January Update

Dear Friends,

This note is just to update you on a few facets of our life at St. Peter's.

Stewardship - It is with joy and thankfulness that I can let you know that our congregation has reached our pledge goal for this year! We set out to raise $450,000 in pledges, and our current pledges stand at about $454,000. We are still happy to receive pledges as there is so much work to do! I want to thank Matt and Meredith Rivers and Terri Williams who serve as our stewardship committee, and I want to thank all of you who have pledged and continue to support the work and ministry of St. Peter's in these uncertain times! Stewardship is, of course, not just about the money we pledge and give to the church. It's about our whole life. So, we are going to try to continue to find ways that encourage us to take this larger view of what it means to be a steward of all God's gifts in the year to come!

Diocesan Convention - As you might guess, Diocesan Convention has to look a bit different this year. The convention will be all-digital and will be very streamlined in its format. Of course, social interaction with other members of our Diocese is one of the gifts of Diocesan Convention, and we all pray that we can have a normal gathering next year! I do want to thank the delegates to convention who were selected by the Vestry: delegates—Laura Burgess, Tammy Garland, and William Nelson and alternates—Tony Burgess, Susan Crawford, and Kim Kilgore. Thank you all for your willingness to serve!

Shrove Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and Lent - More information will be coming out over the next few weeks, but we are planning toward the holy season of Lent, which is approaching quickly! For Shrove Tuesday, in place of our normal celebration, we will be providing some sort of take-home materials, which you can pick up from the church office. We'll then have a Zoom gathering to celebrate as a congregation that evening. We plan to celebrate simple in-person Ash Wednesday services, as well as an online service. In place of receiving ashes this year, the staff—in line with the Bishop's recommendations—has developed an alternative way of remembering that we are dust, but we aren't quite ready to announce it yet. Stay tuned! Finally, our Lenten Program will look a bit different this year. Rather than gathering for soup and programs on Sunday evenings, we are developing a daily email, which asks every member of the parish to read the Gospel of Mark together. Each email will be accompanied with a prayer and discussion/reflection prompts. Through the week, we will facilitate 4 online meetings that anyone can join to discuss our reading and reflection together. Again, more details will be out in the next month.

Thank you all for your continued faithfulness in prayer, in patience, and in community. Please continue to reach out whenever you need the assistance of St. Peter's, please continue to worship together in whichever format is right for you, and please continue to walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us.

God bless,

Fr. Quinn+