Dear St. Luke’s,

So, these letters to you provide an opportunity to highlight some change happening in the Church, to help create excitement for some new program, or to thank people who have gone above and beyond. During slower times, sometimes I just talk about what’s on my mind, so don’t think too much into it if you don’t see an immediate connection. This week I have the good problem of having too much to talk about, so I am going to list of things that should be on your radar.

Thank your AV team: Holy Week was glorious, but a lot of work for a lot of different people. The choir and the altar guild particularly put in a lot of extra hours to make everything feel so special. I shamefully forgot about a new ministry that should now be forever on the “thank you list” when I was preparing my announcements for Easter. The people behind the cameras went above and beyond to not just make sure that the vast majority of the services were broadcast, but they are constantly looking for new and better ways to capture the moment. This year, they utilized a gimbal, which is a self-stabilizing device for a camera, and in our case, just a cell phone camera. This allowed those watching at home to see the liturgy of the palms and the lighting of the Easter fire at the Great Vigil. This ministry should not be something that should be considered an afterthought, or a ministry for those who simply prefer to see their favorite bits from their couch. You would be greatly surprised at the number of people who tell me that they first checked us out online. The AV team makes sure that those who are searching for a church home have the best possible window into our community, and I am beyond thankful for their ministry.

Something New – Easter Breakfast: It may be helpful to mention that Easter is not just a day, but an entire season that runs to May 28th! During every Sunday in the Easter season, we are serving breakfast in the parish hall between 8:30 and 9:30. This is meant to compliment, not replace, all of our normal Sunday morning programming. The idea is that whether you want to go to adult forum, or drop your kids off at Sunday School and chill out for a bit before Church, you can grab a bite to eat and encounter someone else in the Church. As with our Lenten dinners, we want to make lives easier and create environments where connections can be made.

Something New – Pilot Curate Program: I wrote about this twice already, and I want to emphasize that I am not making a big deal out of this, because it may not happen. In the past three of four months we have found ourselves in a place where it is abundantly clear that we could use another priest. We do not know if it is sustainable, so if this were to work out it would be paid for by funds, we have accumulated over the course of years that were given for operations, but are currently not earmarked in our current budget. All of this being said, it would be a temporary position, lasting at most one calendar year, and we would not be asking for more money from you. The purpose would be to help stabilize our system, so we can implement new ministries, help bring back existing ministries, strengthen our pastoral care, and help us discern if we are called to be a two-priest congregation. Three members of the vestry and I are exploring potential candidates. Standby for more information in the coming weeks.

April 29th Work Day 8:00 am to Noon: GO GO GO GO!!!! I cannot tell you how excited I am to have this happen. I was disappointed I was not able to take part in the last work day, and doing physical labor together as a community is one of my favorite things to do. My project is to clean up the north end of our campus, which needs a TON of work. Look, I’ve used ALLCAPS twice now, so I must be excited. Sign up, show up, bring the kids, bring your tools, wear long sleeves and pants, and help us make our campus look loved.

There is a lot more in the works, like the Bar-b-que, Youth Sunday, the Parish Picnic, a potential opportunity to worship with our Ghanaian friends on Pentecost Sunday, and a boat load of baptisms. Thank you all for helping us be the Church in this corner of God’s Kingdom.

Blessings,

Nick