You are hereFellowship
Fellowship
One of the most striking aspects of St. Paul’s is its sense of close community. Many parishioners have close friends in the church (83%, according to the 2005 parish survey). Some of these friends arrived together at the church, but many friendships grew within St. Paul’s at church activities, as parishioners worked and worshiped side by side. People tend to say that St. Paul’s is a place where they have a sense of belonging and acceptance, a place where they can be who they really are and still be included.
Our parish enjoys its social occasions. Each year, we hold a picnic, typically at one of the parishioner’s homes. Brown bag suppers and discussions are held at the Parish Hall throughout the year and are typically well attended. Coffee hours, after the 10:30 am service, are often used to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays as well as to wish members farewell when they move away from the area. In 2002, we threw a large celebration for the 120th anniversary of the church. Many members were also involved in the blessing and civil marriage of two same-sex couples from our parish. Overall, the parish enjoys celebrating and socializing outside of the worship time.
When a parishioner is ill or troubled, the casserole brigade comes out in full force. Parishioners accompany one another to doctors' appointments, for hospital visits, in job hunting, for grocery and other shopping, for exercise, and sometimes even on vacations. Little of this is formally organized activity; rather, parishioners are naturally close to one another and arrange these relationships casually among themselves.
Our parish enjoys its social occasions. Each year, we hold a picnic, typically at one of the parishioner’s homes. Brown bag suppers and discussions are held at the Parish Hall throughout the year and are typically well attended. Coffee hours, after the 10:30 am service, are often used to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays as well as to wish members farewell when they move away from the area. In 2002, we threw a large celebration for the 120th anniversary of the church. Many members were also involved in the blessing and civil marriage of two same-sex couples from our parish. Overall, the parish enjoys celebrating and socializing outside of the worship time.
Parishioners have a long tradition of hosting parties in their own homes and at the church, including Epiphany(where the person who finds a trinket in his/her cake is crowned King or Queen of Weather), All Hallow's Eve with costumes, Christmas caroling, birthdays, and other occasions. The knitting ministry and other outreach activities provide more chances for friends to gather in the name of St. Paul's.
When a parishioner is ill or troubled, the casserole brigade comes out in full force. Parishioners accompany one another to doctors' appointments, for hospital visits, in job hunting, for grocery and other shopping, for exercise, and sometimes even on vacations. Little of this is formally organized activity; rather, parishioners are naturally close to one another and arrange these relationships casually among themselves.
