Dear Friends in Christ,
Last year, as we returned to indoor, in-person worship from COVID, we developed a new
Sunday morning schedule. We decided to test drive it for a year to see how it worked.
Over the last couple of months, Stephane Reed and Kemp Williams (as your vestry and parish
leads for worship) have carefully talked with those of you who lead ministries or do other key
work on Sunday mornings. Just as our life together is intertwined, our schedule is intertwined.
Balancing our diverse needs is as tricky as it is important.
Here’s what we found:
- Right now, we are the right size to have one choral eucharist on Sundays. Our
attendance (generally around 120) makes the nave feel full but not crowded. - It makes everyone happy that we all can worship in the nave. La Gracia parishioners
appreciate the beauty of the space, and the equity of the worship experience is
important to our whole community. - There’s one group that’s not 100% happy in the nave, however, which is parents of very
small children. Between their children’s activity levels and continuing COVID concerns,
these families have appreciated worship in the amphitheater during Christmas, Easter,
and the summer. - Having Adult Forum and Sunday School at 9:30 creates some challenges. La Gracia
children currently do not get out of the 8:45 service early enough to arrive on time for
Sunday School. Choir members also miss the chance to attend adult forum. - Having coffee hour after the 10:30 service does create an opening for short meetings or
other special gatherings.
So what are we doing going forward? By and large, what we have is what we need. Because of
this, we are keeping the schedule we have . . . mostly. We will still have services at 7:30, 8:45,
10:30, and 5:00. However, we are making two significant changes in the fall:
- Sunday School will take place from 9:40-10:20, allowing all children to arrive on time.
Adult forum will take place from 9:40-10:15, and it will have a hospitality time for
participants to gather beginning at 9:30. - We will continue the 9:00 service in the amphitheater through the fall, with the intent of
serving our preschoolers and their families. (Children’s Chapel will take place during the
10:30 service as usual.)
If you are curious about these decisions, please reach out, so we can talk. Like many things in
life, this schedule is not set in stone; we will continue to adapt as we need to.
Yours in Christ,
Anne+