Dear Friends,

We had such a good Lent together, and I am thankful that some good residue from Lent has continued into the Easter season. The Saturday prayer vigils are continuing at least until the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in June. A few of our small groups are continuing in addition to our previously established groups returning to their normal studies. There is something new for the Easter season as well.

Beginning Sunday, May 14, Senior Warden Warren Musselman will be leading a four-part class entitled “What (on Earth) is Happening in the Anglican Communion?” The author of the course, Ms. Kathleen Fairman says the goal for the class is to “educate parishioners in advance of critical events anticipated in the Anglican Communion during 2005 through 2008.”

Ms. Fairman is an award-winning researcher and a lay member of Christ Church of the Ascension in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Her rector, the Rev. Kenneth J.G. Semon, (my first rector after seminary) says of the class, “The calm, non-threatening approach of ‘What on Earth’ has been enormously helpful to our preparation for General Convention 2006. People who had completely ‘turned off’ to church issues are coming to hear about them, some for the first time.”

According to the American Anglican Council, “A primary emphasis of the ‘What on Earth’ class is to provide facts, not a forum for discussion or debate; as the manual instructs, participants should be told at the outset that the goal is to give them ‘the tools that you need to form your own opinions.’”

I hope that many members of St. Andrew’s will attend Warren’s class, especially those who do not consider themselves well informed on the issues that will be front and center at General Convention in June. I plan to attend ‘What on Earth,’ and I hope that you will too.

Yours in our Risen and Reigning Lord,

The Rev. Tony Seel Rector