Dear Friends,

 It has long been a favorite on my Sunday agenda to attend our 9 o'clock Adult Forum either after the 8 am service or before the 10 am service.  There, with my sweetheart, a fresh cup of coffee, and the joyous expectation of having my intellectual lamp lit, I experience a kind of satisfaction I find almost nowhere else. It is there that we hear from priests, social workers, a bishop, nurses, Muslims,  mayors, educators, political campaigners, planners, Franciscans, rabbis and almost anyone who could help us relate more effectively to the world Our Creator has given us to share. There are always questions followed by dialogue and often endearing banter among the assembled. Those meetings reaffirm our affiliation as a very real church family. By confirming each Sunday that we are a people who encourage questions, debate, and the exchange of ideas, the Forum actually enables me to better present myself as an Episcopalian. And that is a good reason to come to St. Luke's Church in the first place.

All this that I am so thankful for is shared with only a handful of eminently well qualified friends. All those assembled on the "stage" can be counted on one's fingers. Only occasionally might one need to remove a sock to complete that count. For me that is cause for real concern because there are far too many of our brothers and sisters in Christ missing out completely on something I find so fulfilling and personally rewarding.  It's a joy I'd love to share.  Certainly your reasons for not being there are valid. So how can we win you over?  I suspect the serving of donuts would not suffice. What about rescheduling?  Maybe our guest speaker could be introduced at the coffee hour and all who wanted to leave the kids in class and join the Forum could. Lunch? What are the chances you might be included?  Maybe all you needed was to know what went on there. Let us know.  Thanks for your time.

Yours in faith,

Peter Dawson