From the Rector

Dear Friends,

This past year I have served a one-year unexpired term on the Diocesan Council, and I hope at the end of January to be elected to a full three-year term. Bishop Curry has graciously appointed me chair of the Outreach Department, and I have been learning a lot.

For one thing, the diocese's outreach is organized into both local ministry under the umbrella of Christian Social Ministries and international ministry under the aegis of Global Mission. Seeing how that division worked encouraged me to try the same organizational model in our parish. We have a very active and competent Christian Social Ministries Committee, but asking them to oversee also our international ministry is too much. I have been delighted this year that we have been able to begin a Global Mission Committee to coordinate and take ownership of our mission trips and other international involvements. Its vision is described elsewhere in this issue. A third area under the Diocesan Council's Department of Outreach is environmental stewardship, mirrored by our fine Environmental Stewardship Committee here at the Chapel of the Cross.

Another important effort I learned about has been the endorsement of the Episcopal Church of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. One of the most prominent of those goals concerns giving beyond our borders. On a national and diocesan level, our Church has committed 0.7% (seven tenths of one percent) of its budget to international ministry and has encouraged congregations to do the same. I am excited to say that, thanks to a vital and fruitful Annual Giving Campaign, our parish budget for 2006 includes $10,500 (0.7% of the budget) for assisting international ministry. I am confident that this commitment will help us not only to be of service to others in great need, but will also help us learn more from others who have so much to give us and help us "grow into the full stature of Christ."

The focus of the diocese's Annual Convention in late January is doing mission in a global society. Bishop Curry, in writing about it, has said, "This convention will seek to deepen our understanding of and commitment to being a mission community of disciples." I find it an occasion of grace that our parish and diocesan directions fit so well with each other.

For Christians to do effective ministry, however, which transforms both ourselves and society, we must be conscious of feeding our spiritual lives and nourishing our lives of prayer. Participating regularly in worship is a primary way of doing that, and I hope your goals for the new year include frequent attendance at church. I also want to recommend to you the Contemplative Prayer Groups being offered in Lent, also written about elsewhere in this issue. Do not be put off by the name. You do not have to be a semi-mystic to participate!! These are small groups, offered at many convenient times, designed to help us all grow in our understanding and practice of prayer. If we are to be effective followers and ministers of Christ, that is something we all need to take seriously.

- Stephen

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© 2006 The Chapel of the Cross