Pentecost is Sunday — plans have changed

Dear Friends,

This afternoon we made the unpleasant decision to cancel our 2026 Memorial Day Weekend outdoor service and picnic.

• We will revert to our normal service schedule: 8 am, 9 am and 11 am this Sunday, May 24.

• In between the services at 10:30 am, we will have a brief service to remember those who have given their lives for the sake of our country.

While it’s only Thursday, we do have to make this decision now so we can be ready for Sunday. The ground is already soaked, and with more rain in the forecast over the next several days, we can’t be confident that it will dry enough to run power cables, set up the audio system, or even plant a folding chair on the grass without sinking into the muck. It’s also supposed to be relatively cool – cool enough that a waterslide might lose some (or all) of its appeal.

If only we had a bigger sanctuary to fit everyone at 10 am, and a big Great Hall to which we could move the picnic... but we don’t. Yet.

Moreover, Sunday is Pentecost – one of the greatest and most important feasts of the Church. It’s not a day to roll the dice and end up with two and a half dozen brave, wet, and muddy parishioners, stomping through puddles in their rain galoshes as they make their way up to get a communion wafer made limp by the humidity. The Pentecost story, the story with the rush of the Holy Spirit and the preaching of the gospel heard by all sorts of people with all sorts of languages and all sorts of cultures – that story is worth hearing again, worth our songs of praise, worth celebrating together.

There’s no good way to “move” the picnic, so we’re just going to cancel it this year. The waterslide will show up as a surprise for the last day of VBS (get your kids registered if you haven’t already), and the food and supplies will be utilized by other events over the course of the summer.

I appreciate your understanding. Sunday will still be a great day, just different than we originally planned.

In Christ,
Fr. Andrew