all who made this special event possible in this unusual and challenging year. The beautiful story of our Lord Jesus Christ’s birth offers us peace, hope, joy, and love anew. It is a deep privilege to share this wonderful story with one another and invite Christ to be born anew in each of us. Nearly 200 people gathered throughout the evening to view the four performances and many others saw it as they drove by on Basse Road. A highlight of the evening was having Rev. Harold & Patricia Burkhardt attend as Harold started the Nativity Scene in 1950 at the old church location on Broadway! Since 1980, Rev. Donna Strieb (along with Rev. Clyde Byrd until his death in 1997) has continued the tradition as staff coordinator.

2020 has been a year of both growth and challenge for the people of Alamo Heights United Methodist Church. The reality of a global pandemic has pushed us to adapt to new ways of worshipping, learning, and serving together, while at the same time helping us to clarify our identity, values and mission as a church. Together we look forward to 2021, confident in God’s call on our church and God’s presence in the midst of our ministries, and we give thanks for all that God has been doing among us in 2020.