Dear First Pres,

     First, this Sunday during the education hour I'm starting a new thing called Leadership Matters.  Leadership Matters will be an intermittent class during the education hour that focuses on various aspects of one of my favorite topics: Christian leadership.  Remember, leadership is something that we all do together; it happens in our church, in your homes, and in your workplaces.  Thus, I believe it is a relevant topic for everyone.

     Second, I'm very excited about the Community Building Initiative that a group of Session, staff, and lay leaders are developing.  Here's a reminder of what we've told you so far: we're going to a one service schedule this summer (starts June 15, worship at 9:30), and there is an all church event on the evening of June 15 called Pie in the Park (at Woodward Park). The next bit of information is that we want you to plan on sticking around after worship during the summer for some very important (and fun) community building gatherings. We'll be talking more specifically about these gatherings in the weeks to come.

     Third, I'll be spending some more time talking about our summer plans on June 1 and 8 during the education hour.  On those Sundays I'll be facilitating another new intermittent experience called First Pres Forum.  The Forum will be an opportunity for church leaders to connect with the congregation about the life of the church.  This first iteration (on June 1 & 8) will be a chance for the congregation to hear and interact with the work Session has done on our Core Values and the Community Building Initiative.

     Church, I'm encouraged by all that Christ is doing in our midst.  Engaging together in His work is the most important thing we can do.  Each of these 'important things' I've mentioned is designed to help us do that work in one accord.  May it be so among us.