Dear People of St. David’s,
I hope this finds you well, and enjoying some of the warm weather which has finally arrived in our region. Our gardens are certainly enjoying the rainfall and sunshine. Here at St. David’s, our property staff is working very hard to keep on top of all the mowing and weed-whacking as a result of all the rain, and even the few plants on my apartment balcony are growing “like weeds!”
A few weeks ago, I heard a heartwarming story from a member of St. David’s. It seems that she and her husband were out for a pizza dinner with their adult daughter, son-in-law, and two children. They were enjoying their time out when several families came over to the table to say hello as they were leaving, each adult couple with several children trailing along behind them. After the greetings had slowed, the grandmother said, “I don’t think I know those people, who are they?” Her daughter, the mother of the young children replied, “Oh, they go to St. David’s.”
I was so pleased to hear this because the answer wasn’t, “Oh, they go to the Family Service,” but a rather broader answer: “They go to St. David’s.” As the apostle Paul emphasized in the Letter to the Church at Rome, we have many members, and not all the members have the same function. I am so grateful that, as a large parish, St. David’s can offer options to parents of young children: attend the principal service at 9:15/10 a.m. or attend the Family Service. This enables parents to choose what they think best for their children, and I am grateful that we are large enough and have enough clergy to make this possible.
Most people have a favorite worship service. Some are committed eight o-clockers, or have particular affection for the 11:30 a.m. or 5 p.m. service; of course, many love the 9:15/10 a.m. Everyone loves the Old Church, but some people choose to worship there almost exclusively, while others love the spacious Chapel with the organ, choir, and the gathering of many fellow worshippers around them. However, Paul reminds us that we “are one body in Christ, we are members one of another.” We all “go to St. David’s.”
Summer is a wonderful time to try something new. I encourage you to attend another Sunday worship service, just to experience a different setting and “feel.” You may be totally committed to one particular hour, but it’s good to branch out once in a while and worship with your other brothers and sisters who go to St. David’s.
If you have not worshipped at the Family Service, you might want to try it. In the summer, we continue at 9:30 a.m. and finish at 10:15 a.m. with time to join the 10 a.m. service which has just begun. Or try the early morning at 8 a.m. with its old language, and the feel of the day just beginning. Perhaps the 5 p.m. after you return from a weekend away? Or if you are a Church worshipper, experience the 10 a.m. service with its magnificent music and summer choir. After worship, greet some old friends for a cup of coffee.
Paul reminds us, “For as in one body we have many members and not all the members have the same function.” Thanks be to God for the great blessings St. David’s has been given, to provide so many opportunities to nurture our faith, and to rejoice that we are indeed one body in Christ.
Faithfully,
Liz
The Rev. Elizabeth W. Colton
Associate Rector