Senior Warden Notes
Ray Warren
Last week I called out (in a good way) the behind the scenes work of our hard working altar guild. This week I want to shine the light on some other quiet heroes at St. Paul’s.
Most of us know that in “normal times” the church is open all day. Indeed, being open for prayer and reflection in the often chaotic world of Key West is one of our gifts to the community. But did you know that it is volunteers who open and close each day?
Each week, Bruce Hagemann, Jeff Minalga, Dave Eyer, Tim Peterson and Tom and Clare Keller open and close the church. In normal times this is no small task, involving multiple gates, doors, multiple lighting switches and an alarm system. (At the current time this involves opening and closing mostly gates, as well as gathering the mail and feeding our resident mouser “Clover”. But still it is a tremendous "day in and day out" commitment, for which we should all be very grateful.)
When we’re not separated by an emergency, we also benefit from the incredible selfless service of those who provide us with coffee hour food and drink. It is truly a labor of love and sacrifice. Kudos to John and Carolyn Sangston, Irene and Dave Eyer and Ellen Cantrell (who has also single handedly handled the coffee hour in the summer months.) Once a month, the vestry also fills that role, and I would be remiss without especially mentioning Samantha Hall for taking the lead on many Sundays.
When we return to “normal” there will be many opportunities to be a volunteer hero. We are working on creating a portal to facilitate needs and volunteers. Hopefully the ranks of behind the scenes heroes will soon be greatly enlarged.
Quiet work. Not flashy. But very important.
