The task ahead is to move away from a predominantly 20th century model that Christian formation is only for children. Well intentioned though this has been, it communicates to the young that Church is something they expect to grow out of. Kids notice a disparity when formation seems to be appropriate for them but not for their parents. I believe this is one of the principle reasons we lose young people as they move towards adulthood. The demands of the 21st century life challenge us to move to a model of Christian formation that is ongoing, lifelong and for all ages.

In the context of my comments, summer gives us an opportunity to be more experimental with our liturgy through the introduction for July and August of a 5.30 pm Eucharist. My first hope is that this will appeal to Sunday summer schedules, freeing up the greater part of the day for other activities while still providing for an opportunity for weekly worship. Weekly worship is the mainstay for the Episcopal Church because we believe that God primarily addresses us as a community when gathered for worship. My second hope is that at 5.30 we can be more creative and explore the possibilities for building a meaningful worship experience that has an appeal across all age groups. I particularly hope to see many of our young family members at the 5.30pm worship.

Summer presents cash flow difficulties for church communities. If you have not yet
completed a pledge card for 2015, either because it's slipped your mind, or you are new to the community, it's not too late to do so. To help us with the summer ebb in cash flow you may want to explore the possibilities of electronic payment methods that enable you to maintain regularly payments while you take your summer sabbaticals. Another feature we provide is a way to make recordable one-off donations on line at 

If you've not left for the summer yet, see you in Church this Sunday!

Mark+