June Parish Council – Focusing on Our Worship

At the June Parish Council meeting, members reflected on our worship experiences of the past year – including all aspects of décor, music and liturgy – and provided feedback and suggestions for the year ahead.

Highlights from the 2010-11 year for Parish Council members included:

• Blessing of backpacks, briefcases and blackberries at our September Welcome Back service
• The personal stories shared at All Saints
• The building of our yearnings through Advent, as we saw more and more light enter our space
• Marks of Mission “bookmarks” – a great “take away”
• Experiential opportunities like “Walking the Labyrinth” in Lent
• Special services like our Covenant service or the Easter Vigil
• The outstanding Easter music

We also acknowledged that what might be a highlight for one, might have been a `low light` for another. (For some, small group discussion in church is just too much like work!) In a community as diverse as ours, we certainly have a wide range of perspectives and preferences.

Looking ahead, Parish Council members expressed interest in:

• More information about the themes we are exploring and/or greater capacity to link the historical traditions and practices to our modern experience and expression 
• Continuing to find ways to bring personal stories into our worship
• Even more diversity of musical instruments, genres and styles
• Looking for opportunities (and talented souls!!) to incorporate more diversity of audio-visual elements into services

The spirited and spirit-filled discussion lay a great foundation for the Worship Group’s summer planning session for the upcoming 2011-12 year.