Exciting times

These are exciting times for St. Antony's. We've had a number of new initiatives come up recently, and we're beginning to see a lot of activity. What I find energizing is that many people are involved in making things happen.

1. Last Sunday, we began sharing our church building with the members of New Fellowship Church. New Fellowship is associated with the Church of God in Christ, a Pentecostal denomination with predominantly black congregations. During the month of July, we're having a trial period of sharing the building to see how it goes. At 10 am on Sundays, New Fellowship will use the basement room while we worship in the nave. At 11:30 am, we'll move to the parish hall and they'll start setting up their equipment in the nave so they can begin worship around 12:00 pm. On our first Sunday, everything seemed to go well.

2. Our Capital Campaign Sub-Committee has interviewed three consulting firms to choose a consultant to help us do our capital campaign. The Sub-Committee has done a very thorough job in researching firms, compiling questions, and conducting the interviews. We'll soon hear which firm was chosen.

3. The Transition Sub-Committee has met to start making a plan for how we light move out of our current facility into an interim facility or into our new church building. They're creating a set of alternatives so that when the move comes up, we'll know what we want to do. Great work by a very competent team.

4. The Design Committee has been selecting architecture firms to whom we'll send a Request For Proposal (RFP). The team has researched architects, visited other churches, asked for Letters of Intent from architects, and drawn up an RFP, which will go out by the end of the month. The goal is to select an architect by early fall.

5. We've been preparing for the Barn Sale which will be held August 1-2. We've cleaned the barn and the modular, set up tables, and begun to sort and price merchandise. In the next few weeks, we'll collect more good stuff, do our publicity, and prepare for the opening day.

With all these things happening, it doesn't seem like the usual sleepy summer time. We've got lots of activity, and it's wonderful to see.

Advent Day 23

Advent is a threshold time, an in-between time as we wait for God to come. I chose these lines from a poem by R.S. Thomas and the image of opening a door to illustrate how Advent opens us to a new reality.

Advent Day 21

According to Isaiah and Matthew, pregnancy is the sign that God is with us.

Advent Day 20

One of the themes of Advent is waiting. Just like Mary waited for the child growing within her, we wait for the coming of Christ.

Advent Day 19

In this Sunday's Gospel lesson, an angel tells Joseph, "Don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife." And Joseph obeys.

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Advent Day 18

I've always wondered what Joseph went through as he wrestled with his decision to dismiss Mary or to marry her.

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Advent Day 17

Our New Testament lesson for this Sunday consists of the opening lines of Paul's letter to the Romans. In my imagination I can see him carefully forming the letters of his message.