How can the program life of the Chapel of the Cross help the people of our parish be more faithful and loving followers of Christ our Lord in the future? What should we be doing more of? Less of? How can our programs help us become the parish that God wants us to be?

Guided by these questions, the Program Sub-committee of the Long-Range Planning Committee (Laura Cole Alexander, Margaret Conrad, Dania Ermentrout, David Dodson, Neil Pedersen, Nancy Tunnesen, Judy Watkins) spent several meetings this spring examining the strengths and weaknesses of our current programming, the program implications of the changing demographics of Chapel Hill and southern Orange County, the changing expectations and needs of parishioners in an evolving society, and the dynamics of spiritual formation -- a heady mix of issues, indeed!

Our deliberations took us beyond the narrow question “what kind of programs should we have in the future?” to deeper, but related issues: how can we develop a deeper and more nourishing sense of Christian community at the parish? How can we do more to welcome the stranger into our midst and share the power of the Anglican tradition with neighbors? How can we do more to connect worship, education, outreach, and formation to help parishioners live deeper, more fully integrated lives as Christians? The result of these discussions has been a rich set of observations and recommendations:

* We are already a programmatically rich parish. Our size and the diversity of our offerings are both a blessing and a curse. We have marvelous opportunities for education, worship, and service. But as we have grown larger, opportunities to experience Christian community and to grow in fellowship have become strained. Looking forward with respect to programs, 'more' is not necessarily 'better.'

* As we focus on the ‘tangibles' of program, worship, and outreach, we need to give equal attention to the ‘intangibles' of community and fellowship, so that we become a place where no one is a stranger. In particular, we long for deeper relationships between clergy and parishioners and parishioners with one another.