Last month I shared the January 2006 issue of The Messenger, Holy Apostles' then-monthly newsletter. Just in case your eyes filled in what your brain expected to see, that's 2006, not 2026. The big building project our Holy Apostles' parish was focused on back then was moving in to our new Shoreline building.

In January, our heroes were still packing. This month, they're in! The February 2006 issue opens with a photo collage of parishioners doing the unglamorous work of move-in: trimming bushes, hauling trash, scraping ceilings and more. The headline across the page reads simply: Welcome Home! The new address, our address — 19421 Ashworth Avenue N. — appears in print for the first time. The Church Blessing and first Divine Liturgy in the new space are both advertised for early February.

Fr. Tom's message that month was both a thank-you note to the amazing parishioner-volunteers who helped prepare for life in the new Holy Apostles home, and a reminder that it's intentional work to build a healthy, loving Christian community. After quoting St. John Chrysostom, "Let us commit ourselves and one another and our whole life to Christ our God," Fr. asks each parishioner to commit to "six in 2006": six hours per month of serving the parish in some way. (As your friendly local Ministries Coordinator, I'd like to suggest that, twenty years later, this request is still a pretty good idea.)

What I love about reading this issue in 2026 is how physical it is. There are pictures of people holding paint rollers, washing windows and moving stacks of chairs. There's a photo of Earl Bardin digging for "unknown treasures" in the church garden. The message running through all of it is: this is what it actually looks like when a parish makes a home together.

I was particularly struck by the photo of Marie, Ethel Anthe and Deena—three women I don't think I've ever met—cleaning the kitchen cabinets. Alex White and I packed up and cleaned out those same cabinets several months ago in anticipation of the demolition phase of our remodel. The photo of the original move in to those cabinets was a very embodied reminder that what we build here, and what we labor for, is like tying one knot in a long prayer rope. A string of knots was handed to us, and we do our part and tie our knot, then we pass the string on to the next generation who will need to tie the next knot.

Our current remodel has its own version of those same photos. Some faces are the same, many are new. But the same boxes were moved, the same dust was swept, the same coffee was made for the people doing the moving and sweeping.

How much has changed and yet stayed the same! Fr. Tom is still a model of graciousness. We are still striving to Grow Christ's Church. We still need each parishioner to choose to give of themselves and their gifts if our community is to thrive with vibrance. And Earl Bardin can still be found working hard in the garden!

The full PDF is below. Click on the cover image to download. Enjoy and I'll see you next month for March, when the parish has settled in enough that Fr. Tom can start writing about Great Lent again.

Warmly,

Erica