Building Community

St Paul describes the Church as the Body of Christ. He uses this analogy in order to point to how the members of the Church should work together as one, help each other when one member is weak and when another member is strong, rejoice together, weep together, grow together, learn together, experience Christ together. In order for the Church to truly function this way, there needs to be true community. We commune with each other each time we partake of the Eucharist, but are we also living out that communion through the rest of our lives? In many cases, absolutely! We have a truly lovely community! In others, we need work.
In order to help to build up community, we will be implementing a couple of new things. One is a new weekly schedule and the other is a “Meet Our Family” initiative.

New Schedule – Beginning in September

Tuesday @ 5:30 pm – Each Tuesday we will have a non-fasting dinner and fellowship together.  Following dinner, at around 6:15 there will be a time for teaching for all ages.  The youngest will be able to go to the atrium and the older ages will have specific lessons for them with an adult teaching as well.  Following the lessons, families are welcome to connect with each other and continue to fellowship at the Church.  On one Tuesday a month, we will not have a lesson but have an evening of simply dinner, games and fellowship.

Wednesday @ 6 pm – Vespers – It is good and important for us to have regular opportunities to pray together during the week.
Lord willing, this new format will allow for added times of communal prayer, fellowship, conversation, and learning together to continue to build up community.

“Meet Our Family”

Many of us love to look at the wall of pictures in the hallway heading to St Raphael Hall.  These pictures help us to learn about the members of our Church.  In order to continue to facilitate getting to know individual members and families, in our weekly email update we will be spotlighting a different family in the Church.  Participation is completely voluntary.  There will be a questionnaire that each family can fill out and submit a picture.  Lord willing, this will continue to help us know a little more about the people we commune with each week!

May God continue to strengthen and grow our Church community!