Change

We are back together (sort of) for our first Communion (kind of)!

Dear Creator Family,

It was wonderful to be with those of you who could gather this past Sunday. I know that we are all not able to gather yet; this is a sadness for me. But I hold you all in my prayers and look forward with great anticipation to the Sunday morning with all of our family together again. This past Sunday we were able to receive Holy Communion in one kind, the Bread, and it was joyful. I admit to being overcome by the experience of receiving the Communion of the Lord and I was consoled by your presence.

We will continue to pray for good Sunday morning weather in which to gather, but remember to check your email 30 minutes before the service and listen for a TEXT notification (if you have signed up), in the case of inclement or “iffy” weather. In the event that we have to cancel the in-person service, we will have the service via ZOOM at the regular time (8 and 10:30), so tune in! In addition, the portico and Church will be painted during the first week of October. If for some reason this construction work prevents our meeting, we will let you know via email.

In the “news from the Parish” basket, your Vestry met this past Sunday and voted to move the Annual Meeting for 2020 to the first quarter 2021. I am working with your Senior Warden, Lee Barron, to create a Vestry Election process which will take place prior to the new Annual Meeting. Our Vestry is a vibrant and loving fellowship that has done an amazing job of leading and caring for our Creator Family, especially during this strained, stressful and separated time. Please pray a special prayer for grace and wisdom for these willing leaders and advocates for parish life at Creator. The dedication of your Vestry during this strange time has been an inspiration for me and I have been deeply moved and blessed by their companionship along the Way.

While I’m on that note—let me put out a hearty invitation for prayer and discernment. This is a time like no other. Perhaps you can see or feel God guiding your life in ways that were less obvious before this global and very real life change. I for one, have been given a renewed faith that no one and nothing is in charge of anything other than God, and that there is no hope or salvation independent of God’s love and mercy. This truth has strengthened me and helped me in ways I am just beginning to find words to express. Perhaps God has led you to “take stock” or reflect on purpose or values or “the meaning of life” or relationships in new ways. If so, please think and pray on being part of leading Creator into 2021 and our future ministry. If you feel called to join this Fellowship in 2021, please contact Lee Barron, myself, or your Vestry person.

We stand at an exciting and strange time for ministry in a hurting world. I won’t use the “C” word (change), but we have all been changed by living in and not-quite-through COVID-19. None of us is unscathed, unchanged, and we pray for all who at every level cope with the effects of the pandemic. Yet we are a “changed” people anyway, and always, changed by God’s love coming into the world in the Person of Jesus Christ. That means God always used change, no matter how devastating, to be an agent of good. Please come discover how you can be a decided and deliberate agent in bringing the Good (News) to and with our parish in the next season of life.

Hold each other in your prayers and anticipate the wonderful things to come! All things are possible for God!

Peace in Christ,
Fr. Bill+