How might we summarize the year amidst the English-speaking congregation of the Church of the Nazarene in Mid-City? Benedict XVIth in his encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, articulated our convictions about our, and all congregations true mission:

"The Church's deepest nature is expressed in her three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the gospel, celebrating the sacraments, and exercising the ministry of charity. These duties presuppose each other and are inseparable. For the Church, charity is not a kind of welfare activity which could equally be left to others, but is a part of her nature, so indispensable of her very being."

Thus, we have spent the year proclaiming the gospel, in our worship, in our bible studies, downtown as we gather with the hungry at the Salvation Army; we continue our weekly celebration of the Lord's Supper and baptized three into the newness of life in Christ on Easter Sunday morning; we continue to engage in works of love, feeding the hungry downtown, offering shelter to those without homes in our neighborhood and downtown when it rains. We have begun distributing baked and other goods from our building, and sorrowfully, buried the dead, our brother Mike Patterson. We give thanks to God for the threefold responsiblity of participating in the church's deepest nature.