Dear St. Luke’s,

The Church is many things for many different people. For most, the Church has some element of worship, doing good, and spending time together. Some may be more drawn to leading worship, whether lay reading or singing in the choir. Others may feel more called to serve the needy, which could mean visiting homebound members or working with the homeless. Regardless of what we do, we must do it with others, making fellowship an important part of a healthy Church.

This should be no surprise to us. There are plenty of hermits and cloistered people of faith in our past, but our time alone helps center our time when we are together. The disciples go off into the wilderness with Christ, but they go two by two when he sends them out to do ministry. It is assumed that if you are going to do ministry, you have to learn how to get along with others.

St. Luke’s is a vibrant place with plenty of opportunities to spend quality time with people in our community. This weekend is the parish retreat, which is a particularly good chance to bond with members of the Church that we haven’t met. Without meaning to, we accidentally make our little circles within the Church. It makes sense of eight o’clockers and the choir to know each other well, but it’s healthy to dive into the deep pool of people in our community every once in a while.

I have never been on retreat with St. Luke’s before, but I hope it will be a chance to see more of the soul of St. Luke’s that lives between the meetings and events. As we speak, volumes are being written about being intentional in Church, which is well and good, but this is our chance to be intentionally unintentional. We see each other all the time between services and things to do, but I am eager to meet you when there is no agenda, deadline, or objective other than enjoying each other’s company.

Blessings,

Nick