We had a very busy weekend, in case you weren’t able to participate. We celebrated our graduates, had a moving renewal ceremony in the courtyard to release negative things we were holding onto from the last 2+ years of the pandemic and identify the positives we want to hold onto. A special, and beautiful, prayer was written for the occasion by Louise Chambers and Carol Hylton:
Great Source of light and life,
We come to you.
Great Giver of health and sustenance,
We thank you for all the blessings in our lives.
Great Giver of Jesus who shows us your face,
We thank you.
Please take our fears and weakness that we may accept your Holy Spirit in our lives.
[Burn papers here]
Good Shepherd, we give thanks for your presence during this pandemic.
We acknowledge what we have learned and what we value in our community together.
[Place positive papers of life awareness in box]
Help us walk in love as Christ loves us. Amen.
In addition, we completed the second of two Town Hall discussions related to our search for a new rector. Thank you to everyone who participated. Our discernment process—making a decision about the life of St. Patrick’s with God’s help—is fully underway. Our next steps include identifying the themes that surfaced in the survey and discussions, creating a report on the 7 Vital Signs of Parish Health for the diocese, and beginning the work of developing our parish profile.
Once this is complete, the Vestry will create our Parish profile, undergo a website review with the diocese to ensure that who we say we are in our Parish profile aligns with the content in our website, and a Next Steps meeting with members of the diocesan Office of Transition Ministry and our Regional Dean. We will provide you feedback and guidance as we go.
This Sunday, June 12, our Jubilate Deo choir will present the sermon in song. If you have yet to witness this in person, it is a joyful service. Don’t miss it!
This Saturday, June 11, is our monthly Service Saturday and we will be providing 200 bag lunches to the Salvation Army’s Grate Patrol for distribution to the homeless around DC. Thank you to all those who have agreed to make and provide the 200 sandwiches! We are still in need of water, granola bars and fruit cups if you would like to participate, please visit the signup link, or reach out to the parish office. We will continue Service Saturdays through the summer so please be sure to participate.
I am so grateful for this community, and am excited to see where this journey will take us.
All the best,
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