To know Christ, grow in Christ, and share Christ's love.

Rector's Message from July 2006 Monthly Word 

General Convention 2006

I am enjoying following the events at General Convention.  I remind you that the General Convention of the Episcopal Church is one of the largest legislative bodies in the free world.  No wonder the cultural milieu is so diverse – our church is so far-flung and there are so many people gathered from different nationalities, backgrounds and ways of understanding the world.  I am so happy that the General Convention elected the Rt. Rev. Katherine Jefferts-Schori to be the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.  Katherine is a participant in my Gathering of Leaders group organized by Bishop Claude Payne.  Bishop Jefferts-Schori is a thoughtful listener and is highly intelligent.  She is warm, forward-looking, oriented to mission, and hopeful about the Episcopal Church.  She would credit Bishop Payne for helping shape her vision of the role of the church in the world.  And I remind you that the national media will try to make this election as controversial as possible.  A super abundant majority of the House of Deputies voted to confirm her election by the House of Bishops.  There will be people in the Episcopal Church and around the Anglican Communion that will be unhappy because she is a woman.  The media will stress this discord because they find everything else we do in the church as boring and inconsequential.   The real task of the church is to be so visible in helping heal the wounds of the world that the media cannot in good conscience only focus on controversy.

St. Matthew’s Office Staff

We are, as you know, currently a bit understaffed and Susan Barnes, Dave Bowman and I are working to restructure and rebuild our staff to serve our needs for years to come.  Barbara Haynes is now handling the Monthly Word and Weekly Word (Order of Service) and is doing a very good job for us.  Dave Bowman has hired Louise Pettigrew to serve as our Bookkeeper, working approximately 15 hours a week.  Welcome aboard, Louise!

Because Barbara Haynes is now handling the Communications work, we will create a new position oriented more towards clergy support of parish ministries, evangelism and public relations, visitors/newcomers ministries and lay ministry coordination.  I see this new position as a strong commitment to our hospitality and newcomer ministries, to growing our church and in shepherding people from their first visit to full and active membership in the parish.  I have already interviewed a few good candidates for this position.  Please feel free to make recommendations.

I have distributed our Youth Minister Job description throughout the Diocese of Texas and other places.  We will take excellent care to call a youth minister that will love and serve with our youth and help make our young people truly feel a part of a warm and caring parish.   In the meantime, Susan Barnes will keep you informed of plans for youth ministry as she has, as I announced in May, assumed oversight of our youth ministry, children’s education and adult education under the rubric of Christian Formation.  Elsewhere in this Monthly Word you will hear from Susan regarding youth ministry and the work that she and Kathy Dugat and others are doing to offer our children and their family’s new and exciting opportunities to gather, play and pray!

Our Spiritual Journeys

I have often wanted a way to talk to the public that happens across our website.  All too often, I am so caught up in the life of the church that I am prone to always and only use the church’s language.  For example, read again what you read in the paragraphs above.  Presiding Bishop. House of Deputies. Parish ministries. Lay Ministry Coordination.  Evangelism. These are buzz words that you and I know and can use with each other with some expectation of being understood. For a person that has no church knowledge whatsoever, they might as well be reading Aramaic.  So with Jeri Muhich and Steve Ryder’s support and encouragement, I will be posting articles entitled “Our Spiritual Journeys” to the web site.  They are intended for those persons who are interested in the spiritual life and need help with the basic language of spirituality.  So, feel free to follow my efforts to reach out with our basic message, though in a less churchy and more generalized way of speaking.  I expect to post 3-5 times a month.

Parish Weekend October 13-15 at Echo Valley

Elsewhere in this edition of the Word you will find a notice of a preliminary planning meeting for a Parish Weekend in October.  Please mark your calendar now.  This is a fabulous opportunity for the entire parish, at magnificently reduced costs, to spend a weekend together in a truly beautiful and inspiring setting along the Frio River.  The principal Eucharist that Sunday will be held at Echo Valley, which is on the HEB Foundation property that we enjoy when we go to Laity Lodge and when our young people attend or serve at the great summer camps.  Whether you are an individual, or belong to a large family, this weekend will be planned with you in mind.  So to all of you I strongly encourage you – right now – to block off that weekend (which was the last weekend available for us to get the “free” accommodations at Echo Valley) and listen for details as they come available.  And if you want to help make it a great weekend, please come to the Planning meeting on July 9!

Holy Baptism – August 27

Our next date for Holy Baptism will be Sunday, August 27, at the 10:30 AM service.  Please contact me at Merrill@stmattsaustin.org if you would like to discuss baptism for yourself or a member of your family.  Kathy Dugat and I will be arranging a class for adults and their families to prepare for Baptism.  Please contact me directly if you are interested!

Rector’s Class for Visitors and Newcomers

Finally, I’ll be leading a class this fall for those new to the faith, or new to the Episcopal Church.  The class will begin in late August and will run until early December.  If you are an older teenager, a college student, or adult of any age, and you want to be a part of an interactive learning experience about Our Spiritual Journeys and how the Episcopal Church at St. Matthew’s can support you, please email me and let me know that you want to participate!  More information later.

Finally, as I complete my fourth year as your Rector this month, please know that I am delighted to be your priest and that I dearly and truly love serving with you at St. Matthew’s.  Crystal, Patrick, Caroline and I will be on vacation from July 5 through July 20.  We are traveling east to see family and friends and will spend some time on the beach!

God bless you one and all.

Merrill