St. Dunstan's

Rector’s Annual Report

Posted on Thursday, January 26th, 2012 in Blog, Featured by The Rev. David Marshall

Beautiful Worship

This has been a year filled with signs of God’s love at St. Dunstan’s Church. We have started new ministries serving the hungry and the suffering as an expression of God’s love working through us. We have worked together to contribute to the beauty of our church buildings and grounds. And, of course,

Feeding Tent City 3

we have worshiped God with beautiful music, heartfelt prayer and all the love we share as the Father’s adopted daughters and Son’s through Christ.

I was particularly moved by our Stewardship Campaign this year in which we intentionally acknowledged and gave thanks for all the gifts and faith that each of you bring to our congregation. As I write this annual report our vestry is preparing a budget to present at the Annual Meeting. The majority of your pledges this year are increased over last year and that is another sign of the vitality that is present in our congregation.

We have also faced challenges this year. Some dearly beloved members died. Others have moved away or stopped attending.  The congregation is changing, and along with the excitement that creates, we

New Benches for Columbarium

can experience a sense of loss. Even as new faces appear in our pews, we are mourning those who are no longer worshiping with us. The Rev. Herbert O’Driscoll once preached, “In times of great change we can be mourners of the past or midwives of the future.” I think that really, we are always going to be a little of both.

Labyrinth and Prayer Bench

Our Vestry made a commitment to growth last February when they adopted as their goal for the year, “to grow our congregation by growing our membership, growing in our faith, and growing our presence in the community.” The long list of accomplishments and new ministries we have experienced this year speaks to our success as we work to realize this goal. We are certainly seeing a growth in faith and a growth in our presence in the community. The vestry will need all of our support in the next year to as we continue to work to grow our membership.

We have a lot to offer as a congregation. As we set out to invite friends and neighbors to come and see what God is doing in and through St. Dunstan’s Church, we can point to these many blessings:

• 

  Vacation Bible Camp

  This summer’s Vacation Bible Camp with 14 children and a visit from Spirit 105.3 radio

• Our Eucharistic Visitors who take communion to those who cannot be with us on Sunday morning
• Our ongoing work with the Greenwood Food Bank, both contributing food and volunteering to work in the distribution center
• Our team of volunteers that cooks a meal for the people of Tent City 3 every other Tuesday
• The beautiful Prayer Shawls ministry of prayer and caring that distributes shawls and lap blankets to people in need of comfort
• The enduring and impressive outreach ministries of our St. Agnes Guild
• Our program of Care Teams that allows us to care for one another with prayer, cards, and other signs of compassion and generosity
• And our youth programs that have raised money to end hunger, buy livestock, and support our congregation
• The new Coffee Hour being offered at the Chapel service
  

  We Build the Window

• Our Matthew House Toy drive at Christmas time
• Our annual Fall school supply drive
• New Adult Education offerings on Wednesday Evenings last Fall
• Developing our Mission Statement: We strive to become a welcoming environment where individuals come together to walk in Christ’s love and forgiveness through worship, prayer, and service to the community.
• The beauty of our music in worship
• A wonderful concert to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the Henry Chapel
• A deepening commitment and emphasis on a personal relationship with God through Christ
• The beautiful new stained glass window, funded entirely by memorial gifts and built with our own hands
• A hopeful number of visitors and guests, especially in the first half of the year
• Possibly the best turnout ever for the Shrove Tuesday dinner hosted by the St. Agnes Guild
• A beautiful new labyrinth and prayer bench built by Ben Schiffler for his Eagle Scout project.
  

  The Light of God

• Five beautiful new benches outside the columbarium and next to the Chief Gary carving built by Jonathan Pacher for his Eagle Scout project
• A beautiful new Baptismal Font in the Narthex, reminding us that we enter our life in Christ through baptism every time we enter the church
• A generous donation of garden improvements around the columbarium

This is an impressive list of ministries, gifts and blessings that you all contributed with your time, your talents, and your treasure. There are countless other ministries that are ongoing. There are all the people who make worship possible, from the Choir to the Altar Guild, to the Eucharistic Ministers and

Light from Window Falls on Font

Acolytes. There are the volunteers who teach in our Sunday School classes. There is indeed much to be grateful for at St. Dunstan’s Church.

The ministries, prayers, outreach and worship of St. Dunstan’s Church are our way of following Christ.

Lift Up Your Hearts

These are our practices and our discipline, and our expression of hope for the future. We believe in a world transformed by the love of God revealed in Christ. We look forward with hope knowing that God’s abundant love is given generously and freely. We look forward with hope knowing that God has blessed us and chosen us to take love into our lives and into the world.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. David