Thanks to everyone who stayed for our annual meeting last week; we had 45 in attendance, the best so far. Jerome, Jennifer, Sarah, James, Salom, Kristin, Courney, Joane, and Pam all signed our member book: welcome, Christ Churchers! We also had some very good conversation in small groups clustered around various points of our mission. From putting out the compost bin that’s been languishing in the basement for a year to adding more variety in opportunities for education and community building, we are excited for what 2014 will bring.

One of the things I’m particularly passionate about for 2014 is looking to how we can build a stronger community at Christ Church, both for newcomers and for longtime members. As we grow closer to each other, we also grow closer to God. As we are more grounded in our love of God and God’s love for us, we’re more able to share with those in need and be generous with our lives. The Gospel really is good news; it’s good news that we’re loved beyond our imagining. It’s good news we can always be forgiven and start again, good news that cruelty and violence don’t win.

One of the themes that came up in the annual meeting was also the importance of having different opportunities for coming together; our usual education pattern during Advent and Lent of 6-7:30 or 8 might be best with people with little kids, but anything before 8pm might be too hard for others. The vestry began talking about how to connect people to each other and to the parish last year in the “action reflection” group model. We focused on what we were doing at church-both as a collective and as individuals– and how we could do what we do better. Both in those conversations and at the annual meeting, it’s occurred to me that we actually don’t have a lot of time for parishioners to spend time “setting the course” for what we do as a parish. The vestry does a lot of that work, and I do a lot of that work, but we need to do more to make that accessible to everyone and get people talking.

A linked idea, which is successful in churches of all kinds, is the idea of small group ministry. A group of around ten people gathers together in a home or at church or a coffee shop, either for a defined number of meeting times or in an open ended model. There are lots of models-groups can focused on Bible study, or book groups, or prayer groups, or seniors’ groups, or parents’ groups, or intentionally intergenerational groups-and I hope that over the next few weeks before Lent we can be talking about if something like this might work for us. We’ve always had the ONE meeting time for education in Advent and Lent, but what if we opened it up wider? What if we had three different opportunities for Lent? What if we had five? Coffee hour is a great way to meet people, but it can also be an introvert’s nightmare.

Moving into Lent (Ash Wednesday is in five weeks), I’m thinking of sort of a “Lenten lab” for experimentation; if we can try it for forty days, maybe we’ll want to continue. Anna Jones is going to be heading up this effort on behalf of the vestry; she’ll have some one on one conversations with people, and if you have ideas please be in touch with us both. I’m also intrigued by the Restoration Project model of small discipleship groups, so check that out as well. They have a great “Lenten Challenge” of 20-1-4 where participants are invited to commit to pray for 20 minutes a day, worship one hour a week, and serve for four hours a month (More at PrayWorshipServe). Whatever we do, please know how grateful I am for each of you and the spiritual life we share at Christ Church.