An article from the Cathedral Times
by the Very Reverend Samuel G. Candler,
Dean of the Cathedral of St. Philip
This week, I wrote the following letter to all members of parish committees and representatives of the Cathedral. However, I want to repeat the same information to our entire parish. The Cathedral of St. Philip, like any parish, depends for its ministry on the gifted time and resources of all of us, ordained and lay alike. It will be wonderful to recognize and commission all our lay leaders on January 21. Of course, if you must be away on that day, you may still serve.
The Cathedral Chapter, the primary lay leadership of our parish, has been away this past weekend on retreat; what a splendid and engaging time we had! They, too, will be commissioned on January 21, 2007. Pray for the church, and join one of our ministries!
Dear Cathedral Servants:
I am writing this letter to all people who have served at the Cathedral of St. Philip in the past year, in all sorts of capacities. You are members and leaders of our guilds, you have read lessons at church, you have taught our children, you have ushered folks into our services, you have represented the Cathedral in our outreach efforts, you have sung and prayed and served here.
Thank you for that service. I hope you have represented the Cathedral of St. Philip with grace and glory! And I pray that God has honored your service by touching you with special graces as you have worked.It is my hope to enable and inspire your service each year by inviting you to renew your commitment to your ministry and identity in this place. Thus, the Cathedral will conduct a special installation service at the 8:45, 11:15, and 4:00 p.m. liturgies on January 21, 2007. My hope is that in January of each year, we will install that year's lay ministers and committed representatives of the Cathedral of St. Philip.
Not only will this installation service recognize your ministry, but the occasion will also provide you an opportunity to rotate off, or to rotate back onto, particular ministries. I know that we always need new and fresh faces among us, and we need returning faces among us, and some folks sometimes need to take a year off. The regular installation services will help us do all those things.
The Cathedral of St. Philip needs each and every one of you. When you commit to a particular ministry here, you are committing to the mission and ministry of the Cathedral; and I thank you for that commitment. The Cathedral does require a commitment from our representatives and leaders. We need your commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord, we need your commitment to pray daily for this place, and we need your commitment to be fully informed of your particular ministry's duties and obligations.
Furthermore, we need your annual financial commitment. Your annual financial pledge-of whatever amount is right for you-is a tangible sign of your commitment here. None of us can truly represent the Cathedral of St. Philip without that signed annual pledge of commitment.
Again, thank you so much for your service. I, and the canons of the Cathedral, will be contacting the chairs of all our various guilds and ministries, about the particulars of the installation services on January 21, 2007. Meanwhile, do continue to pray for this holy place and all our ministries here. God is doing tremendous things at the Cathedral of St. Philip; and I am thrilled you have been a part of them!
The Very Rev. Sam Candler