REFLECTION
Week 1!
My first week began in the water and ended in the sunshine, much like our friend Noah in the book of Genesis. It was fun looking out my office window and seeing elegant white birds strutting around a water-covered parking lot. It is so good to be here. Sue and I are deeply grateful for your warm welcome.
It was wonderful to be at the altar with Rev. Alan last weekend as we shared the service and made the transition. His love for you is very apparent. Roger’s thank you to Alan and Debbie was touching and sincere.
I want to highlight a few changes and upcoming offerings for you to be aware of. We are going to be including more faces and voices in the Sunday service. More details about how you can be part of this will be coming next week.
The service will be recorded without using the livestream equipment to try to eliminate as many technical glitches as possible. You can now view the service 3 ways: on the homepage of the website, on the St. Michael’s Facebook page beginning at 10:30 on Sunday, or on our new YouTube channel.
As you can see we are expanding our online presence. The Website Ministry is now the Digital Ministry Team, and I am very grateful that they have invited my wife Sue to be a part of the team. Sue is highly skilled and creative with every aspect of technology and social media, and St. Michael’s will benefit greatly from her gifts.
I am really enjoying getting to know you. Over the past 2 weeks, I have “Zoomed” with Pastoral Care, Prayer Shawl and Quilt Ministry and the Vestry. I will continue to Zoom with committees and groups. The Drive By Welcome scheduled for last week will take place this Wednesday. Many thanks to the great folks organizing that. I am also happy to schedule an outdoor “lawn chair chat” with folks who would like to meet that way. Contact me to schedule.
I will be leading a lectionary-based Bible study on Tuesday mornings at 10:00 a.m. This Bible study will resume on September 29th (the feast of St. Michael and All Angels!). This discussion based study uses the scripture readings for the coming Sunday.
Keep you eyes open for an email survey next week. I am hoping to collect feedback on reopening and your needs during this most unusual time.
As you can see, it was a busy week. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you. You can reach me by calling the office, or emailing me at: rector@saintmichaels-sanibel.org.
Peace and Blessings,
+Bill
