The Phillips’ family was in California the first week in August for “Grandma Camp,” our annual family reunion in Lake Tahoe. After even a short vacation, it takes me a week to readjust. Everyone is home now and things are returning to blessed normal.

Here at the parish the staff is gearing up for September. Jim Tracy is finishing up the game he and Greg Troxell have developed to help our parish visioning process. Jim is in the process of identifying 25-to 35 people willing to lead us in this effort. If you believe the Lord is calling you to help us discern our direction, email Jim, ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

Stacy Lynskey and Michele Patrick have almost completed the Family Ministry Renewal Project. This summer they pulled together a team to do a “top to bottom” review of how we do family ministry here. Their report is due in September. (If you have not yet responded to the Family liturgy survey, you can find it here.)

Stacy continues to work with the Pastoral Care Team and the Mission-Outreach Team. Last night she met with Team Leaders (for El Hogar, Bromiley, and Reach). They met to develop a plan to coordinate our three mission efforts. Dan Looper is the new Outreach Coordinator. We will formally commission him in September.

Greg Troxell has been hard at work redesigning our communication processes. He has worked with the communication team to develop a weekly newsletter, added new elements to the monthly newsletter, and reviewed and redesigned the parish website, adding enhanced features. We hope to have a new website launched by September that will help parishioners, newcomers and friends stay better informed.

I’m looking forward to the parish campout on August 25-27. Over thirty people have signed up to join us at Heritage Cove at Raystown Lake in PA. A lot of youth are going. We hope to have a few college kids join us as well. Andy Rush is planning to come up from VA Tech, and Dan Shaughnessy hopes to come up from JMU. Tracy Killmer is handling the registrations, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This will be the last event of the summer before school begins.

I’m really looking forward to the Fall: our visioning process, a new class on The Generations in September, the Season of Stewardship in October. As always the Lord promises blessing. I can’t wait to be a part of it.