Yesterday I came to the obvious and nevertheless astounding fact that fall is just around the corner. Our kick-off weekend is less than a month away (September 8 & 9). Here are a few things I want to get done in the remaining days of summer…
1) Fall Preparations
The obvious work of summer for us is preparing for a great fall season. We are already working on our first fall series, “Life Aps.” Of course I will be speaking again come fall, which will be a change from my summertime schedule. We are also getting ready for kick off weekend activities and events too, including some new features and offerings you’ll enjoy here on campus. Plan now to join us for kick off weekend. The following weekend, September 16 we will be welcoming Archbishop Lori, who will be touring our facility and getting to know our programs on Sunday morning and then saying the noon Mass. Also this fall we have our second annual church conference (November 3rd, and by the way, you’re invited), Project Thanksgiving, Stewardship Sunday and an amazing Advent Series that you will not want to miss.
2) Strategic Planning
We continue our campus planning to try and figure out how we can accommodate the people that are already coming and still grow. We have an excellent team of parish leaders, and through the course of the summer we have been trying to include more and more people in the discussion. The aim is to identify a clear plan and subsequent plan of action.
3) Book Editing
We actually have only one week remaining to complete our final edits for the book. There is a lot of work to do in the days ahead, but ready or not that deadline looms. In fact, the manuscript is in good shape and it will be good to move on.
4) Book Recommendations
The next step in the editing process is collecting recommendations from various influencers around the country. We have made an excellent beginning with this project, though it is taking much more time than I would have ever imagined. Here too, we are on a strict deadline, with all recommendations confirmed by the beginning of September.
5) Book Title
Believe it or not, we still have not named the baby. My biggest goal for the end of the summer is to have a book title.
