Letters from the Rector
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July 16, 2008: Farewell Mike Boone, Welcome Andrew Rowell!
July 16, 2008
Dear Parish Family,
As you know, our Director of Youth Ministries, Mike Boone, has completed a long and prayerful process of discernment for the ordained priesthood, and is preparing to begin seminary this fall at Duke Divinity School. St. Peter’s will greatly miss Mike’s daily presence; his quick wit and ready smile have brought much pleasure and laughter to us all. Mike has served faithfully as Youth Director while balancing a full-time course load at FSU, which is an accomplishment of note! He completed his degree last year. Mike has been a member and then the leader of the Sunday evening Bible study and fellowship, Real Life for high school students. Under his guidance, students have grown in their faith and had fun doing so, from Taproots to the Ichetucknee River, from conferences to skiing trips. Mike, with other youth ministers in the AANF, founded Dynamos, the Anglican youth renewal weekend. St. Peter’s will always appreciate what Mike put in place in our first years as a new church. We pray for his time at seminary, that it will be rich and full of growth and knowledge in the Lord.
Mike’s last Sunday at St. Peter’s will be August 10, 2008. We will say prayers for him at the morning services, and have a reception between the services so that you can each personally wish him well and thank him for his ministry to our young people. That evening, we will have a celebration for Mike at Taproots with our youth and their families. Please put this date on your calendar, and plan to be with us at these events!
A Youth Advisory Council has been in place for a number of months to study how St. Peter’s can make our ministry to youth even more effective. They have read books. talked to other churches, and brought in a nationally recognized consulting team to take a fresh approach to reaching and serving the youth of the new millennium. The processes they used and recommended have been useful to other areas of ministry as well; we are trying to always challenge ourselves to grow beyond, “That’s just how we’ve always done it.” The YAC is now busy pulling all that information together to use in laying building blocks for our future youth ministry program.
In the midst of this process of change, God placed before us an opportunity we had not anticipated. Andrew Rowell, our Duke fellow from the summer of 2006, expressed an interest in the Director of Youth Ministries position. We brought Andrew here for a week of thoughtful, prayerful conversation. I am happy to say that he will be joining the staff of St. Peter’s as of September 2, 2008!
Many of you remember Andrew as a bright and energetic young man. Before graduating with his Masters of Divinity from Duke Divinity School this spring, he had earned a BA from Duke and a JD from the University of Virginia. Andrew has just been ordained to the deaconate, and will be ordained to the priesthood in October.
This will be the first time we have had a priest in charge of youth ministry, which speaks volumes about the Vestry’s and the Finance Committee’s commitment to the youth of our parish. Andrew will, I think, bring a way of thought and perspective about serving youth that will spill over into the parish as a whole. His title will be Associate Rector for Youth and Families, reflecting the idea that in order to best serve youth, it is necessary to be involved with their families. Andrew will have the normal priestly responsibilities of preaching, teaching and presiding, but will have as his primary focus the youth of St. Peter’s.
You need to know that this is a HUGE STRETCH for our church. While we have a small amount of money in the budget to cover a part of his salary, that is all we have. So, as we enter the new budget year, we will need your help in raising our budget so that we can adequately support Andrew and the wonderful gifts he brings. We are prayerfully seeking with all our resources to take our youth program to the next level.
Please keep Mike Boone in your prayers, as well as Andrew Rowell, his transition to this place, and the Youth Advisory Council as we all build toward the future. Look for Andrew at the altar on his first Sunday, September 7, The Festival of St. Peter.
By God’s grace,
Eric D. Dudley
Rector
EDD:gtm
Other Letters from Fr. Eric Dudley, Rector
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May 1, 2008: Support Youth Ministry
Easter 2008: The Three Pilllars of St. Peter's
Why Do We Do the Things We Do During Holy Week?
Lent: Why Do We Do the Strange Things We Do?
December 25, 2007: Sharing the Faith