A Note from Your Senior Warden
Jean Burns
How busy the last weeks have been and how blessed we are that Mother Michelle very capably rose to the challenge, despite being a part time priest. A funeral, grave side services, a quick turnover on rectory renters, a backed up and blocked sewer, all of this and more required attention and, in some cases, prompted anxiety and stress. Regardless, all is well. I found our church insurance company adjuster extremely accommodating and rejoiced to learn that under our policy we are eligible for up to $2,500 toward our sewer excavation expenses, which left us with an outstanding balance of $162, surely a reason to rejoice.
How wonderful that we were able to find new residents for the rectory so quickly. Thanks to Joe, Mother Michelle, Abi, and Elizabeth Walker and Gloria Armstrong, the house was thoroughly cleaned for a quick turnover and in the process saved St. Paul’s a $350 professional cleaning fee. The entire faith family is grateful.
I continue to attend, via Zoom, the Diocesan Leadership meetings in order to stay current with both COVID policies and the activities, policies, programs, and issues of the Diocese of Northern Indiana and those of individual parishes. On June 7 I joined a Zoom meeting of Church Buildings for Collaborative Partnership, a groundbreaking partnership of our diocese with that of the Diocese of Indianapolis. In this introductory meeting we learned the value each of our churches brings to the community and the potential we have for making better use of our space. As the program continues, I anticipate learning more about how we, at St. Paul’s, can make additional use of a building that has so much potential and how it might become an even more effective asset to our community.
As we emerge from the accommodations we made during the COVID crisis, we have much to anticipate, among them our participation in the Sunflower Festival and the special events of our September 12 Celebration Sunday. Susie Richter, chair of the former, and I, of the latter, look forward to your sharing of suggestions, as well as your volunteering and participation. We are all eager to return to the best of the past and to incorporate the best of the changes of the past months. To succeed, we need you.
On Tuesday evening, June 22, the vestry and priest met with facilitator, Susan Czolgosz, to conduct a Mutual Ministry Review (MMR). Both vestry members and the priest, through carefully designed questions, were encouraged to assess the roles they play, their strengths and/or weaknesses, and the challenges ahead. Through her guidance we were able to have an open, honest discussion of our successes during the past year, ways in which we fell short, and our goals for the coming year and how they might be attained. I left the meeting filled with hope and optimism for our future, one that asks each of you to contribute your individual gifts. With God’s guidance, we can do this together.
This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker
Dear St. Paul's Family,
This week has been full of many wonderful activities related to parish ministry and I feel so blessed to be your priest amongst them all. From prayers and anointing, to calls and cards, to graveside committal services, to helping a volunteer scamper onto our roof to try to figure out why the ceiling is wet in the hallway by the sacristy, and to our first meal together as vestry before our Mutual Ministry Review on Tuesday - it has been a blessed week.
Please know that you each are in my regular prayers, as are fervent prayers that our ministry to share Jesus with the community of LaPorte will be blessed. Thank you for your love, support, prayers, and commitment to our precious faith community.
Have a blessed day.
Blessings,
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226 (c)