Hello –
When I was growing up in Delaware some of my classmates, in their senior year of High School, had ‘Coming-Out Parties.’ These were a celebratory ritual that marked the beginning of a new stage of maturity, a greater level of poise and confidence.
Next Memorial Day weekend, we are hosting an event that promises to be something like a ‘Coming-Out Party’ for St. Paul’s. It is called the ‘Come and See Retreat’ and will be at the Santa Sabina Retreat Center on the campus of Dominican University.
I have reserved the entire retreat center for May 20th to 24th, 2015. This means that, if all goes as I hope and pray it will, somewhere between forty and seventy people from around the country will arrive in San Rafael on the Wednesday afternoon before Memorial Day weekend. They will be at the Retreat Center through Sunday morning, when they will join us for worship.
Each full day of the retreat will focus on a different facet of our common life at St. Paul’s. While there will be generous amounts of quiet and free time throughout, each morning I will offer meditations on the topic of the day. In the afternoons, I hope many of you will come to the retreat center to share stories and enter into conversation with those on retreat. Thursday, the first day, I intend to focus on scripture and the life of prayer. Friday, I hope to focus on loving service of our friends who are poor. Saturday, the focus shifts to the life of Discipleship Groups.
I mention this now not only because the Come and See Retreat is less than a year away, but also because we had two guests this past weekend who were the first of our ‘Come and See’ friends. David Ottson is a parish priest in the Diocese of Texas. This past fall, I was one of the featured speakers at their diocesan clergy conference. David was so intrigued by what I shared, he wanted to come to St. Paul’s with his spouse and experience our life first-hand. He and Deborah were at the John bible study last Thursday, were at Young Moms Marin Friday, and participated in a fruitful and energizing conversation about Discipleship Groups on Sunday. (On a day that happened to be their 40th wedding anniversary!)
David left enthusiastic to share his experiences with his colleagues back in Texas. He told me he wanted to encourage them to come with their parishioners to our Come and See Retreat. Already people from Nebraska, Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Massachusetts, New Jersey and other states have shown great interest. This Retreat has every possibility of being a joyful and energizing event, a true milestone in our 146 year history.
We have been laying the groundwork for this Retreat for ten years. For a decade we have been learning together how to follow Jesus in prayer, worship and service. While I am a little nervous about this upcoming event I am, even more, excited by what we might learn together and by the possibility of making new friends. Most of all, I hope to watch each of you step into your own spiritual authority is a new way.
I am so grateful for our shared life in Christ here at St. Paul’s. Pleas join me now in praying for the success of our Come and See Retreat.
Blessings,
Christopher
p: (415) 456-4842