As we prepare to kick off another exciting year at St. Martin in the Fields Church, I want to call your attention to significant changes we have made to our annual Rally Day Kick-off for the upcoming year.
First there will be two different Rally Day Sundays: August 19th and 26th. The First Rally will be on August 19 following the 10:00 a.m. service and will be called Rally for Ministry. On this Sunday, members of our church will have the opportunity to sign up for various guilds, outreach, and other parish life activities. Coffee and light refreshments will be served during sign up in Gable Hall.

August 2007

Dear Friends

As we prepare to kick off another exciting year at St. Martin in the Fields Church, I want to call your attention to significant changes we have made to our annual Rally Day Kick-off for the upcoming year.

First there will be two different Rally Day Sundays: August 19th and 26th. The First Rally will be on August 19 following the 10:00 a.m. service and will be called Rally for Ministry. On this Sunday, members of our church will have the opportunity to sign up for various guilds, outreach, and other parish life activities. Coffee and light refreshments will be served during sign up in Gable Hall.

The following Sunday, on August 26, will be called Rally for Formation (Christian Education) and will give our parishioners a chance to register their families for all the different Sunday school classes that we offer for children, youth, and adults. Lunch will follow our Christian Formation registration in Gable Hall.

Also, if you are a newcomer to St. Martin in the Fields Church, I will be available in the parlor following the 10:00 a.m. service Sunday, August 19, to greet you personally, answer questions about our church and--more importantly--help you sign up for various parish activities.

Besides this exciting kick-off to our church year, please take note of our new Christian Formation Statement at the end of this article.

The staff of St. Martin’s takes seriously the call we have to ensure that every member of our parish has the opportunity to grow and mature in their life in Christ.

Our Christian Formation program is not just about the acquisition of knowledge but a call for all of our parishioners in the coming year to make their time at St. Martin’s a priority in their lives. Sunday morning worship, Christian Formation classes for you and your family, and opportunities for service to others form the heart of our life at St. Martin’s. And each one of us is a vital part of this church community.

One of my favorite theologians, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, captured the importance of time in the following way. He wrote, Time lost is time when we have not lived a full human life, time un-enriched by experience, creative endeavor, enjoyment, and suffering. I see our program in the coming year as an invitation to all of us to explore the richness and fullness of human life as part of this Christian community in a life that is shaped by worship, formation, and service to others.

Mark your calendar for August 19^th and 26^th and don’t miss the start of our upcoming program year. Time lost is never regained and time given to God is never wasted.

With every good blessing, I am

Yours in Christ,

Fr. John

 

St. Martin in the Fields Church
Christian Formation Vision Statement

Christian formation is a lifelong journey that challenges all of us to grow spiritually into full maturity as disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  Our program invites our children, our youth and adults to seek together God’s life giving truth through prayer, worship, and our rich offerings of Sunday and weekly classes.

Our vibrant Christian formation program seeks to nurture the intellectual, spiritual, and physical being of the whole person.  As a church staff, we seek to provide programming which brings together these aspects of our personhood into a harmonious whole.

Christian formation is not just about the acquisition of knowledge, but we are called to love God and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Together with weekly worship, our Christian Formation Program is one of the primary ways we grow into this call to love as Christ loved.

As clergy and lay leaders of St. Martin’s, we invite our members to make Sunday morning worship and formation a priority in their lives. We want all people to come and seek the waters of new life in our program of formation. Our church’s staff is committed to being your companion on your journey as you answer the baptismal call to deepen and share your relationship with God.