From the Rector

PARISH FAMILY MEETING
17 March 2024
 
Prayer for Spiritual Growth
Gracious Father,
We ask spiritual growth
for ourselves, our families and friends,
and especially for our family of All Saints. 
Grant us growth in understanding and willingness
to be your Body in this world. 
Empower us to live the mission of Christ: 
to preach, teach, heal, and make disciples. 
In joyful thanksgiving for the blessing
of your presence in our lives, compel us to share you
with everyone we meet.  May our numbers increase,
our commitment deepen, our lives be joyfully yours. 
Make us a God-centered people.
In Christ’s name we pray. 
Amen.
 
My dear family in Christ,
 
As many of you already know, this coming Sunday, we will have a single worship service at 9:30, followed by a shared potluck meal, followed by a conversation ~ hopefully several conversations, actually ~ picking up where we left off in our annual parish meeting at the end of January.  Lots of folks have, understandably, been asking what the plan is, not only for Sunday’s meeting, but also for the life of our parish moving forward.
 
The first question is a bit easier to answer than the second.  So here’s a rough overview of the plan for Sunday:
 
After we’ve moseyed down from the Sanctuary to Kemper Hall and had a chance to get a bite to eat, I’ll call the (slightly) more formal portion of the gathering to order.  We will share a prayer (the Prayer for Spiritual Growth, above), and I’ll offer a brief presentation to clarify and expand upon some of my remarks from the January meeting, including additional insights many of y’all have shared with me since that meeting.  We’ll also go over some “ground rules” to make sure that everyone who wishes to speak gets multiple opportunities to do so, that no one falls through the cracks or gets “talked over,” and that the whole environment feels safe, respectful, open, and welcoming for everybody.
 
From there, we will break out into small groups (4-6 people per, depending upon how many folks attend the meeting) to explore a few focused questions in more depth and detail.  After each small group session, we will come back together to share (voluntarily, of course) any insights, ideas, concerns, questions, etc., that came up in the breakout groups.  After two breakout sessions and group sharings, we’ll conclude with a full-group conversation to recap what we’ve discerned, and to identify 2-3 short term goals for action ~ in other words, we’re going to go ahead and decide specifically what to do next, coming out of this gathering.
 
For homework:
Here’s an assignment for you, to help you prepare for Sunday ~ go ahead and be thinking about the questions we’ll be exploring in our two breakout sessions (listed below).  The more thoughts you can put together in response to these prompts beforehand, the more productive our time together will be.
 
Breakout Session I Questions:
 

1. What do you, personally, most LOVE about All Saints parish?
2. What frustrates you more than ANYTHING about All Saints?
3. What are you most afraid to lose going forward?
4. What are you most excited about moving forward?

 
Breakout Session II Questions:
 

1. What is the primary purpose of a Church community?
2. How (& when, where, &c.) do you experience the Living God at All Saints?
3. What is your personal sense of mission (i.e., why bother doing Church at all)?
4. What are you willing to sacrifice for God’s mission in Appleton?

 
I’m very much looking forward to our time together this Sunday!  See y’all soon!
 
Peace & blessings,
Christopher+

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