St. Raphael’s by the Sea to celebrate first anniversary
To the editor:
Hope you have stayed cool this summer. I’ve been told that it is hotter up north than it is down here in Southwest Florida. So if you want to have a nice Gulf breeze to cool you off, then come on down. We would love to see all of you!
We have been busy this summer on your behalf. We now have a live broadcast of the Sunday morning worship service. Just go to the parish’s website at www.saintraphaelsbythesea.org and click on the arrow in the black box. Of course, since it is live, you can only see the live broadcast on Sunday mornings. Tune in for the Prelude at 9:50 a.m. or wait until the service starts at 10 a.m. Some of you have already checked in and given us back your feedback. We thank you! Please pardon our dust as we are working out the glitches of this new form of outreach. Our A/V Guy, Jim Marcrum, is working on recording the services so you can watch them at your convenience. To make our live broadcast better, two new lights with stands to light up the altar area have been donated. A special thanks to A.J. Bassett, Betty Goodacre, and Roxie Smith for this gift. Also, thank you A/V Guy for your good shopping endeavor.
Don’t have time in your busy schedule to watch the whole service? Then you are welcome to watch my sermons on video. The sermons are on a different camera and are being taped separately. They are located on the website under Leadership on my page.
For those of you who weren’t here for the Fourth of July weekend, we had another first! We Skyped a baptism service to accommodate the godparents, who were unable to fly down from Cleveland, Ohio. Maggie and Teddi Marcrum graciously stepped up as godmothers to help get Matthew Alexander Bosch baptized. While the godparents, Jim and Laura Maki, answered the questions for the baptism via Skype! You can see a video of the sacrament on the parish website.
In our last newsletter, we let you know about the Beach Theatre re-opening. Since then, the building has been bought. The new owner wants both the Beach Theatre and St. Raphael’s by the Sea to remain. Since properties both on and off the island are too expensive for us to rent, this is good news for us. Until we have our own building, we are blessed to be here.
The month of August is a special month for St. Raphael’s by the Sea. August 7 marks our first year as a parish! We will be having a special reception to celebrate. To ensure another year of ministry, we are asking all of our members and friends to donate a Special Anniversary Offering. You can donate through the website e-giving, mail us your donation, or bring it with you to the Anniversary Service, which will be on Sunday, August 7th. Thank you in advance for your generous support.
We are here To Know Christ and to Make Christ Known! Please join with us in sharing the Good News. Your support is deeply appreciated.
Blessings!
Pastor Alice+
St. Raphael’s by the Sea