Summer in Florida

“Summer time and the livin’ is easy . . .” Perhaps you may recall that song from the Gershwin musical Porgy and Bess. Summertime here at Christ Church is always quieter because our Canadian and Northern visitors return to their homes. Also many of our local families have cottages in the Southern mountains or take extended vacations. This summer I am taking a vacation from the Wednesday Rector’s Bible Study. That class will resume on September 7 and our Wednesday evening dinners are scheduled to return in October. While Children’s Sunday School is off for the summer, we will have Vacation Bible School from August 7-13. We also close the Church Office on Fridays after 2:00 pm.

In fact to maintain continuity, we actually keep pretty much to our normal schedule in summer with the exceptions noted above. The easy living of summer should not cause us to become slack in our devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you are home, remember all of the services continue at their regular times and that includes our weekday services. If you are traveling remember Sundays are still church days. Visit the Episcopal or another church where you are and find out how they do things. If you get an interesting or useful idea from them; contact our Evangelism Committee with the idea.

With summer’s slower pace it is also a good time to begin a daily bible study and prayer regimen. If you have a Book of Common Prayer, you can use the Daily Office Lectionary and Morning or Evening Prayer as a guide for reading and praying. If you need advice on how to proceed call me or the Center for Spiritual Development ladies and we will help you.

Finally, remember to thank God for the wonderful place we live, for our great parish family, for our beautiful parish home, for all the blessings of this life but especially for sending his son, Jesus Christ, so that all of us might be saved if we believe in him.