From the Rector’s Desk
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
There is a story in Matthew’s Gospel that I continually come back to when I begin a new season. The disciples are in a boat far from shore, the night has been long, and the boat has been tossed by the wind. After a while, they see Jesus, out on the water, coming toward them. Peter, being Peter, calls out to him, and Jesus responds with a single word.
What happens next is one of the most familiar stories in Scripture, and one of the most daring. It’s also the story that will shape our life together this fall as we begin our 2027 Stewardship season: Into Deeper Waters.
The boat is a safe place that’s familiar and full of friends. In many ways, St. Paul’s is that kind of place where community is marked by love and joy, and showing up for one another. But the Gospel has a way of reminding us that Jesus doesn’t always stay where it’s comfortable. Sometimes he’s a little farther out, calling us to step out of the boat and join him.
In the coming weeks, you’ll hear more about where I sense God leading St. Paul’s in the year ahead. You’ll also hear from fellow parishioners about how this community has shown up for them, encouraged them, and become a place to reach out for Jesus.
In the meantime, I invite you to sit with this story too. Read Matthew 14:22–33 this week, and ask yourself: Where might Jesus be calling me? What would it take to step out of the boat? What is Jesus asking me to commit in the coming year?
As always, I’m here if you need me.
Blessings on your week,
Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
Strengthen, O Lord, your servant with your Holy Spirit; empower them for your service; and sustain them all the days of their life. Amen. (BCP, 418)
This is the prayer Bishop Doyle will pray over the confirmands in our confirmation service on November 22. These beautiful words offer us a picture of what Confirmation is about, when we ask God to strengthen us, equip us, and guide us into a life of faith and service in the Church.
If you are curious about Confirmation or wondering whether it might be your next step in your journey of faith, we will be offering Confirmation classes the first three weeks in November to prepare those who are looking to step fully into their Episcopal identity. Whether you are a young person, an adult, or someone who is simply looking for a refresher, you are invited to take part.
Confirmation is a public affirmation of the promises made at baptism. Through these classes we will explore what we believe, learn more about the Episcopal Church and how St. Paul’s fits into the larger church structure, and reflect how we are called to live and serve as followers of Jesus. No prior knowledge or perfect understanding is required. I just ask that you come with your questions and a willingness to explore our Anglican/Episcopal way of life.
Classes will meet after church in the conference room on the following days:
November 1 – Episcopal 101
November 8 – History and The Church
November 15 – The Sacraments
If you are interested or want to learn more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I hope you will join us for this meaningful and welcoming opportunity to learn, pray, and grow together.
As always, I’m here if you need me. Blessings on your week.
-Fr. Hayden+
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
What a weekend!
Our Annual Fall Festival was a wonderful success, and I want to thank everyone who helped make it happen. So many of you set up tables and tents, welcomed neighbors throughout the day, picked up trash, manned water stations, and stayed late to clean everything up. I’m deeply grateful for each of you, especially to Jennifer who kept everything on track and without whose leadership this would not have been possible!
The old English proverb, “many hands make light work,” really came to life this weekend as you worked alongside one another with generosity and good humor. I don’t know about you, but I could feel that spirit everywhere, especially in the laughter and the kids running from booth to booth. That kind of joy doesn’t happen by accident, and I don’t think the energy we felt this weekend is a one-time thing. I believe it’s a glimpse of what this season can hold for St. Paul’s. We have a lot ahead of us in the coming months, and many of those things will need the same gifts that made the festival possible: your time, your talents, your treasure, and your willingness to pitch in.
So, if this weekend reminded you how good it feels to be part of something, I invite you to look for places that energy might be needed next, as there are a number of ministry opportunities that need ready and willing hands. I would love nothing more than to have you find your place here at St. Paul’s.
Thank you again for helping make St. Paul’s such a warm and wonderful community. Here’s to many more together!
As always, I’m here if you need me.
Prayerfully,
Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, September 30
, 2026
Whether it has cooled off or doesn’t seem to feel like fall, a sign of the changing season is always the celebration of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, observed on October 4. St. Francis is remembered for many things, but he is most remembered for his love of God’s creation and for considering all the joy creatures great and small bring to our lives. Throughout his life, Francis reminded us that holiness can be found in the natural world as well as in the bonds we share with one another and the animals entrusted to our care.
In honor of St. Francis, I hope you will consider joining us for our annual Blessing of the Animals on Sunday October, 4th at 5pm in the Parish Hall. Dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, horses, lizards, and other companion animals are welcome, provided they are safely restrained or carried. If your animal is unable to attend, you are most welcome to bring a photograph or simply bring that beloved companion in your heart. Stuffed animals are always welcome, too!
The blessing is not intended to suggest that our animals need to be made holy or need some special prayers, but rather, it is an opportunity to give thanks for the many ways they enrich our lives and to acknowledge God’s loving care for all creatures of creation. We will pray for our pets, for animals everywhere, and for the wisdom and compassion to be faithful stewards of the earth.
Whether you come with a furry, feathered, or scaled friend, or simply come to celebrate with the community and receive the love from the animals, all are warmly welcome. This is one of my favorite moments in the Church’s calendar, and I look forward to sharing this special occasion with you.
As always, I’m here however you may need me- especially if it’s prayer!
Blessings,
Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, September 23
, 2026
Since becoming your rector, I have spent some time in the archives reading old Vestry minutes, looking through service leaflets, and, of course, exploring old photographs. This has brought me great joy, especially as I recognize that many of the people pictured are the same people who continue to serve and labor in this church today. These memories have reminded me of the deep love and steadfastness you have for this place, and I remain grateful that you have called me to labor alongside you in this part of God’s vineyard.
As we continue our new life together, I have begun the arduous process of updating our website. One of the things I would love to somehow include is a richer visual history of our life together. If you have photographs from years past, worship services, parish events, outreach ministries, celebrations, renovations, or simply gatherings of friends, please consider sharing them with me.
Photographs do more than document our history, because they help tell the story of God’s faithfulness among us. They remind us of those who came before, celebrate the many ways people have offered their gifts, and help newer members see that they are part of a story much larger than the present moment.
Digital photographs may be emailed to me at hpaul@stpaulskaty.org. If you have printed photographs, please bring them to the parish office and we will be glad to scan and return them. If possible, please include the approximate date, the names of those pictured, and any details about the occasion. With your permission, these photographs may be shared on our website and in future parish communications.
Thank you for helping us preserve and share the story of this beloved community. I look forward to discovering more of our history and to seeing how God is continuing to shape our shared future together.
With many blessings,
Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
Our “Meet the Rector” gatherings are ending this week, and in the whirlwind of the fall programming I wanted to take a quick moment to say thank you.
Thank you, first, to the hosts who opened their homes and their living rooms for these evenings. Hospitality is its own quiet ministry, and every conversation we had was made possible by those of you who were willing to put out chairs, food, and desserts, and made space for us that allowed us to gather as a church community. I’m grateful for each family who made this possible.
A thank you also goes to everyone who showed up and was willing to be so open and generous in sharing your stories with me. I asked a lot of questions over the course of these gatherings, and I was struck repeatedly by how honestly, you answered them. Your joys, your worries, and the ways you’ve seen God show up in your own lives, are just a few of the things I am taking away. Each of these gatherings allowed me to know you all a little bit better.
My hope and intention for these events, however, was never just that you would leave knowing more about me and I you, or you simply learning about my vision for St. Paul’s. It was always that you too would learn more about each other, and that we would grow deeper and stronger together. Christian community isn’t simply a group of people who happen to show up at the same place on a Sunday, it is also about becoming a family that grows together.
These particular gatherings may be ending, but don’t let that be the last time you sit across a table with the people you engage with. Reach out to one person from your group in the coming months and spend some time together because we are all made better when the congregation continues moves toward becoming a bigger family.
As always, I am here if you need me.
Prayerfully yours,
Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Our Gospel text this week gives us a familiar scene of Peter trying to navigate one of life’s great questions when he asks the Lord, “How many times shall I forgive someone who sins against me?” There is a humanness to this question, because I know I have asked God a similar question before, and have wondered how much forgiveness is ‘enough.’
Jesus answers him with the “not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Translations other than the NRSV say, “seventy times seven,” which in my own human failure thinks this number isn’t much better. I’d like to offer forgiveness just once, thank you very much. But Jesus isn’t giving us some arbitrary number to count to, he’s pointing to the fact that we can and should take the counting off the table completely.
We live in a culture that teaches us to keep score. The ever-present newsfeed, group chats, and family gatherings can sometimes feel like we are keeping a tally of who’s right, who’s wrong, who’s owed an apology, and who doesn’t deserve one. Better yet, who owes ME an apology!? We can so easily get caught up in holding grudges that we forget the human cost of treating people as balances to be settled. Jesus isn’t asking us to pretend the wrong didn’t occur, he’s just asking us not to forget the extraordinary mercy and grace we receive from an already incredible patient and generous God.
So the question I invite you into this week is this: How might I best show forgiveness this week? To be simpler: who do I need to apologize to? Maybe it’s a conversation you’ve been avoiding, or a grievance you haven’t been able to let go of, but If you’re like me, we all have someone to forgive. God doesn’t keep score with us, so why are we keeping score with others? This week, I invite you to notice where God may be calling you to forgive.
As always, I’m here if you need me and I hope you received good rest as we closed out the Summer on this Labor Day holiday.
Blessings on your week!
Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, September 2, 2026
This Monday the church office will be closed to mark Labor Day, and I think it’s important to take a moment and reflect on the meaning of this day.
The first labor day observance occurred on September 5, 1882, when a parade and picnic were organized by the Central Labor Union in New York City. For many years it remained a state and local observance for the laboring classes, until workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company went on strike to protest wage cuts in the spring of 1894. After this boycott began to spread nationally, federal troops were deployed to Chicago, and more than a dozen strikers lost their lives in the subsequent upprisings. Days later, on June 28, 1894, Congress passed and a shaken President Grover Cleveland signed “Labor Day” into law as a federal holiday. Many historians note that this national day of recognition was an attempt to repair a broken relationship with America’s workforce. This attempt to name and repair this relationship is therefore born out of a spirit of what we Christians would call reconciliation.
Our Episcopal tradition has written its own prayer for the day, and it echoes that same position toward repair:
“Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.” (BCP, p. 261)
This prayer not only asks us to hold our own labor and our neighbors in the same hand but it also asks us to keep the “common good” in mind as well as reminds us how easily we can lose sight of this view. My prayer is that we are always operating from a place of common and mutual affection for the larger body of Christ and the world.
May you enjoy this weekend and may you remember that we are called to rest from our labors, and the Sabbath is commanded in Holy Scripture.
On a bit of an unrelated note: our “Meet the Rector” gatherings have been a wonderful way for us to get to know one another, and we have two sessions left. Both still have plenty of open seats, so if you haven’t found your way to one yet, please sign up this week. I’d love to see you there!
As always, I’m here for you if you need me and each of you are in my prayers.
With every blessing,
Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, August 26, 2026
Tomorrow night, come mark a moment with us.
As Christians, we’re a people of memory and institution, not because we love ceremony for its own sake, but because we believe how something begins matters as much as the fact that it begins. Holy Scripture reminds us many times to mark moments of beginning: Jacob sets up a stone at Bethel to remember an encounter with God (Gen 28). Samuel raises an Ebenezer, naming where they’d come from before they walked into where they were going (1 Sam. 7). And when the church at Antioch sent Barnabas and Saul into their calling, they didn’t just wish them well, they fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, marking their sending as a sacred moment before a single mile was walked (Acts 13).
While not entirely the same, we will do a similar thing on Thursday at a formal installation service. The Bishop and fellow clergy will join us to mark this moment and to celebrate with us. New beginnings deserve to be named, held up, and witnessed by a whole community, and this is part of what we do as a gathered Christian community.
I do hope you have made plans to come, because beginning well is important. And please stay to enjoy a bit of dessert afterward. If cannot make it, I understand. I ask that you continue to hold us in your prayers.
It is the joy of my life to serve you all as your Rector, and I cannot wait to see where the Sprit is leading us together.
As always, I’m here if you need me.
Prayerfully,
-Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, August 19, 2026
School is back in session, and with it, a familiar shift of schedules tightening, early mornings, and the day in and day out rhythms of life. It seems that we are all finding our footing again as the new program year begins to take shape and we negotiate expectations about where we are spending our time.
St. Paul’s is not unlike your everyday lives, and it too is in a new season. As our own fall rhythm and calendar takes shape with Sunday school and adult formation beginning again, ministries regathering after a Summer (or longer) hiatus, and the life of the parish begins to hum along again, I want to name something that some may have taken for granted; Church is meant to be a part of your week’s rhythm, not an interruption to it.
Church shouldn’t be one thing squeezed into an already full calendar, and I hope it doesn’t feel like an obligation competing with practice schedules, homework, civic involvement, and everything else that pulls at our time. It is my hope that we continue building a community that is beyond the pace of the weekly task list, and that your time at St. Paul’s each week can become the anchor point in which everything else for the week is anchored to. It is my hope that this place is somewhere you return week in and week out to find rest when everything else is in motion. I want to build a place with you that underscores and animates the other rhythms of your lives.
Whatever the fall holds for your household, I hope that Sunday finds its place in it and that church isn’t simply a calendar entry or something you do on Sunday, but a moment that helps make everything else make a little more sense. I would love for St. Paul’s to continue being a part of how your weeks and years find their shape and meaning.
As always, know that I am praying for you, and I am here if you need me.
With every blessing,
-Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Next week we will begin a series of “Meet the Rector” gatherings, and I hope you’ll find your way to one.
These are small, informal get-togethers hosted in parishioners’ homes around the parish. There are no agenda items and no program, just good conversation over food and drink, in a living room instead of a pew.
I’ve learned throughout my ministry that the fastest way to actually learn about a congregation isn’t from the pulpit or a committee meeting , it’s sitting across from people, sharing food, and listening. As I’ve said before, I want to know your names, your stories, and what you love about this place. I also want to know what worries you, what you wish were different, and what you’re hoping I’ll help lead us toward. Nothing is off limits, and nothing needs to be polished before you say it.
Above all, I want you to know that these gatherings are for everyone. Whether you’re a longtime member, a newcomer still finding your place, someone who shows up every Sunday, or a person who only comes for high holy day, you are welcome among us and at these gatherings. However, you belong to St. Paul’s, I want to hear from you. Each gathering will be small enough for real conversation, so we’ll be scheduling quite a few of them over the coming weeks to make sure there’s a time and place that works for as many of you as possible. If we need to add more, we have more gracious hosts and can make that happen.
Look for dates, times, and host homes elsewhere in this newsletter, and please RSVP on the sheets in the Narthex this coming Sunday, once you see one that fits your schedule. I’m looking forward to sitting down with each of you.
Blessings on your week,
Fr. Hayden +
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
If you missed us last Sunday, the Gospel lesson gave an old, familiar scene: five thousand hungry people, a deserted hillside, and disciples doing the math about how five loaves and two fish were going to feed thousands of people. For them, it wasn’t a bad plan to send everyone away to buy their own dinner. But Jesus says something stranger: you give them something to eat.
Jesus doesn’t ask the disciples to manufacture abundance out of nothing. He asks them to offer what they already have. And once they do, he takes it, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it away. Taken, blessed, broken, given. It’s the same shape we hear at this altar nearly every Sunday, and it’s a pattern of grace, not just a pattern for bread.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what this story means for us. Three weeks into knowing St. Paul’s, I keep noticing a reflex in myself and, I suspect, in some of you too. A reflex that lists what we don’t have before naming what we do. I’ve people say we’re too small or we’re all too tired. But a scarcity mindset doesn’t need failure to take root; it just needs a hard season or two. And I firmly believe scarcity never gets the last word in God’s kingdom.
What I see in this congregation is abundance everywhere. Peoples time, talents, and treasure is the real wealth of this parish, and I don’t want us keeping it hidden under a basket any longer!
So, keep bringing your five loaves. Bring the people you already love in this room and the ways you already show up for each other. Bring the people who you think would like to be a part of what we’re building. I’ll bring mine too. God isn’t waiting for us to become something we’re not- God is already at work in what St. Paul’s is. Let’s offer what we have and see what God continues to make of it.
With many blessings,
-Fr. Hayden
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
I cannot say thank you enough for the welcome these first few weeks. I’ve appreciated it more than a quick note can really convey. The friendly greetings after the service, the patience as I learn names and faces, and the small kindnesses that happen without anyone making a fuss about them have made settling in easier than I expected, and I certainly don’t take that for granted.
It also tells me something about this parish. Communities don’t welcome newcomers well by accident. It takes people who are paying attention, who show up early to say hello, and those who make space at coffee hour for one more conversation. I’ve noticed that here so far, and it’s been nice to be on the receiving end of that hospitality thus far.
But I don’t want this note to only look back, as I find myself looking ahead and genuinely excited about our shared future together. The conversations we haven’t had yet, the projects and ministries we’ll build together, and the many questions we’ll work through as a community, all give me such hope and encouragement. I’m excited, too, for the regular rhythm of ordinary Sundays, and the slow work of getting to know each other. We’re at the beginning of something special, and as I said Sunday in my sermon, I believe without a shadow of a doubt St. Paul’s best days are ahead!
So, thank you again for the welcome so far. And thank you, in advance, for what’s ahead. I’m ready to go full steam ahead!