Dear saints,

If there is a word that I have heard repeated more than any other as I have chatted to people about their hopes for our block, it is 'community'. People love our church building. Our music is food for the soul and our core ministries speak to what it means to be the people of God in this place. Yet, for most, it seems, it is the people, the relationships, the community of All Saints' that lies at the heart of who we are as a church. 

That may seem to you to be a statement of the obvious. Yet, those of you who have spent time as part of other church communities will know, each church has its own charism. I remember chatting with a seasoned priest some years ago who described to me how each of the churches he had served around the country had a different center of gravity. There was the "religious products and services" church in New York that was heavily focused on excellence above all else. There was the church in Seattle where his relationship with the parish rose and fell on how vocal their advocacy work was. And there was his current church in Michigan, where if an initiative was to have any chance of succeeding, it had to originate with the people in the pews. 

Of course, each of these churches were multi-layered and nuanced in their own way, as indeed All Saints' is as a deeply rooted and complex community. Yet, much like people, it may well be true that churches have a core to their personality. I have long felt that All Saints' is a strikingly relational church for its size—a characteristic more common in smaller churches than ours. I am deeply grateful that it is. In a time when it seems that we can struggle to be in relationship with others, especially with people different to ourselves, that we are a community that builds relationships across a diverse range of people from all over the metro area is a tremendous gift to this city.

Perhaps you see our parish slightly differently. Or maybe even a lot differently. We would love to know how. Tell us who you think we are, and how you believe we are called to move into the future, by completing the survey below. We need to hear your voice.

Blessings to one and all this Holy Week.