St. Raphael’s by the Sea celebrates one year
To the editor:
We have been so blessed here at St. Raphael’s by the Sea by your generous response to our First Anniversary Fund. Special thanks to all who have given above your regular offering to help us stay afloat. If you have not yet sent in your special gift of thanks to God for creating an orthodox Anglican presence on Fort Myers Beach, there is still time. While the wolves are no longer at the door, we can still hear them howling. So please do pray and then give as generously as you can to keep the ministry of St. Raphael’s by the Sea not just barely making ends meet, but going forward as a vibrant presence for the Lord. All gifts are received with joy and gratitude for your support.
We are resolved to continue in our mission of knowing Christ and making Christ known. With this in mind, we held our first Movie Night recently at Roxie Smith’s historic cottage. While munching on popcorn, we watched and discussed the film ‘St. John in Exile’ with Dean Jones portraying the Apostle John. The response was very positive. We are looking forward to having another Movie Night in October.
In October, we will be launching our first Alpha course. All members of the parish are invited to participate in Alpha. We are providing both a fall and a winter course to accommodate the seasonal and non-seasonal needs of our congregation. Alpha provides a way to reach the unchurched for Christ while encouraging Christian leadership from the laity. Alpha was founded in the United Kingdom in the Church of England and became successful under the leadership of Nicky Gumbel. Alpha provides a time of fellowship and small group discussions that enables all who attend to grow in Christ. Please plan on supporting this important program to help our members grow spiritually, while bringing others to know Christ for the first time.
As you can see, we are offering some exciting opportunities for all of us to grow in the Lord. We continue to live stream our Sunday morning worship services at 10 a.m. My sermons are videotaped separately and can be seen on our parish website at www.saintraphaelsbythesea.org, our parish Facebook page, and on YouTube under Rev. Marcrum.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers and thanks again for your support. We are hoping to see some of you seasonals sooner rather than later. You are missed.
Blessings!
Pastor Alice+
Fort Myers Beach