Hello –
It’s summer and things are slower at St. Paul’s. You can expect fewer emails from me in the next couple of months. With that in mind I want to share with you two events and give a brief reminder of the things that are on hiatus. Finally, I’m going to give you a quick tour of all the things that are slowly changing behind the scenes.
TWO EVENTS
- This Saturday, June 28th, at 1pm I’m doing a reading of my book at Book Passage in Corte Madera.
- Labor Day weekend, Friday, August 29th to Monday, September 1st is our Parish Retreat at the Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg. It’s $325 if you come Friday night, $250 if you come Saturday morning. Square Dancing!
HIATUS
- The Tuesday 12:30pm Bible Study of Romans is on hiatus until September 2nd.
- The Thursday 6:15pm study of John is on hiatus until September 4th.
- Teen Success Breakfast is on hiatus until school starts, I assume in late August.
(The Wednesday 10am study of Ezekiel continues through the summer as do the other Outreach activities.)
CHANGING
- Look for a new St. Pauls website to be launched in the next two weeks! It’s awesome. You’ll love it!
- The new website connects you to our new cloud based database. You will soon be able to change your own information if, for example, you get a new cell phone number. You will also be able to look up the phone numbers of parishioners. (You can only change your data, not other people’s. People outside St. Paul’s won’t have access to the database.)
- The new website will also have a new calendar which I am keeping up-to-date daily. You’ll be able to see when the building is in use so you can know when and where you’ll be able to have a gathering. Three weeks at a time are now also posted in Duncan Hall.
- This calendar is color coded for three kinds of activities. St. Paul’s events (Bible Study, St. Anne’s, Discipleship Groups, Sunday School) are in green. Activities with our Friends (meditation groups, Young Moms Marin, Marin Morning Prayer) are in red. Activities of our Guests (the four Twelve Step Programs, Youth Music Recitals, Kairos Prison Ministry) are in blue. I think you’ll be impressed by how much goes on here.
- We are slowly assembling a team of volunteer Sextons to take care of our buildings and grounds. We have divided the campus into four areas, each of which is attended to by a team and has a three ring binder with all the potential issues and all the people and contractors to contact. Since I’ve been here, the campus has never been this well taken care of to such depth.
- Maggie Baxter and Jay Luther have assembled an awesome team to lead our SPRIF III campaign. SPRIF stands for St. Paul’s Restoration and Improvement Fund. Our goals are to fund required improvements to keep our lucrative relationship with Marin Day School, make our courtyard a Safe Sacred Space and increase our Hospitality, particularly in the Duncan Hall building, which is our house of hospitality.
- By the end of the summer, construction is likely to begin in the education wing. Improvements include a new bathroom for the kids on the first floor, new electrical and a new HVAC system.
- Keep your eye out for new opportunities to pray. I have a dream of there being Morning Prayer every weekday at 7:30am in our Sacred Space. Let me know if you’re interested.
There are other things brewing behind the scenes including new ways to have Sunday hospitality, hosting more events centered on youth and creativity, modernizing our bookkeeping, a broader range of ways to do Sunday School, more ways to involve our children in worship, another new Outreach initiative, preparations for the TRP Come and See Retreat next May and stronger ties with our sister Churches in Marin.
All of these mean that, without neglecting our Classic Christian practices of worshipping, caring for each other and meeting in small groups, we are becoming a more adaptable community, ready to face our exceedingly secular time and place with courage, perseverance and love. We are laying the ground work to not only survive but thrive.
Blessings, Christopher
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