Dear Sisters and Brothers at Christ Church,
I've been in rural Maryland all week at an Episcopal summer camp surrounded by cornfields and scrub forest. The Monocacy River, a lazy, brown stew, meanders around the camp. It's beautiful, and so different from what I'm accustomed to in California, especially the Biblical rainstorm that poured down on us last night.
As a trainer, they have me working from 8:30 AM to 9:00 PM every night. It's a lot of work, but it's really helpful to remember techniques that help churches function well. And it's interesting to hear the stories about life and the movement of the Spirit in other churches. My favorite part of these gatherings, though, is the sense I get of the wider Church. Participants have come here from eight dioceses and dozens of churches. They're all trying to figure out how to become more and more the communities God is calling them to be. This helps me to remember that we're not alone in the work we do at Christ Church.
I fly home late on Friday, just in time for my daughter Priscilla's big ballet show with Dance Arts Project. I'm in church with you all for Trinity Sunday, then I'm around for a couple of days before I head off to the twice-Covid-delayed McHale family reunion in Wisconsin. My schedule feels kind of bonkers these days, as so many of the things delayed by Covid land back on my schedule, but I'm plowing through.
I miss all of you good people! God bless you all.
Peace,
Stephen