About the Contributor(s): James C. Goodloe IV (PhD, University of Chicago) is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), having served churches in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia. He is now the executive director of the Foundation for Reformed Theology (www.foundationrt.org), working to reform and build up the church, especially by helping ministers to be better preachers, better teachers, and better pastors.

Dr. John H. Leith (1919-2002) enjoyed Christmas. He appreciated it especially as a celebration of the goodness of this world that God not only created but also, in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, entered, blessed with his presence, and redeemed. And at Christmas he especially wanted to be in contact with, and to minister to, those whom he loved, those whom he had taught, and those whom he cherished as colleagues in the Christian and Reformed ministry of preaching, teaching, and pastoral care.This little book comprises a collection of Leith's Christmas letters to his former ministerial students at Union Theological Seminary in Virginia. The letters grew lengthier and richer through the years. We have gathered them here so that others may enjoy reading them also.