It's time to try something different...and so behold: the Layte annual Christmas letter in digital form! Thanks for reading our news. Thanks for sending us yours.
Home and Family
In March, Paul and I took the dogs to chilly Portland, Maine, to celebrate our 12th anniversary weekend. I got to introduce Paul to Popham Beach, where my mom's side of the family used to vacation when I was a kid. We're grateful for--and continuing to enjoy!--our life together and are looking forward to the next 12...24...36 years.
Paul continues to maximize our yard space for food cultivation, and when it isn't growing season, he works on cutting and splitting massive piles of wood for heating the house, like we're doing right now. I continue to look for interesting ways to process and preserve all the food, and when I have a minute, I enjoy experimenting with varied art courses online. I'm also working on a YA time travel novel in very very tiny pieces at a time.
Dogs
Chunk and Winnie are both five years old--Chunk having lived with us for four years now, and Winnie just passing the year and a quarter mark. This year Chunk had surgery on his back left knee. It was a long recovery period, but now he and Winnie are back to wrestling and chasing the ball as if nothing ever happened. They both love riding in the car and ending up wherever we do; in August they rode with us to Minnesota, which was the longest trip we've ever taken with them.
Extended Family
While Chunk was recovering from surgery, we had the delight of celebrating Alicia and Kenny's wedding up in New Hampshire. It was a beautiful event and a joyful celebration of them and time of reconnecting with extended family on the Layte side.
In August we headed out to Minnesota. We caught "Gold Rush Days" in Oronoco with my parents and the Minnesota State Fair with them and my brother's family.
Ministry Musings
Central Baptist Church
Lots of concerns for our antique building took up much of our leadership's time this year. The church also seems to be going through another transition, as quite a few members have moved on this year and a significant influx of new people, including young adults and children, have begun attending regularly. We are also cautiously moving forward with a search for a part-time (I am also part-time) associate pastor to work with us. This is a step of faith on all of our parts, as on paper we don't appear to have the funding for an additional person. Please pray for God's continued guidance and provision, and also for powerful discipleship of our new people so they can move forward as active participants in the life of this church.
The Pilgrimage
First of all, thank you to the faithful Outfitters who keep the Pilgrimage "on the road." As costs rise, donations tend to fall. Please keep praying and giving. If you haven't yet joined the Outfitters, please consider even a very small monthly pledge. Money is tight for all of us, but many cheerful givers of small amounts can help this ministry continue for another year.
Additional Special Note for Outfitters: Our next Outfitters gathering will be a Thursday night in February, when I hope to reinvite our fiscal sponsor's CEO, BJ Thompson, to tell us more about Build a Better Us. If you would like to get in on this gathering, at his request please message me as soon as possible with your interest, and also your preferred February Thursday.
Cohorts 14-16 went through Stepping into the Story in 2024. The Pilgrimage hosted its third online retreat (Winter Solace) in January and its first in-person retreat (The Oasis) in September. The Listening Post finally finished the Gospel of Mark and made it all the way through Philippians in less than a year! We also enjoyed our biggest timezone span in one sitting, when a friend in London and a friend in India joined us on the same day.
I accepted an offer to publish Follower, my spiritual formation book about Simon Peter and identity in Christ, with Credo House Publishers. God and probably also you helped make this possible by raising publication funds through a Kickstarter campaign I ran from September to mid-November. (You can still contribute to additional production costs/preorder the book at the Kickstarter link.)
In July, I was accepted into the Doctor of Ministry: Spiritual Formation for Ministry Leaders program at Wheaton College, to begin in the Fall of 2025. My hope and expectation is that this new level of schooling will better equip me to move the Pilgrimage into its next phase, whatever that may be. In the short-term, however, it means that Pilgrimage scheduling in 2025 will need to be adjusted:
In 2025, I will continue to offer individual spiritual direction sessions. I have openings in my schedule for these sessions. If you're interested, please reply to this email to inquire.
Pending interest and commitment, I also hope to pilot a group spiritual direction cohort of 3-6 people, meeting once a month for a year at a lesser cost than that of individual sessions. I flew this idea earlier this year but made the mistake of selecting dates and times myself. For now I would simply like to know if there's even tentative interest in such a thing. If you're curious and want to find out more, please respond below:
Meanwhile here is the projected course schedule, subject to change:
Pilgrimage 2025
January 10-11: Winter Solace
January 22 – April 16 (Wednesday evenings): Stepping Into the Story cohort 17
January 24 - April 18 (Friday mornings): Stepping Into the Story cohort 18
May 1 - June 19 (Thursday evenings): The Walk cohort 6
May 2 - June 20 (Friday mornings): The Walk cohort 7
I may be able to offer some "pop-up" single-session workshops throughout the fall, but we will have to see how my own coursework pans out. In the meantime, if you've been considering being part of any of the above offerings at all, please don't hesitate to sign up for the new year. Each of these courses/retreats are now also available to purchase for people as gifts.
Thank you for your ongoing friendship and support in 2024. I hope we'll be in touch in 2025 as well. Merry Christmas, and travel well,
Jenn and Paul 🐪
