This past Sunday, August 6, 2023, was indeed one to remember for me. I was blissfully exhausted from all the hospitable happenings at Saint Paul’s. I am deeply grateful to each member for extending such a warm and authentic welcome on my first Sunday. It was a joy to experience the smiling faces, firm handshakes, meaningful hugs, and kind words that filled my heart with thanksgiving. I know this is where God has called me to serve, to love, to be loved, and grow. 

Our programing has been set and is ready to be shared and experienced. Please look to sign up for the Barbara Brown Taylor book study, Speaking of Sin: The Lost Language of Salvation. This one-hour study will be on Tuesday evenings at 7:30pm on Zoom. I will be facilitating our discussion. Please purchase and pick up your book from the Narthex or Parish office. More information is available below. 

I would be amiss to fail to recognize my first Sunday at Saint Paul’s was also the Feast of the Transfiguration in which we celebrate and remember the glorious revelation of God in Jesus Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit. I take this timing as a message to both Saint Paul’s and myself to mean the glory of God is vibrantly present and always ready to be experienced in ways to vitalize and promote transformation and evolution in the name of Love. I am all in to welcome this experience with Saint Paul’s. Together we will be present to multiple opportunities to extend our reach locally and beyond across cultures, ethnicities, and socio-economic spaces to our neighbors in need as well as those who may desire to come alongside us to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

The time is now. The time is very present. The time is full of opportunity. The time is full of possibility. Let’s grow and go together! Amen. 

Reverend Deacon Kimberly E. Dunn 

After the sleepy days of summer break, this Sunday—even more than last Sunday—is going to be a welcome shock. After the choir's triumphant return last Sunday, most of the rest of our regular ministries and programs come roaring back in the next week. On Sunday, we'll have church at 8:00, biscuits in Tyler Hall at 9:00, children's choirs rehearsals at 9:25 followed by children's formation at 10:00, the beginning of our adult series on the Epistle to the Romans at 9:30, church at 11:00, Second Sundays with Creation Care at 4:30, and then church again at 5:30. On Tuesday night, our zoom book studies resume with the first session on Barbara Brown Taylor's Speaking of Sin. Other regular ministries are continuing or resuming and even more new ministries are brewing.

The church calendar is stacked, and I think that warrants some comment. Because some of our familiar temptations are to choose busy-ness over meaning, to treat rest like a vice, to shun quiet as a danger. Our demanding calendar is not, I trust, a caving to these temptations. It is instead a reflection of our gratitude, our excitement, and our love for God's people and world. 

We serve God and our neighbors together out of a deep well of gratitude for what God has already done and is still doing for us—not to earn our salvation, but in joyful response to our salvation. We have for some time been saying to each other, "bring your gifts, your talents, your passion forward." And we've heard each other and responded. As each of us brings, in excitement, our gifts forward for the service of God, the church calendar will keep filling up. Part of the reason that we are busy is that we have taken stewardship seriously—and many of us are eager to give time and talent.

And also, yes, the needs of the world are vast. Here in downtown Augusta, we are through word and action proclaiming the hope of God's good news to a world enticed by despair and cynicism, weighed down by poverty, distracted by expensive ephemera. We respond to these needs because we love.

It's a busy week leaning into a busy year. You shouldn't do everything we offer this year. But those things you can do from gratitude, with excitement, and because of your love for God's people and world, do! Thanks be to God.

Eric+

Foyer Dinner Groups (from the French word "foier" meaning "hearth" or "home") are a way to foster connection among parishioners in a smaller setting outside of our larger, parish-wide events. Foyer Groups provide time to be with one another so that friendship may grow. They are not a study or prayer group; they have no agenda other than spending time with one another.

Each group of 8-10 people meets once a month for a simple meal and relaxed conversation in the homes of members. The gatherings last approximately 2 hours. Generally, the host provides the main dish and others bring the rest of the meal (appetizer, salad, side, or dessert), but groups can be organized in many other ways. If you're concerned about accommodating a group in your own home, please sign up and share hosting with another, or consider hosting a casual backyard evening.

We will schedule groups for fall and new groups for spring. Each group will meet 3 times.

Use the link below to add your contact information and complete a very quick 3 question form. The Hospitality Group will organize the groups and send information by September first to get you started.

Please contact the Parish Office to update our files.