I told someone again this week how thankful I am to be part of this church. I really love Sunday mornings and all the ways we can experience the Lord's presence. Here are three: there is scripture, there is the sacrament, and there is the Spirit.It's the three streams of our Anglican tradition.

Last week, standing in the rain, I watched a young man work mightily to instill the basic skills and commitments of world-class soccer players into the rain-soaked heads of eight small children. They were all much more excited about playing in the rain. Much more excited than the line of parents waiting for practice to come to its soggy end. Soccer practice is new to me. Watching practice is new to me. There is much to learn.

Waiting is always a challenge, sometimes more than others. This morning was one of those more than others times. I was in a surgical waiting room with the mother of a two month old watching the sunrise and the hands of the wall clock move ever so laboriously. We were making waiting type conversation. We had prayed and now we waited. Waited for the surgeon to walk through the doors with good news.

I believe this is a word for all would be followers of our Savior.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Had we read to verse forty-one last Sunday in Luke twelve - we might have faced an almost, maybe, unanswered question. Peter asked, "Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?" Some say Jesus didn't answer Peter's question while others believe Jesus did respond and it was a yes, it was to them, his followers and not to everyone else.

“What time should we be ready to go?” “The service starts at 5:30, so 5:00am should be fine.” The Cathedral of St Anthony of Padua in Dunkwa-on-Offin has been beginning each day with morning Eucharist for years. The service began as a way to serve the men and women of the parish who had to quickly be on their way to work. The combination of walking commuters and challenging roads led to the service beginning at this early hour.

Friday Epistle

June 28, 2013 Friday Epistle from Sara Buffington, Worship Leader - God is Looking for Worshipers. And this means you. When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, Moses and Aaron approached Pharaoh with a message. "This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me." (Ex 8:1) It was a message worth repeating--it is recorded six times between chapters 8 and 10. God was, and is, calling His people to worship. So what does it mean, exactly, to worship? Gerrit Gustafson, author of The Adventure of Worship, defines worship this way: Worship is the act and attitude of wholeheartedly giving yourself to God--spirit, soul, mind, and body.

Friday Epistle 7.12.13 Dear Member of New Covenant -- A Couple Questions. Peter picked Barbara and me up at the airport yesterday afternoon. This morning I returned the favor. On the way to MCO we listened to a sermon, an app on his phone. The speaker was responding to some golfing friends who had asked, or better put, challenged, “does one need to belong to a church to be a Christian?” Actually, his golfing friends weren’t looking for an answer or even an opinion -- emphatically and absolutely not was their stand. The speaker shared none-the-less, or all-the-more, that as he read his Bible all of the metaphors for being a Christian included others e.g. the body, a family, a building. In other words, he found no basis in the scriptures for an isolated Christian. Just as he began to share about the invisible church and the visible church -- Southwest Airlines was before us, so the sermon along with Peter and his phone exited.