 My dear family in Christ,
As many of you know, I’ve been deliberating over the past several weeks as to what, if anything, to do with our schedule of worship services for the summer months. A number of folks have asked me when we can go to a single service at 9:30, as we did last year, because they particularly enjoyed a combined service and getting to reconnect with friends from the “other congregation.” On the other hand, I’ve also heard from folks who strongly prefer to keep the two services as they are during the regular program year. It is inevitable that, no matter what we do -- whether we keep the schedule as is, or whether we change it -- some of us will end up feeling frustrated. For that, I do apologize in advance… This year, however, there is another factor that’s recently been brought to my attention: our roster of lectors, Eucharistic ministers, and acolytes is currently pretty small, and it’s likely to get smaller as we move into summer, with people travelling, vacationing, and otherwise being gone. So “staffing” two full services every Sunday morning may become a bit of a challenge. In order to relieve that burden, here’s what we’re going to try: For July and August this year, we will do as we did last summer: a single Sunday morning service at 9:30. That time slot is exactly halfway between the two current services. Some of the 8:30 folks will not be able to attend a service that to them is that much later in the day. Likewise, some 10:30 folks will not be able to attend a service that is to them that much earlier. Again, I apologize in advance to the folks for whom this schedule change is a hardship. But for the majority of our people, that “middle way” will be doable and will give us an opportunity to gather more fully, to reconnect with people we haven’t had the chance to worship with for a while, and to fill up our pews a little more fully that a two-service schedule allows. (The fact is that during this program year, we haven’t really had enough in-person attendance to justify having two services, anyway -- just something to bear in mind.) But wait -- there’s more! I want to offer you all something for Sunday worship that we did not do last year. So in addition to a single Sunday morning Eucharist, I will also be celebrating an evening Eucharist at 6:30 each Sunday. “Now, Fr. Christopher,” I hear you say, “you just told us we don’t have enough servers for two services on Sundays -- how is adding an evening service supposed to work?” Excellent question! My plan is not to require any additional servers beside myself for the evening service. We don’t use extra servers at our weekday services, so the Sunday evening service should work just fine that way, too. Now, I have to tell you, I am super excited for the opportunities that I believe this Sunday evening service will offer. Folks who are not able to attend our healing Eucharist services during the working week may be able to come out on Sunday evening, for one thing … and folks who are eager to have the daytime hours free for summertime fun can do so and still be able to attend Mass in the evening. More importantly, though, this service will give us a chance to experiment with different kinds of music, different liturgical practices, a more intimate and contemplative environment, and new ways to encounter the living Christ together. It will be a worship space in which we can get creative and reimagine how we connect with each other and with God -- a place where we can discover new life together in Christ. I very much look forward to exploring these possibilities and more with all of you! As always, if you have thoughts, ideas, questions, concerns, or anything else on your mind or heart, I beg you to get in touch with me -- email address and direct phone/voicemail number below. Peace & blessings, y’all! Christopher+ [email protected] 920-266-9262 Comments are closed.
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