St. Paul’s Parish Life Team provides opportunities for us to make connections with
Christ and each other through prayer, fellowship, food and work.
St. Paul’s has a rich history of hospitality in our community and so we are working
to continue that legacy with our offerings of breakfast following the 8 a.m.
Eucharist on Sundays, a luncheon following our midday Eucharist on Wednesdays,
as well as Sunday receptions. As the restrictions of COVID are loosening, we are
transitioning from offering individually, pre-packaged food items during our
Sunday receptions to fresh-made food items.
In January we offered a fun night of Beat the Winter Blues BINGO with ice-
breaking prizes and a hoagie dinner. We teamed up with the Gentlemen of Noble Poverty and the children involved in Christian Formation for the return of our
Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. We served up all the crepes, pancakes, sausages
and fruit you could eat before we began our Lenten fasting. The Parish Hall was
decked out in purple, green and gold; Mardi Gras beads, masks and feathers were
abundant as were attendees who were mesmerized by a performance of a local
magician.
We realized after our COVID comeback that we needed to freshen up some of
our Parish Life “staples.” Dark blue aprons donning the Episcopal shield were
purchased to replace the worn and faded aprons used for working and serving in
the kitchen and Parish Hall. We also purchased reusable vinyl tablecloths, which
made their debut at our Parish Picnic on May 22.
Even though the weather looked a little bleak at the start of the picnic, the
evening came to a glorious ending with a peaceful and beautiful service of
Compline, led by some of the youth of our parish. Around 100 people ate their fill
of hot dogs, hamburgers, sides and sweets; swapped plants from their homes
and gardens, played games and shared the love of Christ with their parish family.
And that, my friends, is what it’s all about. It’s about LOVE: love in working
together; love in eating together; love in playing together; love in praying
together; love of Christ and each other put into action.