Dearly Beloved in Christ,

"Grace has been given to each of us according to the measure of Christ's gift."  There are over twenty spiritual gifts listed in various of Paul's letters, and it seems that these lists are not exhaustive. Each one of us has received from Christ at least one spiritual gift, a gift that is for the building up of the Body, which is the church.  For the ministers of the church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons (BCP 855).

Each person has a ministry within the life of the Body.  And as Paul says, when each part is working properly the growth of the Body is promoted - the Body is built up in love.  The opposite is also true, if one or two people are not fully using the gifts that they have been given in ministry then the Body will limp along, with a stretched ligament here and there.  Or if someone is attempting a ministry for which they have not been gifted that likewise will hamper the health and growth of the Body, for that ministry will feel like a weighty burden.

Chances are you are already walking in your giftedness, for wherever you experience joy in ministry you are exercising your gift.  When we walk in our giftedness there is a two-fold blessing: we receive a blessing as we go about our ministry and our ministry becomes a blessing for others.  For example, you might love to pray for others, it just brings you immense joy, it certainly doesn't seem like "work." Not only are you being blessed in the praying, you are also blessing those for whom you are in prayer.  Or you might have the gift of hospitality: it is a delight for you to prepare a space for other people to gather and they receive the blessing of a welcome where they can feel the Lord's presence. Or again you might have the gift of helps, when you see something on the physical plant that needs fixing or tending you get an immense satisfaction out of seeing to it that it is accomplished, often times without anyone else seeing, and in doing so you have just blessed the community. The list goes on ...

You might never have considered these to be "ministries" - but they are!  And each one is absolutely vital for the building up of the whole Body. 

I pray that the Lord will reveal to each one of you the gift he has bestowed on you, and then I pray that you will use that gift for the building up of His Body, the church, to His glory.

In the Peace, Grace, and Love of our Lord,

I will be leaving on Friday evening, August 10, for the UK where I will be pursuing post-graduate studies for two weeks.  I return late in the evening of August 25.  During my absence Rev'd Lee will be leading the worship services and covering any pastoral needs.  George Madill, our Senior Warden, is the person responsible for the temporal concerns of the parish in my absence. 

The Moye Boys (and girls and friends) produced another fantastic fish fry on Friday.  They fed about 140 people with some delicious catfish, fries, slaw, beans, and hush puppies.  Cooking and serving went incredibly smoothly.  We had guests from St Lawrence AME in Eatonville, St Richard's in Winter Park, from Lutheran Towers, Maitland Shores, in fact we had a great all around turnout despite some rather scary weather.  Proceeds were $927!!!

 

Our Good Shepherd seminarian, David Bumsted, will be leaving for Wisconsin in a couple of weeks to conclude his seminary studies at Nashotah House Theological Seminary (my alma mater!)

We will certainly miss having David with us, but we are excited for him and for this opportunity.  In moving to Nashotah David will be leaving his job, and his income stream, and seminary costs are not negligible.  Most parishes are able to give some financial support to their seminarians, unfortunately we have a very tight budget and have not been able to do so. 

If any of you are able to help with some of these expenses we will open up a Seminarian Fund out of which we will pay Nashotah House directly for David's seminary expenses.  Nashotah House will match any donations put in that fund through their Bishop Parson's Scholarship Fund.  Please make checks out to Good Shepherd with "Seminarian Fund" noted on the memo line.

Thankful for the call on David's life and his dedication in following where the Lord leads.