Please come to one of our two Town Hall Meetings Sunday, February 16:
- 9:30am – 10:15am
- 11:45am, following the 10:30am Eucharist
The same two topics will be discussed at two sessions, so you can pick one of those two times to participate. We will be listening to one another share views and ideas about two important issues facing our church:
A. Sunday school options and worship times (three options)
B. Our mission statement
A. Sunday school options & worship times
Since September, we have had Sunday school for all ages from 9:30-10:15am. During this time, we heard two basic concerns with the timing of Sunday school. One has to do with moving Sunday school from being in a time conflict with worship, and the other has been that the 9:30 time is too early for many families with young children to get here on time. So, here are the three options we will discuss:
Option 1 – what we currently do
- 8:00 Rite I Eucharist
- 9:30 Sunday school between the services – all ages
- 10:30 Holy Eucharist II
- First Sunday of every month-children stay for entire service
- Other monthly Sundays –children attend Children’s chapel following the Gospel reading and continuing until the Peace
- 11:30 Coffee Hour
Option 2
- 8:00 or 8:30am Rite I Eucharist
- 10:00am Rite II Eucharist
- First Sunday of every month-children stay for entire service
- Other monthly Sundays –children attend Children’s chapel following the Gospel reading and continuing until the Peace
- 11:15am -12:00pm Children and adults would get a quick coffee hour snack and head to Sunday school.
Option 3
- Worship times possibilities:
8 & 10; 8 & 10:30; 8 & 11; 8:30 & 10; 8:30 & 10:30; 8:30 & 11 - Children and Teens – Education “Brown Bag”–activities sent home each week, or through email for families to share together and create a “Sabbath” time – a time for God at a time that they choose. No scheduled Sunday school class time on Sunday for children and teens. Families would be invited to share, blog, post their work on the church website, hang projects in the parish hall, etc.
- Adult Sunday School would be determined with what will work best with the worship times.
There will be papers available at the town hall meeting on the Importance of Worship, The Importance of Christian Formation/Education, and the Importance of Children in Worship.
B. Our mission statement
At the annual parish meeting on January 26, we had a discussion about the proposed mission statement for our church. We need to decide what the wording will be. Below is the proposed mission statement. The underlined part is where the discussion at the annual parish meeting focused. It is followed by wording that was suggested at the annual meeting and then other possibilities keeping the sense of the original proposal intact but using different wording.
Proposed mission statement for St. Martin-in-the-Fields:
Our mission is to be Jesus Christ’s hands and feet to our neighbors no matter where they are on their journey of faith.
- …be Jesus Christ’s heart, hands and feet to our neighbors…
- …bear witness to the light of Christ …
- …carry forth the Work and Word of Jesus Christ…
- …share God’s love with the relentless compassion of Christ…
- …share an adventurous spirit and a commitment to radiate God’s love…
- …be active servants of the spirit of Jesus…
- …live out our Baptismal vows as a vital Christian community that reaches…
Sunday school is cancelled this week
Regular Sunday school for children and adults has been cancelled for this Sunday, February 16, so that Sunday school teachers and staff can join the rest of the parish in a discussion about Sunday school options. Please read Corrie Cabes’ announcement about that.
Please come, participate, share
Please plan on coming to one of the town hall meetings with your concerns, ideas and your faith. If you are unable to be at either of the meetings and wish to share your thoughts, please contact me for a chat. My email is mike.wallens@stmartininthefields.org and the church phone is 817-431-2396.