Letters from the Rector

Fr. Eric Dudley

Worship, Fellowship, Education, Service

August 29, 2010

Because we are in the process of designing and building a new church, my mind is constantly working in architectural images. As I reflect on the life of St. Peter’s, and the programs created for the fall, I think of us as the House of God, founded on the Rock of Christ, and supported (bound together) by four solid pillars: Worship, Fellowship, Education, Service.

In worship we encounter the Living God, and are fed on His Word proclaimed (through Scripture and preaching) and His Word made flesh (the body and blood of Christ). Worship is what gives our lives focus and purpose while binding us to God and to one another. It is through worship that we become the Body of Christ. As we sing our praises together, confess our sins, affirm our faith, and kneel side by side to receive the same body and blood of Jesus, we begin to be knitted together in one holy fellowship. This fellowship is more than friendship, it is that binding of soul to soul that makes us one in Christ. We experience this fellowship in small groups, on the church lawn, at Wednesday night dinners, and in the many ways we love and support one another as we grow together in the Lord.

This experience of encountering the Living God in worship and fellowship leads us to want to know more of this God as He reveals Himself in His Word. Christian education, whether in a Wednesday evening Bible Study, a Sunday School Class, or an Acts 2:42 group, is the way we seek to know this wonderful God more fully. We immerse ourselves in His Word, seeking to understand ourselves and our lives more deeply through the lens of Scripture. And, as we grow in our understanding of the grace and truth of God, we cannot help but want to serve Him; to reach out our hands in love to others that they too might know the joy and wonder of life in Christ. Worship, Fellowship, and Education, lead to Service; God forms us through worship, fellowship, and education, SO THAT we might be the Light of Christ in the world.

We believe that these four pillars represent the four simple steps, the on-going process of growing in Christ. We pray that every child, every teenager, every adult in this parish will allow these pillars to become such consistent supports in their lives, that everything they say and do might be defined and shaped by this life in Christ.

We hope with all our hearts that “St. Peter’s is a place where Christ is Changing Lives to Change the World” through Worship, Fellowship, Education, and Service.

God’s Blessings,
Eric D. Dudley+