August Horizons

Pastor’s Epistle—August 2022

August is the middle age of the year. The hottest days of summer are likely yet to come. But the dusk is already darkening; some of the leaves already turning; some of the reapers already reaping. At the height of summer’s strength, she sees her inevitable decline. But this in itself is no bad thing. “Autumn is really the best of the seasons,” wrote C.S. Lewis. “And I’m not sure that old age isn’t the best part of life.”

Our August and our autumn are already underway. Indeed, the life of the Church, like that of the school, begins anew each summer’s end. And each month from here on out we have big plans for St Peter’s. We hope that you would join us for all that is to come.

You’ve likely heard me plugging our next Congregational Vitality event. Save the date for Wednesday, 17 August. That night we’re holding an intergenerational gathering—St Peter’s Youth will meet that night as well—at which we’ll be mapping out times in our parish’s life when we’ve mourned together, hoped together, and celebrated together. SPY will also be discussing the 2024 Youth Gathering in New Orleans.

We’ll feast on pulled pork sandwiches, and ask that we each bring a dish to share, making this event a partial potluck. Things kick off at 6:00 p.m., and should wrap up a little after 7:00, with worship to follow, so stick around. This is part of Council’s ongoing engagement with the Rev’d Rachel Stout, who now does Congregational Vitality work both professionally and academically.

Come September we’ll be kicking off our educational programs with a combination Rally Sunday and New Members Sunday on the 11th. It’s time to give a formal welcome to some of the fresh faces we’ve been seeing here about. Later in the month we’ll focus on Feed My Starving Children, about as Christian a service project as one can perform.

Plans for the following few months include a fundraiser on 16 October with a silent auction, bake sale, a live auction if we can swing it, and of course food. We wouldn’t want y’all going hungry. Then toward the end of November we’ll be kicking off a little something we’re calling Advent Academy, a series of midweek opportunities to engage with our community and get in a little intergenerational education. More on that soon.

Finally, in December, we’ll host what might well be our last St Peter’s blood drive. Turnout for donations has been wonderful; we’ve often far and away exceeded our targets, and the Red Cross simply adores our fellowship hall as a workspace. But since blood drives fall on workdays—this one will be on Thursday, 15 December—we’ve been having trouble finding volunteers, and it’s a lot to put on just a few sturdy shoulders. Should we get more volunteers, great! We’ll happily shoot for another. But if not, we may have to settle for making our space available to other organizations.

It’s been a rough few years, not just for churches but for all of civil society, for any organization that relies on in-person voluntary commitment. And it’s hard to get momentum built back up after better than two years of Covid. But there’s a lot of life still here at St Peter’s, many reasons to be thankful for the good work that we do together in the name of Jesus Christ. I for one can see a bright new hope on the horizon.

Come to worship, to Bible Study, to Adult Forums. Come for fellowship and for service. Let us be the Church in this place, in this community of New York Mills. And let us ever offer Jesus Christ in every way we can to a world still very much in need of Him.

In Jesus. Amen.