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[intro music]
>> St. Anne's is just, it's just casual.
>> It's really cool to see everyone here every Sunday.
>> I like acolyting because it gives me full responsibility.
>> We can leave and go to Sunday school after church
>> AMY: We try to be as aware as we can, and as joyful as we can about the fact that we're
encircled by the love of God. And it's not a fortress; we're a community encircled
by love.
>> AMY: We are here at St. Anne's church to have our go by the mercies and love of
God at shaping where we are, one corner of God's kingdom.
>> JOE: At least in the Episcopal church when you talk about education, we're talking
about formation and we try to have offerings for everybody here to continue to grow more
deeply in the faith. Some people want a traditional Bible study. Some people want to get at the
issues of faith through literature. Some people, they don't want to talk; they want to act
and work on a Habitat house, or serve at the Lighthouse Shelter, not just to serve this
small group of people, but we're here to serve the larger community. And once you sort
of start being open like that, people start taking you up on it.
>> We married here last fall. Coming to St. Anne's together almost as long as we've
been together, so it's part of our relationship.
>> Before we decided to join, sent Amy an email letting her know that we were married
and planning to have a family. She wrote back a wonderful reply and just made us feel like
this would be the perfect place for us.
>> AMY: I have a spectacular, a spectacular husband. And then we are doubly blessed because
we also have this great privilege of working together.
>> JOE: But chiefly are we bound to praise you...
>> JOE: You learn about discipleship by seeing other people doing it. Doing it beautifully.
Doing it well. In their own lives, and in their own way.
>> It has been wonderful to be able to have a place that is so loving and inclusive to
bring my children. When I can sit in the front pew with two very active boys and I get support
from the whole community.
>> CONNIE: We have many ways that families can engage at St. Anne's with their young
children and their older children and their youth.
>> They have a great program for him. They welcomed Wesley. He loves the liturgy during
the service.
>> CONNIE: We have the Sycamore Tree on a Sunday morning which is children's liturgy.
We do lots of fun songs in there.
[children singing]
>> Prepare, prepare, prepare the way...
>> CONNIE: We want nothing more than for children to know that they are loved and to engage
in a deeper relationship with God and with each other in their journeys.
>> Pastor Amy gave us a real sense of security. We're actually enrolling Kaitlyn in the
preschool here in the fall. We really feel comfortable with her and putting our family
in her hands.
>> VOLLIE: I think Amy's one of those people that helps you grow and really is a true north
in this community to help people understand how they can grow closer to God.
>> AMY: People are, they're very generous and complimentary. But I'm always really
quick to say I think the truth is that it's not just the priest and the leadership that
make the difference, it really depends on the congregation also being welcoming. So,
it's really a group effort.
>> I googled "music" and "churches" "Annapolis," "Baltimore," "DC,"
and St. Anne's kept popping up. Music has always been a big part of my life so I wanted
a church that valued music as part of the ministry.
>> AMY: We are here to stand as friends of Jesus. To see how far our reach can extend.
To do love, to be on Christ's side, holding hands with the weak and the small, on one
team.
>> ERNIE: This is my family. We come here because there's something special. Not just
about making music, but I really believe that singing is something that is unique. And it
is not only unique, but it also connects us in ways that are hard to describe.
>> AMY: It's a way that they pray and it's that mixture of ability and love that makes
it sound so beautiful. That's what kind of person Ernie Green is. And everyone who's
in the choir always tells me that they learn so much from him and they want to give so
much.
>> ERNIE: The whole is really greater than the sum of the parts here. And that's, and
that's not a normal state of affairs.
>> AMY: One of the things I love about church, actually, is it's one of the few places
were we can be with people of different generations and different socioeconomic backgrounds too
and that is so important.
>> CONNIE: Young people want to be in church when they know that they are welcomed here.
>> AMY: Hello, how are you?
>> CONNIE: And when they know that they have a place helping them learn how to ask the
questions rather than giving them information.
>> ERNIE: There, there are a lot of great churches in this area. What happens here when
our community is joined together and there's music and there's liturgy, there's a good
feeling. You leave knowing that you've done something really good.
>> JOE: Good news. You hear good news here. I think people want to hear good news in their
lives. This is a place where you'll hear it, where you can grown in a community of
people who love God, who love their neighbor, and want to live that out in the best way
they can.
>> AMY: God reaches down to us. To save us, to call us by name. To turn our faces toward
God, to lift us up from the depths. To love us.
>> AMY: It will take not just saying it, but making sure that every person who walks through
the door feels that they are welcomed, wanted, needed, loved, and that this is a place where
they can be who they are.
[closing music]