Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Summer is far from gone, but school and all things fall will soon be with us again. For me fall has always been more of a beginning than the prelude to the end of the year. As you know we are starting to make plans for a celebration of the new school year, both the public school and our Christian school year.

We hope to offer several opportunities for your Christian formation. We will make classes available for any and all age groups on Sunday; you just need to let us know about your needs and desires. In addition to Sunday mornings, you will have the opportunity to join the Education for Ministry (EFM) class that meets on Tuesday evenings. Wednesday Evening Prayer services will also be starting back and if anyone is interested in having some type of class or study on Wednesdays please let us know. The Friday Noonday service is continuing and perhaps that might be a time we could offer something for you. We expect to add an additional opportunity for prayer at the church where you can come and join us in praying for the needs of others and ourselves.

In addition to making plans for our Christian Formation, it is the time we start planning other programs for our church year. Your vestry will be making plans for our stewardship drive, developing the budget for 2009, planning the annual parish meeting, which will include electing new members to the vestry and delegates to the diocesan convention.

I would like to encourage all of us to begin prayerful consideration of our stewardship. We all know that our stewardship is about our time, talent and treasure, but we should also look at our stewardship as a part of our total commitment to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Yours in Christ,

Jon