Please Attend Our Visioning Retreat

Friday & Saturday, July 14-15!

Dear Fellow Members of Messiah Church

I’m excited that our Visioning Retreat with Ann Fleming is in just one day. Look how fast we’ve come together, in just four weeks, to make this happen!

On Wednesday, Fr. George and I (photo) spent some time preparing the meeting space for our retreat on Friday and Saturday in the Upper Room! We're ready for you!

My hope is that this will be a time for us to grow as a congregation in our care for one another and our community. This is an opportunity for us to better know and develop trust in the resources available to us through the Episcopal Church Building Fund (https://ecbf.org) and our local Diocese. 

Please remember that all are welcome, even if you can come for one session and one meal. Click here for the full schedule for Friday and Saturday. Here are some particulars on food, schedule and what you can bring.

Meals: We are providing breakfast and lunch on Friday and Saturday.

Breakfast: At 9:30 on Friday and Saturday, we’ll have coffee and breakfast goodies: Krispy Kream on Friday and Chick-fil-A Chick-n-Minis™ Tray on Saturday. If you’d like more, or something else, bring it with you!

Lunch: Lunch is at 12:15 Noon. We plan to have sandwiches from Dagwoods on Friday and Dickey’s BBQ on Saturday.

Head Count: I’d like to get an informal head count for lunch on Friday and Saturday, so if you think you might be with us for lunch, email me at k3burch@gmail.com . We’ll make sure we have enough, so if you decide to attend on short notice, just come!

Saturday Reception: The retreat will conclude with a light food reception at 5pm on Saturday for those who can stay.

You might want to bring:

·      Your own pen

·      Your own drink 

·      The Keurig will be on so if you love your own coffee or tea, bring your favorite K-cups.

For you, we will have the following:

·      A retreat 30-page workbook (download PDF here)

·      Water, lemonade, tea, coffee

·      Munchie snacks and chocolates

·      Air Conditioning 🙂

Schedule: The Retreat will be in session from 10-4 Friday, July 14 and 10-5 on Saturday July 15. You can find a more detailed schedule here.

Looking Ahead. This is the first of two visits Ann Fleming will make to our Parish. So this is the first step. What a privilege it will be to whiteness the Holy Spirit at work these next few days. I was baptized at St. Stephen’s in NMB when it was a Mission in the mid-70s. I pray that in 40 years, Messiah will be thriving through the faith, hope, and love we give her this week. Please, be part of planning our future!

Kristi Burch

k3burch@gmail.com

Introducing Our Retreat Leader



Ann Fleming, M.Ed

Vice President for Development & Operations, The Episcopal Church Building Fund

Ann was delighted to begin working for the Episcopal Church Building Fund in the fall of 2020. As Vice President for Development & Operations, she works across programs and projects to help facilitate creative and grounded ways for parishes, dioceses, and institutions to think about how they use their buildings and properties in new and mission-aligned ways.

Prior to her work with ECBF, Ann served as a trainer and coordinator with the Diocesan Church Development Institute from 2008-2019. She obtained her Master’s degree in Organizational Performance and Change in 2012, and investigated the impact of organizational culture on the ability of a parish to recover after conflict-related split. She was appointed as the first lay Regional Missioner for the Sangre de Cristo Region of the Episcopal Church in Colorado where she undertook the work of healing and reconciliation for an area that had been deeply damaged from clergy misconduct and abuse. In 2015, she worked as the Capital Campaign Coordinator to raise money for the diocesan camp and conference center. In 2016 she was appointed to the senior staff position of Missioner for Transition and Congregational Development, where she oversaw clergy deployment, congregational development, and a number of affinity groups. Ann has had the joy of working closely with Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, both in the Episcopal Church in Colorado, and with ECBF.

Ann’s approach is to start with questions, not answers. She believes in the power of the Holy Spirit to inspire and animate the imagination and curiosity of groups gathered to prayerfully discern where God is already at work, and how they can enter in. While she has had her share of grief and loss, she understands that the only way to transform difficulty into opportunity is to go down and through. And that when we surrender our will to God’s will, we can “Let Love Do Its Work.”

From Vicar John: The engagement of Ann Fleming as Messiah’s visioning consultant and retreat leader is funded by Bishop Ruth and the Diocese of South Carolina. Retreat expenses are funded by the Messiah Vestry. A wonderful future is ahead of us. Please join us in discerning and planning the future of Messiah Church in Myrtle Beach!