Quick Note: We hope you can join us tonight (Saturday, October 17th) at the rectory for our Backyard Open Mic Night gathering! 6:00pm! Pizza will be provided; you bring anything else you like.

Now for what I'm thinking about this week:

Here it is! A new look to our weekly newsletter. We hope this design is more accessible, engaging, community oriented, and clear in sharing all that's going on in the parish. Thank you so much to our Communications Team who worked hard on this. We highly encourage you to subscribe to our text messages so that you can receive it right on your phone as well!

You might notice in the bottom section of the newsletter (called, "All the Rest"), we have three titles: The Table, The Living Room, and the Kitchen. A word about these images.

The word parish literally means "to dwell beside". The idea is that a parish is a community of people who share life with one another. Let's take that idea a step further and imagine that St. Peter's is our spiritual family home. Where in the home do people gather?

From the earliest centuries of the Church, Christian faith has been lived out in three primary ways. The Benedictines call these three areas Prayer, Study, and Work. A healthy and mature Christian faith includes all three areas. The three areas are also guiding principles in our parish life together.

The Table is the place we gather for prayer. We gather each week at the altar for the Eucharist, to share a Divine meal with God and one another. We gather each day for Morning and Evening Prayer, speaking aloud the names of those on our parish prayer list and the needs of the world in the presence of Christ and the holy sacrament. The Table is a metaphor for prayer.

The Living Room is the place we gather to grow in our Christian faith. It's where we share stories with one another, get to know each other, and spend time with one another. In Sunday School, Bible Study, and small groups, we gather to learn. At coffee hour, Engage Cafe, and festive dinners we gather to grow closer to one another. And thus the Living Room is a metaphor for fellowship and formation (study).

The Kitchen is the place we gather to serve. Where aprons are put on, hands are washed, and sleeves are rolled up as we work together to take care of the community. At St. Peter's we serve both internally (through the work of Ministry Teams, the Vestry, the Choir, the Altar Guild, Lectors, etc.) and externally (through the work of Laundry Love, Friends in the Park, Meals on Wheels baskets, and so much more). The Kitchen is a metaphor for serving (work).

To live out our lives as Christians means to live in Christian community in these three areas.

In this new weekly newsletter, all of the relevant events, gatherings, and happenings in the parish will be listed in these areas to help us consider how we are engaging in the life of the whole parish. As you walk with others in faith at St. Peter's, I invite you to regularly participate in at least one gathering for prayer, one gathering for formation, and one way to serve. When we participate in the life of the parish in these three areas, not only will we see our parish strengthened, we'll see our relationships flourish and our personal faith lives grow.

I hope you like the new design! I can't wait to see some photos that you submit to be featured each week.

That's what's on my mind this week. I wonder what's on yours. I'd love to hear.

Peace,

Derek

The Rev. Derek Larson