Vision Day in June

The first three weeks of June will be exceptionally active on the campus of St. Matthew’s.  You will be invited to attend a wide range of events, apart from the normal Sunday services and Christian Education – Family Camp, Vision Day and the Weekend of Prayer as primary examples.  Let me try to steer you through these events to let you know my sense of priority and urgency for each.

2005 VBS/Family Camp – Important for “Fun”

In the June issue of The Word you will find information about Family Camp.  These events are intended to be pure fun for the whole family – swimming, eating together, playing games together and dancing together.  These events are not designed for parents to drop their children off.  In order that we might be able to guesstimate the amount of food to purchase for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, please email Ann Hart at ann-hart@austin.rr.com to let her know if you and others will be attending.

Discipleship Journey Golf Tournament – Important for “Fundraising and Support of Youth Ministry”

Elsewhere in this issue of The Word, you will find information about the Discipleship Journey that our youth and adults will be making in July.  The June 6 golf tournament is our primary fund-raiser.  Please play!! And if you don’t play, find friends to pay and play.  I am so proud of our youth and their commitment to deepening their spiritual lives in Christ.

Vision Day – June 11 – Urgent and Important Priority

In our June issue of The Word, you will find an article from our Senior Warden, David Price, about the Vision work being done with Peter Steinke.  June 11 is the day for the parish to gather to share our common goals and dreams for St. Matthew’s and our future together.  I CANNOT OVERSTATE HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT YOU BE A PART OF THIS VISION DAY.  Please take your rightful role and place in this planning process.  It will be a very stimulating day as a parish family.

Weekend of Prayer – Not urgent, and very important

Another important article in the June issue of The Word is an article by the Rev. Jim Williams on the Weekend of Prayer, June 17-19.  Does your prayer life need nurturance? A jumpstart?  I guarantee you that you will benefit from a deeply relaxing, highly educational and spiritually stimulating weekend with the Rev. Sandy Casey-Martus.  Lots of worship, singing and opportunities to learn to pray.  We are so grateful to the Special Gifts Committee for supporting this event with a distribution from the Permanent Endowment Fund.

Hospitality and Rest

After this flurry of activity, our attention as a parish will move to hosting our Interfaith Hospitality guests in the month of July.  In the July edition of The Word you will find an article from Amy Tuvell Novak about our efforts with this rich and worthwhile ministry.  We will take a deliberate sabbatical from all Sunday Christian Education from July 3 through August 7, giving one another a rest from weekly teaching responsibilities and having a period of a shortened church day for our families.  We will come back renewed and ready for classes after this needed break!

Again, I urge you to give the highest priority you can to being present for the Vision Day on June 11 at the church. 

God bless you one and all!

Faithfully, Merrill