Can you feel the energy rising as the beginning of the school year approaches? This feeling is evident at Epiphany as well, as we anticipate the beginning of the program year.
“Program Year” – what a strange phrase! We tend to describe our work in our faith community this way, indicating that we are active from September through May or June, and then, like cicadas, we go into a dormant phase in July and August. Nothing could be further from the truth – since I’ve arrived, your Vestry, staff, and Ministry Leaders and I have been busy planning ahead, imagining possibilities, reshaping the way we do our work together and celebrating all that is wonderful about Epiphany.
That said, it’s true that folks go away on vacation over the summertime, even your hardworking professional staff here at church – and it’s particularly important this summer, after a year of incredibly intense and unexpected work. But in our hearts, we are always thinking ahead…
…and this year, praying for the impact of the Delta variant of COVID-19 to soften so that we can do more and more together.
Our CYFM team are busy planning for a careful start to Sunday School again, with a kickoff on September 12th. You’ll hear more to come about that in the very near future.
Our preschool will begin again in mid-September, and what a joy it will be to see that part of our campus come to life again with little people with big hearts, and awesome staff with great gifts. Gayle Massey and her team are expanding capacity because of the demand and we’re excited to see how we continue to grow.
All of this nascent activity is a cause for joy, but also a cause for a bit of worry – what will the Delta variant mean to our activities? How do we ensure a safe environment for all of us? – so your prayers are needed, to make wise decisions, to live into our baptismal covenant to care for and respect all, and to always be cognizant that our differences of opinion are secondary to our responsibility to BE the church at its best.
So catch your breath in these few final weeks of August and strap in! Fun and holy and loving stuff awaits! Thanks be to God!
Be blessed and be a blessing,
Mary+