posted July 5, 2007

Worship is at the heart of the Episcopal Church and Anglican spirituality.  We honor the fourth commandment to maintain the Sabbath and gather for vibrant worship in order to glorify God, offer thanks for our many blessings, listen to God speak to our deepest needs and support one another on the journey with Christ.

After carefully listening to our parishioners, we received almost 200 replies with a more than three-to-one margin favoring a move to the following worship and education times beginning in the fall of 2007. 

As of Sunday, September 16, our worship and educational offerings will be as follows:

8:00 a.m. -- Holy Eucharist Rite I in the church

9:00 a.m. -- First Steps to Worship
                      w/Pastor Bill deHeyman; Church Living Room

9:30 a.m. -- Holy Eucharist Rite II
                      w/ traditional worship in the church

9:30 a.m. -- Second Steps to Worship 
                      MacColl Auditorium; first & third Sun. of each month

10:45 a.m. -- Church School, Rector's Forum 
                       and small group study and learning opportunities

The Vestry, Clergy, Church Staff and the Worship and Music Commission recognize that there is no perfect schedule that works well for everyone in the parish, but we believe that this schedule will strengthen the Church School and Rector's Forums and offer excellent opportunities for people of all ages to worship.  In forthcoming years as we further develop our worship offerings, create a more participatory music program, and increase the number of parishioners who worship with us regularly, we will explore other options of worship opportunities and times for worship in order to insure that the needs of all parishioners can be met as best as possible.

Please do not hesitate to contact members of the Clergy or Vestry with your thoughts or concerns about the upcoming fall worship schedule.  We welcome hearing from you and encourage your support in making this a good transition for our parish.