Newsletter -- May 2010 “Go and make disciples”St. Peter’s is growing…again.For many years up through the start of the new millennium St. Peter’s grew steadily in membership and weekly attendance.More were coming to worship, sending their children to our Church School, singing in choirs and were otherwise involved in the ministries of the church.What that meant was more people were hearing the Good News of Jesus Christ which the church exists to preach.As the 2000’s began the growth started to recede and continued to recede for more than seven years into 2008 at which point the pendulum began to swing back the other way.There aren’t any singular reasons we can point to as cause for a decline in attendance and membership.There are lots of factors, many of which are beyond anyone’s control.Growth in Poolesville slowed at the same time, we didn’t have the space to hold everyone who wanted to be here, there were staff changes and an interim phase, and the population shifted as the influx of families with children saw their children graduating from high school and moving on.As we begin another growth phase, several of those issues aren’t relevant any more.Poolesville and the surrounding area is about to grow again, we have an expanded facility for programs, and we’re seeing a bump in the number of young families.So what barriers to growth still exist for us at St. Peter’s?Why should we be looking to grow at all?We look at growth, in part because it is one factor in measuring how well we fulfill the mission of the church.As Frank Wade, the retired rector of St. Alban’s, has said, “There is no biblical mandate for a small church”.Our very mission – the one Christ entrusted us - is to tell everyone we can of God’s love, helping people reconcile with a God they may feel separated from.When we serve the least of these, worship with our best offering, and share the blessings we have received from God, people get excited and want to join in – they want to be a part of God’s incredible works.Well, as I stated, St. Peter’s is growing.The number of persons in Church has gone up in the last couple of years.New faces come in a steady stream, and more people are choosing to be a part of St. Peter’s.We’re growing without even really trying!Yet, simply because people stumble in to our midst to find out what we’re up to does not let us off the hook for our own responsibility to grow the church.Jesus said, “Go and make disciples,” and that is what we should all try to do.Now I realize that Episcopalians, the ‘frozen chosen’ as we’ve been called, are not too keen on some of the classic forms of the big E (evangelism – a word we try not to say!).We prefer the words from Jesus that appear in our Easter lectionary, “they will know you are my disciples by your love for one another.”That mandate seems more proper and dignified, right?The goal is to find the happy medium that allows us to be true to our calling without being overzealous or sitting on the sidelines.And then there’s how we equip people for their faith journey once they’re here.The Vestry recently identified evangelism and growth as areas of great importance for this parish.In the coming months we will be addressing evangelism from the perspectives of what we can do together and also as individuals.If these topics intrigue or excite you, I hope you will share that with me.Some in the congregation have already come to me with ideas and suggestions for growth.But no matter what we decide to do about advertising, signs, newcomers ministry, nametags, special events or anything else, the largest source of growth we have is each of you and your ability to invite a friend or a neighbor into our common life.God has been good to us, and that’s something worth sharing.