Hello –
1. Courtyard Worship began last Sunday and it was truly a holy experience. It was half an hour long and very safe. You no longer need to sign up to come. If you are interested and wiling to take the very slight risk, join us this Sunday at 8am. Please come a few minutes early so that we can take your temperature, make sure you have a mask, and direct your to your chair, at least 6 feet from any other chair.
2. The next round of six week small groups begins the week of August 16th. Please go to the following site to answer a few questions and sign up: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdYzDBNfhwn7coDl-XZwbcj2_rRRaiQdJ3AlILQCiwCW0gTYg/viewform
3. This week, we begin blessing again your giving. Some people brought their giving to Courtyard Worship and put it in the usual offering plate on the way in. In addition, starting this week we are going to print out the list of all who gave in the preceding week, put it in a sealed envelope and always put it in the plate. At the 10am distance worship, I will now, at the offertory, bring the plate to the altar and, at the right moment, say “All things come of thee O Lord.” To which you are invited to reply at home “And of thine own have we given thee.” It is a quote from King David. (I Chron. 29:14)
4. Soon, we will be looking for volunteers to help with In-Reach. We are looking for people who are willing to reach out to parishioners once a month with a postcard, a phone call, or a socially distant visit. You would sign up to connect with 3 to 7 people, whatever number you feel you can sustain. We will send you a list of folks with addresses and phone numbers. When you reach out, you then go to spread sheet (we’ll send you the link) and check the box by the name of the person. That way we can be sure all of our St. Paul’s family knows they are loved. Your commitment would be from September to February. If this works, we’ll hit the reset button at the time of the Annual Meeting. If you sign up, we will ask you to look at the list to be sure we are reaching out to everyone in our extended family.
There are other exciting things developing at St. Paul’s. Among them are our new seminarian, Peter Schmitt, and the Rev. Liz Milner, who will be preaching this Sunday. Liz has been ordained a Deacon and is scheduled to be ordained a Priest in December. The Diocese has asked us to mentor her and walk alongside her a she prepares for this next step in her ministry. Liz has a lot of experience in prison ministry so I expect that we will be learning from each other.