We invite you to share your dreams and ideas in response to the two focus questions above.

“The Dream Team”
Tina Butler   Alicia Cranston
Jeff Manickas   Bess Wilson


GOD IS CALLING...!!!
and
YOU ARE INVITED!
First there was a spark...then there was a dream.

Struggles and conflicts of the world around us can affect us personally and in turn effect our life and ministry here at St. Paul's. In times of stress and uncertainty there is a natural tendency for us to be cautious, protective and withdraw. We dare not take on any risk, our fears emerge, our sense of imagination and creativity is dampened. Fear blinds us to possibilities

Faith however is the opposite of fear. God calls us to trust our faith in Him. It is through our faith that we can dream and see possibilities and trust in God that possibilities can become reality. This 300 year old Church known as St. Paul's goes far beyond the walls of our beautiful jewel box of a sanctuary; in reality WE are the Church, the Body of Christ. As the Body of Christ we are the eyes, mind, hands and heart of God reaching out to others. Christ is the Vine, we are the branches which, when nurtured, bear fruit.

The "dream" is to invite God into our dialogue and reach out to our entire parish, to break the soil around the roots of the Vine, to stir up the imagination, to nurture our collective creativity, to stimulate growth, involvement and excitement -- to see what new shoots emerge and over time what new fruit we can bear.

With the blessings of Father Phil, the Vestry and The Ministry Discernment Team the "Dream Team" has been born. The plan is to reach out to everyone through a series of dreaming and brainstorming sessions that will serve as an opportunity to invite God to be present to us as we prayerfully consider two questions:

• 1. How can St. Paul's help YOU to grow in your personal relationship with God?
• 2. How is God calling you and St. Paul's at this time, to mission and ministry in His Name?

The dreaming sessions will be to gather and collect ideas only. They are designed to be freewheeling and imaginative, to allow the Holy Spirit to infuse our imagination. These ideas will then be collated and brought back to the Ministry Discernment Team with the hope of identifying opportunities for enhancement and growth of ministries.

Meetings will be in the Chapter Room of the Church with refreshments on: May 5 and May 17 from 7:00 to 8:30 pm and April 28 and May 7 from 10:00 to 11:30 am. We hope to get input from as many people as possible. For those who cannot make any of the sessions there will be an opportunity for you to respond through our special link on the St. Paul's web site. (see below)

Please reflect on the following prayers which have been guiding the spirit of the Dream Team.

" I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end, nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it..." ... Thomas Merton

" Praise the Spirit , close companion of our inmost thoughts and ways; Who is showing us God's wonders, is himself the power to gaze; And God's will to those who listen, by a still small voice conveys. Tell of how the ascended Jesus armed a people for his own; How a thousand men and women turned the known world upside down, To its dark and furthest corners by the wind of heaven blown."
... From Hymn 507, Hymnal 1982 Words: Michael Hewlet (b. 1916)

Please come dream with us....
The Dream Team
Tina Butler, Jeff Manickas, Bess Wilson, Alicia Cranston

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If you can not attend one of these sessions you can send regular mail to:

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Attn: DREAM TEAM
55 Main Street
North Kingstown RI 02852

or email to: dreamteam {at} stpaulswickford.org

or send send your dreams directly to the Dream Team by entering them in the box below

(note: there may be a delay of several hours before the Dream Team receives this because if will be filtered first to stop the spammers and hackers)