This Week from Mitch

Dear St. Martin's,

I have loved seeing all of the back-to-school pictures. The smiles radiate expectations and hope. At the same time, in reading the captions of so many of these pictures, both from families in our parish and beyond, there is palpable anxiety among parents and grandparents. Comments like "I'm praying for you," "Be safe," and "Hoping for a safe year" seem to be on every news feed. It's a lot. Please pray for our schools, teachers, students, and support staff.

As we watch the Delta variant numbers increase, we are going to move back to masking in church. We are also going to enforce distancing rules in the blue and green zones. This is for all of our safety. A year ago the church was shut down. To shut down again, at the beginning of the school year, would be hugely detrimental to our community. Please help us stay open by following the protocols.

Our church has done a lot. We're currently partnering with Episcopal Migration Ministries and Habitat for Humanity in a critical house rebuild. We've hired a full preschool staff who did their CPR training today. We've worked to re-open all of our worship opportunities and we have hired a youth minister slated to start in just a couple of weeks. The stage is set for an amazing year. In order to live into this year and all of the many opportunities that we have, I ask for your cooperation as we seek to be safe, loving our neighbors as ourselves.

In Christ,

Mitch+