I write this on Monday, October 22, with deep gratitude for a wonderful Sunday at St. Matthew’s Church on October 21. The Anderson High School Choir, under the direction of Patrick Dill, blessed us with their presence. Combining with our adult choir, they sang a beautiful setting of Psalm 121; I lift up my eyes unto the hills. I want to thank our new Music Director and Organist, Jean Fuller, for showing the initiative to arrange for the Anderson Choir to worship with us. We also received leadership from 25 children of our parish, led by Children’s Ministry Coordinator Kathy Dugat, as they instructed us and led us in singing with both voices and sign language Lord of the Dance. It was a wonderful offering to the Lord. At 5:15pm, Kevin Schubert and the Rev. Cathy Boyd led our youth and others in an alternative form of the Holy Eucharist. It was a rich day of worship and music.
Clergy Conference
From October 1-3, the clergy of the Diocese of Texas met at Camp Allen for our annual Clergy Conference. As always, it was great to see one another and great camaraderie prevailed. Bishop Wimberly reported on the recent House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans. He said that though fractures remain across the Episcopal Church relative to the current controversies, he remains loyal to the Episcopal Church and to the Anglican Communion. More on his comments about our place in the Anglican Communion are available on the Diocesan website, www.epicenter.org.
Bishop Wimberly to call for Bishop Coadjutor
Bishop Wimberly announced that he will be calling for a Bishop Coadjutor at the February 15-16 Diocesan Council to be held in Galveston. A Bishop Coadjutor will automatically become the Diocesan Bishop upon the retirement or death of the sitting Bishop. Bishop Wimberly will retire no later than the summer of 2009. The Bishop announced that I would be working with Pam Nolting, a lay member of Good Shepherd, Kingwood, as co-chairs of the Task Force for the Election of the Bishop Coadjutor. This is, of course, a momentous election for the Diocese of Texas and I am honored that the Bishop has entrusted me with this leadership role. I will pass on more details of this responsibility in future communications.
50th Anniversary Committee Working
Your 50th Anniversary planning Committee, led by Kay and Leon Whitney and Marjorie and Bert Hooper, has met three times and a timeline of events is beginning to emerge for 2008. Though much planning is yet to be done, there are, at this point, plans for a special Annual Meeting, a 50th Anniversary Pictorial Directory, some form of a written or video history of the church, Pentecost Sunday events, major events around St. Matthew’s Day (weekend of September 28, 2008), and an Arts Festival. All of the regular events of the year (Shrove Tuesday supper, Lenten suppers and concerts, as examples) will be occasions for remembering or celebrating our anniversary. You should expect to hear more from the 50th Anniversary Committee in the coming weeks and months.
Giving Thanks for our Country
On Sunday, November 11, we will commemorate Veteran’s Day by recognizing those men and women in our congregation who have fought to preserve our liberties in foreign wars. Veteran’s Day is a day to honor America’s veterans for their patriotism and sacrifice for the common good. We will dedicate a new American Flag and Episcopal Church flag donated by Babs Clendenin in Loving Memory of her daughter, Jan.
Thanksgiving Eve Service
As is our custom, we will celebrate the Holy Eucharist with Triumphant Love Lutheran Church the night before Thanksgiving, November 21, at 7:15PM, in the sanctuary of St. Matthew’s. As always, our choirs will combine and the preaching and presiding at the service will be shared by both churches. Pastor Norb Firnhaber and I enjoy this annual offering, please come and offer your Prayers of Thanksgiving.
Finally, I want to offer a word of thanks to all of you for the excellent start to our pledge campaign for the Operating Budget of St. Matthew’s for 2008. As of this writing, we have 230 pledges for $873,000. I am very grateful to you for your commitments to grow this parish in mission and ministry. The Wardens will keep you informed as we move ahead in this process.
God bless you all!
Merrill