Merry Christmas from Fr. Lee+

Fr. Lee's Christmas Note

by Father Lee Davis on December 22, 2022

May Each of You Receive the Gift of Love

“Love came down at Christmas. That’s what love is. To give, and not to count the cost.  To give, not for what one can get, but for what the other can receive. That is what love is. God so loved the world that he gave,” said Presiding Bishop Michael Curry in his 2018 Christmas Message.

Indeed Love came down to us on Christmas day – they named him Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace, Emmanuel – God with us! It is the child Jesus, born into human poverty that has come to us to proclaim the Good News of the mercy and the love of God; to proclaim to us our salvation.

As we gather to celebrate the birth of Christ, another year has passed with many events, public and private, that have touched our lives in many ways. There is no doubt that this year has brought joy and sadness in different measures to each person in our community and around the world, coloring our memories of 2022.

One thing I believe we can all say is that the last year has seen a diminishing in the Way of Love that Christ taught throughout the world. The world often seems so polarized that people have forgotten how to love those different from them.

Maybe this is the challenge for us this Christmas; A challenge to get more involved in the act of loving. Loving as God loves us…giving more of ourselves to help make our own communities a better place. Maybe we are called to let our souls magnify the glory of the Lord, as Mary’s did.

May each of you receive the gift of love that came down at the first Christmas so long ago into your hearts, enabling you to magnify that love in your own souls, so that the Glory of God may shine bright in the year ahead.

A Blessed Christmas to you all!

 

Fr. Lee+

About the Author
Father Lee Davis

After a diverse career in marketing and finance and a sudden realization of the love and power of God that he discovered aboard a Navy ship, Father Lee Davis has the distinction of being baptized, confirmed, and received for Holy Orders on the same Sunday. He studied at Bexley Hall Seminary in Columbus, Ohio where he received a Master's of Divinity degree in 2009 and then served as priest-in-charge of St. Andrew's in Hollywood, Florida as well as an assisting priest at St. Benedict's in Plantation. Father Lee also worked as a Hospice Chaplain. When he left after a little more than two years, St. Andrew's had grown in membership and under his guidance extended its outreach into the community. He was also a pivotal leader of the Jubilee Center of Hollywood, a vital outreach ministry to the homeless and hungry, and served on the Board of Directors for St. Lawrence Chapel, serving the homeless in Pompano Beach. He also served on several diocesan committees working with the youth of the diocese.


In December 2012, Father Lee was called as rector of St. Anne's Episcopal Church in Damascus, Maryland. During his 8 year tenure there the vestry of the parish noted that "His dynamic leadership, inspired preaching, creative ideas and compassionate pastoral care combined to bring a new level of excitement, commitment, and growth among the congregation." Through his leadership, he developed partnerships with other organizations in the community, helped establish a transitional home for victim's of domestic violence, began the process of developing affordable senior housing on some of the acreages of land owned by the church, and grew stewardship achieving their first balanced budget in over a decade. At the beginning of the COVID pandemic, he led the congregation into the development of an online presence and with a couple of dedicated lay members started a feeding program for families in need which continues today. He served in the Diocese of Washington DC helping in the implementation of a Diaconate Formation program as well as being on the Board of Directors of the Washington Episcopal Clergy Association and serving on the Diocesan Executive Council.


Amidst the COVID pandemic, Father Lee accepted the call to be our rector and began his tenure in September 2019. His leadership has already blessed our community.

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