These have been an exciting few months at St. Margaret's.  We are truly Bringing the Good News, and as a result we are seeing more people in worship more often.  Seeing that Williams Hall is full at the 10:30 service almost every Sunday, the vestry voted this week to add an additional worship to our Sunday schedule.

There are several factors that have led to this decision.  First, there are members of our community that have expressed a longing for a different style of worship. We heard this in the Vision Event in November 2013 and again in our recent discernment meetings.  People worship God in a variety of ways, and though we've done our best to accommodate differences in our current Sunday offerings, there are still some who love St. Margaret's and would like to experience something a bit different.  I see an additional worship service as a way to serve more people, and to serve them better.

While we've known about this desire for some time now, we also needed to wait until our community was large enough to sustain three beautiful and vital worship expressions each week.  Worship spaces that are less than 50% full can feel physically and spiritually empty.  These services do not last.  On the other hand, worship spaces that are regularly filled to 75-80% capacity can make people like the church does not have room for them.  This is where we are now.  Adding a worship service at this time will allow us to continue to welcome people into loving and into community for vibrant and meaningful worship.

Finally, St. Margaret's has also grown to have the level of leadership and participation necessary to support three Sunday services.  When the Reverend Ragan Sutterfield arrives in July, he will be an additional clergy person to help me preach, teach, and lead worship.  Also, our volunteer lay ministries continue to grow, and I believe we'll have enough of your energy and enthusiasm to offer warm hospitality and service at all three worship services.

So, I am excited that we have decided to take this next step.  Now I need your help in the form of feedback.  This first survey invites you to give input about when, what, and how we will design our new liturgy.  Please take this survey today!

This survey is only the first step in a process that will take several months.  We will report back to you with the results, and with further opportunities for your input.  Our current plan is that we will launch our new service in the fall of this year.

Thank you for helping us get to this place, and thank you for continuing with us in this journey!