Refuge @ St. Paul’s, II

I returned to Mt. Lebanon about 5:30 this afternoon after attending Episcopal Day at PNC Park. (The Pirates won, by the way, and I had a wonderful time at the baseball game.) I decided to stop by the church and look in on the second Refuge @ St. Paul’s service.

When I entered through the lower Mayfair entrance, I found Pat Hurd in the kitchen working on food for the post-service reception. Apparently, food is going to be a regular part of the event, which is a good thing. The reception is pointedly not intended to be dinner, however.

Not surprisingly, I counted many fewer people in the pews than last week, probably about 23. Happily, the lighting was a bit brighter, which made it easier to see the service booklet. The sound from the musicians was still muddy, however, and the singing I heard was unintelligible. I only stayed for a few minutes—I was tired and hungry—so this report will have to do for this week. Only after a few weeks’ experience with the service will we have a good idea of what the long-term attendance is likely to be and who, in fact, is in the congregation. Stay tuned.