Goodbye Paul, Hello us!

First an apology to those of you who follow this blog and are concerned that there have been no postings since Father Paul left. Well, the 20s/30s group is under new management. Who, pray tell, could fill such big shoes? Well, I honestly couldn't tell you. There are a few of us who gather for brunch the first Sunday of every month to make sure that there are events happening (always open invitation), but I think we'd be hard-pressed to point to one person as the “leader” (although I vote for Jason!).

Now, you may be thinking that such a communal method is ludicrous for a group that has enough trouble getting organized for even one event a month, but I would beg to differ. First, a more fluid approach allows more people to be involved in the decision-making process, which hopefully means that more people will make it out to events without as much poking and prodding. Second, more people involved in management means distribution of labor, which plays out to more events and a broader reach (Yes, this blog is one example of how that has not been as successful as of yet, but this entry is the beginning of something beautiful, I promise.). Third, an open system makes people more likely to take it upon themselves to plan events and contribute to preparation, instead of letting Father Paul deal with everything. That being said, if anyone thinks that this is a diatribe on how much better the new school is than Father Paul, you are sorely mistaken. I raise my glass to him and all the hard work he did to plan events and get people to come out. Keep it old school islander! And by old school I mean high church.

I have to apologize, but I'm in law school right now so this is going to look like a legal argument. Introduction, Argument, Examples, Conclusion. So I think we're up to Examples. We started with a January 16^th Potluck at Mother Liza and Luanne's house. We had a good turnout, with a great variety of foods (salad, lasagna, sushi, brownies, and others), icebreakers (what condiment would YOU like to be able to dispense through your navel?), and some discussion of the direction for the 20s/30s group and various plans in the works. We posted a survey on surveymonkey.com and got some really good and helpful responses. On February 18^th we did a 7:30pm Scottish Eucharist, which was a lot of fun for everyone, especially wondering if Mother Liza was going to make it through all the reading she had to do, without even a glass of water! Afterwards we went to Century Grill (Ali's favorite!) and had some great food and a couple beers. Then, two days later Jason Elliott and James Rayburg hosted a Robert Burns dinner at their new home, including kilts, Scottish beer and more alcohol than is safe to serve to Episcopalians, haggis with a Burns blessing, and many other great foods and company, including two handsome dogs. Most recently the 20s/30s “hosted” 7am oatmeal breakfast on Ash Wednesday with a 12-hour fast, and a vegetarian simple soup supper afterwards. Thank you for all who either prepared soup, helped in the kitchen, or did dishes. Gold star to Kate Little for doing all three (you should have seen her man-handling that huge dishwashing contraption!).

Hopefully by now you understand that we've been keeping ourselves busy. But we have even bigger plans to come. On March 15 at 4pm please join us for a guided meditation led by Jason Elliott. He's training for the Vocational Diaconate, and if you don't know what that is then you should come so you can ask him. And I can't make any promises, but I always like food and beer after a good meditation, so don't be surprised if there are some dinner plans afterwards. We're also looking at trying something we call Lenten Buddies. About two newer members will be randomly assigned to seasoned veterans of St. Paul's. All you have to do is wait for the person you've been assigned to to make contact with you and get together for coffee or something like that. This is just a way for those of us newer members to ask questions about St. Paul's from someone who has been around, and also to get to know each other a little better outside of the 20s/30s big group sessions. Lastly, we are looking into an overnight retreat possibly on April 24^th. We hope to get Douglas Fenton from NYC to lead the retreat. Oh, and did I mention that if everything works out this event will be FREE?! You can't beat THAT with a stick!

Let me just close by saying that our mission is to make the 20s/30s group more inclusive, but also more free-form so everyone can find their own way to enjoy the group and maybe even share some of their interests with the group. Although Mother Liza does not technically fall within the preferred age range (don't tell her I told you), she has adopted the group as spiritual liaison (not her official title) in Father Paul's absence. So, if you have any questions about the group you can always contact her, but the best thing to do is read the entries in the bulletins and get your email address to karen.bull@stpaulscathedral.org so we can include you in our e-mailings.

A. Peter Snodgrass

Disclaimer: Nothing stated above is the official position of either St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral or the 20s/30s group therein. If anything is misstated please email someone and your complaint will be addressed in a timely manner.