Beloved of God,
What a great blessing it was to welcome our Church School children back into our midst this past Sunday! There was a real air of joy and excitement as we gathered once again, and I look forward to a wonderful year of Christian Formation ahead!
I prefer to use the term “formation” as opposed to “education” because we are always being shaped and formed to be better bearers of God’s image, to be Christ’s hands and heart in the world God loves so dearly. We tend to feel that our education ends at some point, that we graduate and don’t need to study any longer. But there is always more to learn as we learn to live more and more fully as God’s people. There is always more formation to be done – for everyone from the youngest to the eldest among us!
For our children and youth, we have a wonderfully creative set of Church School teachers who we commissioned this past Sunday to work with our children and youth this year. I am working with our Confirm not Conform class and we are working on scheduling a visit from our Bishop to confirm them just after the first of the year.
For adults, there is A Taste of Theology every Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. at Mambrino King (and sometimes at the Roycroft Inn). At “ToT” we enjoy wonderful fellowship and good conversation around a different topic each week. Last week, a great discussion was sparked by this quote by Diane Ackerman: “I swear I will not dishonor my soul with hatred, but offer myself humbly as a guardian of nature, as a healer of misery, as a messenger of wonder, as an architect of peace.” This week, we considered Frederick Buechner’s idea that, “Where our deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet, we hear a further call.” Won’t you join us?
There is much going on in our parish, so I’ll close for now. You won’t want to miss a thing, so grab a cup of coffee or tea and read on!!!
Yours in Christ’s love,
~Mother Ann+
PS Stay tuned for a possible new Reading with the Rector offering coming this fall!
Saint Matthias' Episcopal Church 