From: Helen Thornton
Date: Sun, Jan 11, 2009
Subject: SEAS WSG Group Examination Results

Hello dear friends,

I hope you enjoyed beautiful Christmas, New Years and Epiphany celebrations with those you love! We had a grand time! 

Housekeeping

One small housekeeping request ... if for whatever reason, you prefer to not receive these emails, please feel free to let me know and I'll remove your name from the list.

Advent Group Examination

Apologies for not sending out a recap after our December meetings. I offer this summary of the conversations and conclusions as I believe they are and welcome any of you to add to or correct my comments. If you recall, Sr. Margaret called us to examine who we are and if the path we are taking is where we want to be given the outpouring expressed during the November WSG Day of Recollection and some feedback that Sr. Margaret received from several members.

First, I want to sincerely thank Sr. Margaret for being willing to challenge us - a wonderful example of courage and following God's lead. Advent was the perfect time since it's just the season the Church sets aside to do it individually and to be "born again" in and with Christ.

I believe that where we came out is an affirmation of what we have been doing with an increased sensitivity to the spirituality of the topics that we discuss and the services that we engage in. Here are the pearls that I believe we came away with:

·        We are happy with our mission but do plan to alter the last few words to be as we really act ... We trust that what we share is accepted as valid, we respect each other's privacy but are happy to share our learnings with whoever we think can benefit from them.

·        We like the variety of activities that we have and recognize that as a result, it will be unlikely that all of us will be at any given event. We love that the variety of activities engages different subsets of members which has enabled us to develop the deep ties we have with one another.

·        We are confident that the bonds we've forged have permeated the parish in the other ministries in which we are a part. We know that we can call on each other and we'll be there if we can be.

·        We also recognize that we truly don't judge anyone on her level of involvement. Email members are as much a part of the Group as those who are able to come to every meeting.

·        We like that we let Providence guide our calendar, respect that all of us are in different places in our spiritual journeys and appreciate that any topic that is currently on the schedule is there because a woman felt called to add it.

·        We like discussing issues raised in books, doing service for the parish and having and going to the retreats.

·        We would be thrilled if members felt inclined to investigate topics that they've been struggling with and developed a meeting from them. We certainly encourage them to take advantage of Sr. Margaret's (and Fr. Tom's or Deacon Paul's) guidance. It's a much less daunting task that way and we have found, to a woman, that the journey she takes as she develops the meeting is at least as rewarding as the meeting itself.

·        We miss Sr. Margaret's involvement and recognize how she brings out a part of our spirituality that we can't seem to get to on our own. We hope that her schedule will allow her to be more active as a presenter or a participant. 

As I said, please do feel free to comment at will. Hope to see you on Thursday!

 With much love and admiration for all you do to make this parish as wonderful as it is!

Helen