As we begin 2018 together, I have an invitation for you, an invitation that has to do with the future of St. Andrew’s Church.  At our Annual Parish Meeting in December, I shared three goals for St. Andrew’s that have been forming in my mind and heart over the past year.  The three goals grew out of my ongoing conversations with vestry and other parish leaders; my observations of our life and ministry here at St. Andrew’s; and the continuing education workshops and reading I’ve undertaken since my arrival. The goals (described in more detail below) are: 1) being Church; 2) offering intentional, authentic relationships; and 3) re-engaging in our neighborhood. 

I invite you to join me in the coming months as together we pray about, reflect on, and work toward these three goals. Beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening, February 6, I will be holding a once-a-month Being and Becoming gathering in the Parish Hall for all interested parishioners to come together for conversation, planning, and action as we discern how best to move forward on each goal. Dan Waddill has graciously agreed to help lead this effort.  Additional reading and resources can be found on our website here.

I hope you will join us, either in person or in spirit (and definitely in prayer!), as we move forward into our future, where God is already present and waiting for us.

Every blessing,
Anne+

Goal 1:  Being Church
Being Church includes all of the things we usually do as a parish: offering worship, pastoral care, Christian formation, and fellowship; and engaging in mission and outreach. What’s new and, I think, critical is the challenge to be Church to two different groups:

1. Those currently in our pews: many longtime members, many older folks, those comfortable and familiar with our patterns of worship, life, and ministry.
2. Those who (mostly) are not in our pews: young adults, families with small children, those who didn’t grow up in the church, those for whom our ways of doing things feel foreign or unhelpful.

Being church to these two groups simultaneously will require flexibility, creativity, careful listening, loving respect, and a willingness to experiment (and, necessarily, fail periodically).

Goal 2:  Offering intentional, authentic relationships with God and others, even across the usual divides
As Christians, our primary relationship is with God through Jesus Christ, in whom we are all part of one Body and by whom we are called to love and serve those inside and outside that Body. God loved and loves us while we are still sinners; we are to offer that same grace to others.
Intentional relationships don’t simply happen; they are created and nurtured when we reach out in love to those who differ from us in age, socio-economic status, race, political belief, or any other category that normally separates us. Authentic relationships acknowledge human brokenness and foibles as well as human achievements and accomplishments; they are made possible as we dare to live and speak with integrity and vulnerability and to offer and receive forgiveness. Authentic relationships, including our relationship with God, have room for doubt and uncertainty, change and growth.

Goal 3:  Re-engaging in our neighborhood
We are so blessed to be in the midst of Hilton Village with its vibrant community life and abundance of families with children—but in general those families with children are not part of St. Andrew’s, although many of them participate in VBS and/or come to us on Halloween. The history of St. Andrew’s Church contains many stories of active engagement in the neighborhood:  door to door visits in the early years to invite people to church; starting a kindergarten to serve the community; creating a library for the community. What would more active engagement in our community look like now?  What needs could we meet?