From the Rector

Dear Friends,

Last year in the July issue of Cross Roads, we reported to you some preliminary areas of consideration by the Long-Range Planning Committee. Now that they have submitted their final report to the vestry, this issue outlines their recommendations and the vestry's discussion in response. Before you read these exciting articles, I have three reflections for you to keep in mind.

The first is that we initiated this process by asking the question, "What is God calling the Chapel of the Cross to be and to do?" As I wrote you last year, "The very asking of that question acknowledged not only that our parish's identity and mission stem from God, but that the context and circumstances of that divine calling continue to change. We are not the same parish in the same community in the same diocese as we were 160 years ago or 60 years ago or even six years ago. And we will certainly not be 16 years from now. While there remains and will continue a certain continuity, the Spirit, we trust, will continue to 'renew the face of the earth' (Psalm 104). We are to be alert and to respond to the work of the Spirit as it is manifested within and around us and to follow that divine guidance in the shape and particulars of our parish ministry."

The second reflection is that part of the change facing our community and our parish is continued growth. Two thousand people are forecast to move into Orange County alone each year for the next 30 years, in addition to those moving into Chatham County and Durham County, from which we also draw. Many of them are seeking or are open to participation in the Episcopal Church. One response to this growth has been to begin the Episcopal Church of the Advocate. I hope that its flourishing will encourage the starting of yet another Episcopal congregation in another ten years or so. But many of those coming in seek an established congregation or a larger one, one with the diversity of ministries offered at the Chapel of the Cross. Another important response, then, is to prepare our parish for moderate growth. By growing in hospitality, by providing more and better organized space, by maximizing the use of our beautiful worship spaces, by responding actively to the challenge of available parking, and by other steps, we will be offering more access to the ministries to which God calls us.

The final reflection is the caveat that this report is not a final plan. The Long Range-Planning Committee has thoughtfully and creatively identified opportunities for growth and change and outlined possible responses. More exploration is needed to determine the viability of and desirability of these options. More planning is needed by appointed committees to help shape an eventual master plan. More discussion is needed in the parish and on the vestry to decide the particulars of what God is calling the Chapel of the Cross to be and do.

We are well under way, however. I hope that reading these pages and engaging with the vision contained in them will encourage and inspire you as much as it does me and the members of the vestry and of the Long-Range Planning Committee. Thanks be to God "for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts" (Book of Common Prayer, p. 836)!

- Stephen