Liminality
 

You might be familiar with this term - but in case not it refers to an experience or a space, physical or virtual, where different states transition in and out of one another. I have this experience on the seashore where the water and the land, the earth and the sky somehow meet in a way that leaves me with a sense of ebb and flow between them as each transitions in-to, and out-of the others.
 

It's now a month since I took up my role as your Rector. It has been a whirlwind of getting settled, meeting with lots of new people - the Meet and Greets have been particularly enjoyable. The relative quiet of the summer months is offering me some space for discerning the main priorities for the Fall and the New Year. I have identified three main area of priority that I am keen for us to move forward with.

1. The single biggest item is the Annual Renewal Campaign. This is often referred to as stewardship. I want us to separate these two terms. Stewardship is a year-long process of nurturing our life together as a community. We can do this in a million and one different ways. However the essence of stewardship is the exercise of tender competence for one another, for our community, and for the world around us. As we move forward I will be addressing this more directly.  The Annual Renewal Campaign (ARC) is really about money and it's the element of stewardship that we kick-off with as we get into a new year cycle. This year we will run the ARC from Mid October culminating with my Installation by the Bishop as the 12th Rector of St Martins at 4pm on Sunday 16th of November. If you are a financial giver of record, which means you either pledge or write checks, you will be receiving a personal letter from me along with your quarterly giving statement. I wanted simply to say thank you for your support. So many people are recognizing that we are being called to reinvigorate the financial element of our relationship with God. I will, over the coming months be talking a lot about this.
2. I have engaged a web designer who will work with me, and members of the transition team on a new parish website using a WordPress platform. WordPress is a wonderfully flexible web platform that will allow us to create a new look for ourselves that really captures the vitality and energy of who we are as a community.
3. Renewal of Worship ministries is a key need I have discerned in my short time here. St Martin's is strong in its social outreach and social inreach ministries. We are the largest contributing parish to Episcopal Charities for instance. Our Thrift Shop and Cloak ministry reaches out to many in the community. By worship ministries, I am referring to Altar Guild, Ushers, Acolytes, Eucharistic Ministers, and Lectors. These are the ministries that sustain our worship life and I sense a feeling of fatigue among these groups. I would like to initiate a series of conversations with those already participating in these ministries, which will also be open to any one who wants to attend. I want to hear from you about your experience and your hopes for the future. As Episcopalians, the centrality and dignity of our worship is the one element that is not only the foundation of our community life, but which marks us out as being different from other Christian denominations.

As we move forward with these priorities, we will need everyone's prayer. Please keep these priorities in prayer. Lift up the needs these priorities represent. Pray for the Holy Spirit's gift of vision and energy for renewal within our community. Lift up to God individuals you know who are engaged in the different ministries and particularly, I ask for your prayers for myself, Elizabeth and Sean, the Church Wardens, and the members of the Vestry. You can see who we are as our pictures and bios are displayed in the atrium.
 

For those still on holiday or commencing holiday, my prayer is for your re-creation and relaxation. For those still in town, see you - in church- this coming Sunday.

 Yours in Christ, 

 Mark+

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