From the Rector

"You’ll Be Hearing From Us Soon!"

Dear Friends,

As summer approaches, life's pace is changing for each of us and for all of us.  Most of our lives are governed by the academic year, whether anyone in our household is in school or not.  Churches often "wind down" their program year at this time, knowing that attendance will drop a bit as people go on vacations or find alternative activities in the beauty of the summer.  Treasurers worry about folks forgetting to send in their pledges while they are away, and most churches suffer at least a mild cash-flow problem in this season.  (You can help us avoid that situation with your attentiveness!)  Church School programs in most places take the summer off, as do choirs and other groups.  Some folks don't get to have a respite from their ministries - Lay Readers/Chalicists, Altar Guild, Acolytes, Ushers, Coffee Hosts, among others still are needed to maintain a church's liturgical and social life.  But there is a different pace to life for most church folk.

Here at Manakin, some of those "summer adjustments" will take place - Church School, Choir, Men of the Church and Women of the Church, Adult Ed will all take a breather - and, as you heard in last month's Messenger, we will adopt a summer worship schedule, beginning June 8th, of holding only the 8:00 AM and 9:30 AM services on Sundays.  (The third Wednesday Healing and Eucharist services will continue through the summer though.  The need for healing takes no breaks!) Christian Ed and the 11:15 AM service will resume September 14th.

Despite those adjustments to summer life, much will still be going on in our life together.  Pastoral Care will continue its excellent ministries, Outreach will be very busy preparing for the Auction - and will need your input and help all summer as they do so, including your contributions for auction items/services - and Long Range Planning will be working on assessing the input from their focus group meetings and planning for the next steps in our visioning process for the future.  An adhoc committee that is exploring at planned giving needs for the Parish will be looking at how to follow up on the classes that were offered in Lent on "Matters of Life and Death."  And, of course, work is well under way for Vacation Bible School on August 4th-8th.

One other project will be taking place in the weeks and months ahead that the Parish leadership hopes will be very helpful in enhancing the communications and sense of community within the Household.  In the near future, members of the Vestry will be contacting everyone on the Parish roster to "check in" with all of our members.  This call will not be a "canvass" call - it has nothing to do with solicitation of pledges or contributions.  It is simply to make sure that all of us are in communication with one another and that everyone feels like he or she has a chance to share what aspects of Manakin's life and ministries are exciting and fulfilling and what concerns each person may have.  Your caller will also ask to verify your contact information, and he or she will ask if you would like to be on either or both of two email lists - one to notify you of urgent situations (a church closing for bad weather or a funeral, for example) and a second one to keep you informed of upcoming events.  In no circumstance will your contact information be shared or sold to anyone - with the exception that we send our address list to the Diocese periodically so you can receive the Jamestown Cross newspaper.

The Vestry is excited about this project.  We think that it is important to enhance our communications in any way we can, to be sure that everyone in the Parish is being heard - both with their joys about our life together and with their concerns - and that everyone know that he or she is an important part of our life together.  There are many devoted and loyal members of this Household who can't be in church every Sunday.  They are still part of our family and our life, and we want to make sure we stay connected with them.

I hope that you will take some time to visit with your caller when he or she phones.  It will be a great opportunity to share your feelings about what life at Manakin is like for you and to be reminded of how we are, genuinely, "all in this together."  Manakin is a special and blessed body, made up, as scripture says, of many diverse parts.  All of those parts are important to the health and life of the body - and all are beloved.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful summer.  Remember the Church each day in your prayers - and in the exercise of your talents.

Yours in Christ’s Love,
Michael+