Fall Opportunities

Dear friends in Christ,

It was good to be back with you all in Church last Sunday. Cindy and I experienced new and wonderful things while we were on vacation, but nothing is quite like worshipping in community with all of you. I would like to express my deep appreciation and gratitude to Jeanne and Rev. Mees for holding down the fort while I was gone, and for all the ways in which so many of you helped, supported and looked out for each other. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

And now I am back it is time to look forward at what new and wonderful things this fall will bring. September is the month when we celebrate our patron saint, Anna Alexander. On September 22nd we will be remembering and honoring her and her legacy in worship followed by a celebratory potluck. There will be sign-up sheets floating around at church on the next couple of Sundays. Please sign up to being something for the potluck and to help set up or clean up. As I have said before, it doesn’t just take a village, it takes a small city to make our church the best and most vibrant it can be.

Beginning in September we will also be offering more opportunities for fellowship and formation. One of these is something I like to call Sacrament of the Bean. Every third Thursday of the month I invite you to join me at a coffee shop for bible study. This will not be an intellectual parsing of our sacred texts but an opportunity to reflect on and explore how randomly selected texts speak to our lives and experience. We will rotate round coffee shops in Antioch, Brentwood, and Pittsburgh, supporting small locally owned establishments wherever possible. For our first gathering on September 19th, we will meet at Chrome Coffee in downtown Antioch, 625 W 4th Street Unit 118.

In September we will also be debuting an intergenerational worship service, which will occur on the third Sunday of every month. Instead of taking our young people out of worship to learn about their faith, we will be worshipping together in creative and accessible ways that anyone of any age can understand and participate in.

In October we will resume our potlucks on the third Sunday of the month. There will also be another opportunity to learn more about our church and our faith tradition when we hold our third Episcomentals class on the first Sunday of October.

In November Saint Anna’s will be hosting the Winter Nights family shelter for a week. Winter Nights provides shelter, support, and resources to families experiencing homelessness to help them break the cycle that has left them unhoused. You can learn more here. There will be many opportunities to volunteer your time and talent to help make these families feel welcome and loved. If you would like to help or want to know more, please speak to Rev. Jane, Rev. Mees, or Jeanne.

And finally, we are considering offering an opportunity for members of Saint Anna’s to gather for a meal and invite members of the community to join us. This would either be breakfast on a Saturday once a month, or dinner on a Thursday once a month, but we would like to know if there is interest in something like this before we proceed. Please talk to me and let me know your thoughts and ideas about either dinner or breakfast.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Jane