A congregation of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota led by the Rt. Rev. Craig W. Loya Four months is barely enough time to reflect on a full year of ministry at St. Edward’s. But I will say, the future is bright, and we have a lot of opportunities to recapture and exceed what many of you remember as your former glory.
In the past four months I have seen so much energy and enthusiasm. There is a sense of reclaiming the ministry that COVID took from you all. Rekindling the community that COVID took from you all. I have heard some of you say that my work has helped with this, but really, I have just cleared some roadblocks primarily in how we communicate. This work has indeed revealed places we need to improve, and this vestry will do a good job improving how we communicate and how we delegate the work among our congregation. But the changes have been the result you and your passion for being a Child of God.
In the final months with you as Interim, I want to focus on getting appropriate policies and procedures in place to help with the transition into the new future you all are dreaming about. This includes working closely with the Altar Guild to be sure our worship experience continues to be Spirit led. It also will include working with the formation committee to create meaningful and compelling experiences for you all to participate. Administratively to be sure all the paperwork and contracts we have are honored and we are being taken care of by the companies that we have asked to maintain our space.
Finally, I hope to meet with you all and speak about what your passions are and how you could see your talents engaged within the community. We have many people hovering on the edges, and though that can be a comfortable place, the Spirit I believe, is calling us all to full participation in the community of faith we are a part of. It is an exciting time, and I hope we can truly develop a space where all people’s gifts and talents are welcome and encouraged.
Let’s keep this energy going, let’s keep this vision of the future at the front of our minds. Let us continue to pray for this community and be open to experiencing God’s movement among us. God is here, and we have everything we need to succeed!