This Week from Mitch
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This Saturday Heathwood Hall will host the SC Cross Country Championships. Our kids and several others from our parish will compete. For our family, it is an exciting day. My parents will be in town and some close friends will be coming to cheer.
Before all of that, Denise and I have some work to do. Once upon a time, we volunteered to paint the starting line and starting boxes for a home cross country meet and the job has been ours ever since. Now I am not one to brag (yes I am) but I feel the need to say we paint the straightest, most uniform, starting line that the kids will see all season. When the kids start the race tomorrow it will look like they are racing on a college course, or at the least a course deserving of a state championship. It has become a point of pride that some may think silly, but we as a couple care about that line and put effort into it. The starting boxes will be exactly four feet wide, and exactly the same. What began as a "one-off" volunteering experience has morphed. With each race that we do, we try to make it better.
One of the things that makes St. Martin's healthy is the amount of people who give of themselves to try to make things better. From our worship team to our Kanuga planning committee, mission and outreach, and so many others – we each work in our area, trying to make improvements for everyone. This is a huge part of stewardship. Our Sharing Garden and the work of Tim Carrier is a great example of this. Each year something new is added and more food is given away. Your giving of time, finances, and effort helps our church to grow, and I pray that you all know how grateful I am.
It truly is remarkable! Our church has changed so much in the last seven and a half years. We've grown from two services to three. We've grown in average Sunday attendance, and we have grown in outreach. None of this growth has happened overnight, rather it has been a process that you have led, with something new being added each year, each new thing building on another. Thank you for your giving! Thank you for your willingness to build. Thank you for sharing the desire that our church be a reflection of the faith growing in each of us. Every ministry matters, thank you for your passion.
In Christ,
Mitch
