Dear People of St. Catherine’s,
It is SO GOOD to be back!!! My first Sunday could not have been more wonderful. Thank you to everyone who helped make that day special!! What a wonderful opening procession! Thank you to Tiffany Grant, acolyte master, for pulling out all the stops, as they say. We even had the Wardens processing with their Warden’s staffs! Flags, banner, full complement of acolytes – choir, lay assistants, altar guild, ushers, thank you all. Thank you to Bert and Jorge and Frank and everyone who helped with the delicious special breakfast! Thank you for the mimosas Thank you for the beautiful cake welcoming me back, and for the beautiful and colorful welcome sign made by the Sunday school children on the bulletin board.
Thank you to all who attended, and I particularly appreciate those who stepped outside their “comfort zone” and came to 10 a.m. instead of their “usual” 5:30 or 8 a.m. Thank you for all the hugs and well-wishes, and good-natured humor. Thank you to 3 year old Michael in the Nursery who asked me, “Are you the CHURCH GIRL?” to which I answered resoundingly, YES!!
The buildings and grounds folks have been really busy while I was gone. The parish hall newly painted blue, the beautiful brick curbing in the parking lot (I know this is old news to many of you), the newly cleaned floors in the Nave – everything looks beautiful and I know that it takes many hands to make it so. Special thank you to Rick and Pam Schultz for leading this group all year!!
Terry Bechtel, your Sr. Warden, deserves more thanks than I can express for taking on this role in what was a very difficult time of “wilderness unknowns and transition” for me and the parish. Thank you also to Carol Bechtel, for supporting Terry.
There are so many folks to thank that I hope to spend the next few months doing just that. Terry tells me that Rick Schultz and Ellen Buckley deserve special thanks for serving above and beyond the “call of duty”, Rick for buildings and grounds, and Ellen for altar guild and pastoral care. Thank you!
Thank you again, most of all, for your prayers for me and my family during this long time of treatment for breast cancer. I felt your prayers. St. Catherine’s is a place of deep prayer. Prayer is ongoing, but some of our extra prayer services were suspended for a while. We will resume our monthly sung contemplative evening prayer service on Thursday October 12th at 7 p.m. We will resume our daily Evening Prayer services in our chapel very soon. We will resume centering Prayer classes and a regular Centering prayer group soon.
Finally, I give thanks to God, for whose many blessings I am continually grateful.
In Christ,
Mother Susan+