Parish Meeting 2012 - Senior Warden - Linda Beck

Senior Warden Annual Report, 2011
Linda Beck

The Lord’s spirit was present in all of the challenges and blessings experienced by St. Peter’s this year.  We give thanks to the Lord for answering prayers and for providing guidance to our Christian community as we focused on doing his work. 

We have been blessed with Catherine’s beautiful spiritual guidance and Christian leadership.  Her relentless energy, creative ideas, and gift for giving have provided the parish with new ways of reaching out to the community.   This year the men in the parish established an Episcopal Church Men’s group (ECM)  that provides various community services such as transportation  for those in need and  helping with community dinners.  The Episcopal Church Women’s group (ECW) expanded their membership by hosting an evening meeting in addition to their day time meeting.  The Evening ECW has offered other avenues of providing community service and started the quarterly community dinners as well as other outreach efforts.  The parish recently established a prison ministry which will begin its program next month.  Our parish youth were also involved in various projects to reach out to others and share their faith.  

The adult and youth Christian education programs flourished this year under the guidance of Ben, Catherine, and many others who volunteered their time and efforts.    Our spiritual growth was also enhanced by the opportunity to join a Christian book group which met regularly throughout the year.  Also, the weekly Bible Study group continued their fellowship on Wednesday mornings to share and study the scripture.

This year will be remembered for the damaging storms that prevailed in the fall.  Elizabeth Heimbach, our Junior Warden, did an outstanding job of working through all of the trials and tribulations.  The vestry met many extra nights to discuss the issues and make tough decisions to best serve the church and keep our Lord’s house in good repair.  Elizabeth’s report will provide the details of all of the repairs and improvements to our church and grounds.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention all of the delightful ways our parish shared in music and meals during the year.  The list is long and the times together were spiritually uplifting and provided fellowship that is so important for the life of the parish.  Thank you to the many who made the fellowship times so special.

Throughout the year, our congregation gave in many caring and loving ways that cannot be adequately captured or expressed in a yearly report. Volunteers cared for the altar, provided flowers, organized coffee hours, served as acolytes, LEMS, sang in the choir, worked in the yard, and the list continues. We are blessed to have such a giving God loving parish that seeks to do the Lord’s work.  Thank you to everyone for working together in the Spirit of the Lord.

Thank for the opportunity to serve you as the Senior Warden this year.

In Christ’s love,

Linda C. Beck