Community Building & Hospitality
Many St. Mary's members participate in committees and subcommittees to plan and prepare events for the whole parish. These groups make fun events come to life, turning many into St. Mary's traditions. They provide a welcoming atmosphere for guests, provide forums for us all to get to know each other better and collaborate with the Worship Committee and Stewardship Committee on some of their activities. Many of these activities are organized and carried out by the committees; other activities are more ad hoc, but contribute to the sharing of hospitality and building of our St. Mary's community.
Highlights of recent activities include:
- Coffee hour on Sundays,
- Birthday Sundays each month (led by Marcia Nattress)
- Assistance with the annual summer picnic, making it a St. Mary the Virgin observation as well this year
- Food service at the Annual Meeting
- Cookies for various programs managed by the Worship Committee, including the Blue Christmas and Martin Luther King day
- Meals for the "Trekking to Jerusalem" retreat on Palm Sunday weekend (led by Alice Smith)
- Maundy Thursday celebration
- An Easter Vigil Champagne Reception, a post-Easter Vigil dessert reception to mark the official end of the Lenten Fast. New this year! (led by Sarah Stanley)
- An Earth Day celebration with dinner and the movie, "An Inconvenient Truth." New this year! (led by Teddy Arnold)
- Thanksgiving pancake breakfast (led by Patric D'Eimon)
- Visit of St. Nicolas on St. Nicholas Sunday, including his brand new suit (suit made by Nancy Talbott)
- Ministry Fair, an opportunity to show off all the good things done by St. Mary's groups
- In-home family dinners (led by Mary Ellen Harris)
- Designing a new bulletin board for the Narthex - Watch for it to be installed in 2008 (led by Jai Reeves)
- Cleaning up and painting of the Narthex (led by Mary Ellen Harris)
- Redesign of the St. Mary's website - Watch for a launch in 2008! (led by Greg Wilkinson)
People are always welcome to join in with this lively group to help plan and carry out the important hospitality and community building activities. Bring your ideas, energy, and questions to the next committee meeting, which is held on the third Thursday of each month, at 6 p.m. in Cay's Room. Please contact Jane Thomas is you're interested in attending, just in case we happen to be meeting elsewhere that month (like at a restaurant or somewhere fun).