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May 2008
FROM THE RECTOR Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ – We are moving forward on several fronts right now to rehabilitate and improve our church worship space. For many months, Mike and Ivy Tulin have been quietly laboring on weeknights to patch cracked plaster in our church nave. That work is nearing completion. Thank you Tulins! Just this week, our hanging sanctuary lamp – which has been away from us for restoration and repair – was re-hung in the apse of the church. You will be astonished by the transformation of this important symbol of Christ's presence in our midst. The lamp is now a brilliant golden color – truly unrecognizable as the fixture that had hung in our church for so many decades. Thanks to all those who helped complete this project, including William Agosto who managed single handedly to un-hang and re-hang the lamp, and to those extraordinarily gracious folks (you know who you are!) who donated over $1,000 to cover the cost of this work. Also this week, we removed the two small wall-mounted tables that had been in the church's apse, and set in their place two of our underutilized antique chairs. This will allow our entire altar party to now sit together behind the altar, and – by relocating the collection plates, sanctus bells and other worship tools that had been "on display" in the apse – will help us focus on the principle symbols around which we gather in worship: the Word of God that is our Bible, and the body and blood of Christ that is the sanctified bread and wine of Holy Communion. In order to deliver on our commitment to stay in our beautiful and historic church building (and yet continuing to make room for newcomers) your Vestry continues their work of trying to imagine how we might add seating for an additional 20-30 people in our church. Whether that is accomplished by adding new pews or retrofitting those on hand, it is likely that in order to accommodate this need, some additional changes in how our worship space is furnished will be upcoming in the months ahead. We will keep you posted. Faithfully – Father Scott + FUNERAL RECEPTIONS - A VERY SPECIALCHURCH MINISTRY Dear Church Family, For more thanquarter ofcentury Christ Church has faithfully offered funeral receptions when a church member has died. I have been coordinating this special service fornow.Ministrymeans more to me than you will ever know. When my best friend, my dad,away in 1980, I was sad and felt very much alone. I think it would have been a mercy if I had the support of this funeral reception ministry back then. In the past few months callingchurchto donate food or help with the Funeralhas gotten very difficult. Busy schedules and long work hours are making it hard for church members to support this ministry. Still church members continue to die, and Godus to serve and care for one another. IGodwould stillfor all of us to follow in his foot steps and help each other in this time of need. Father Scott, the Vestry and I would like to hear from you regarding this work. Where are our priorities?What direction are we going in? Do you believe it makes sense for this ministry to continue? Are there ways you can help? Please contact one of your Vestry members (which are printed on the last page of this newsletter) with your feedback. Thank you. Sincerely, Susan Watson, Funeral Reception Coordinator NOTES FROM THE CHURCH HISTORIAN Dear All, Our Sanctuary Lamp is back home and in beautiful condition. It will be reinstalled shortly. I send many thanks to all who saw it out the weekend of April 20, and those who so generously donated funds to help defray the cost of the restoration. For 103 years old, it looks pretty good! My thanks go out to George Opper for cleaning up and reformatting the first dozen chapters of our book. I have spent the week doing some editing and some friends who are publishers are looking at it to give me some pointers. I will let you know about its progress. Enjoy this beautiful spring weather! Peace to all! Ivy Tulin
MAY STEWARDSHIP REPORT Once again, I would like to begin this letter by stating how would you define the meaning of Total Stewardship? Many people would refer to Stewardship in terms of giving money to the church. Others would identify Stewardship as giving of their time toward church activities. While others look upon Stewardship as that bothersome telephone call that you get when someone from the church needs volunteers. Well, I guess that you could say that it is all of this yet, so much more. I like to think of Stewardship as sort of a take-off on the definition of Baptism in our Catechism. Instead of an "outward and spiritual sign of an inward and spiritual grace", I like to think of Stewardship as the outward and visible sign reflecting the depth of our inward and deeply rooted faith. I guess that I feel that Stewardship is our opportunity to put our actions ahead of our words. Sort of like saying that "my faith and love is more clearly demonstrated by what I do than by what I say or profess to be". Yes, Stewardship is partially about our financial commitment to our church but it is equally about giving a little of our time and God given abilities. The giving of a little of our time to help in the Thrift Shop, teaching a Sunday school class, serving on or leading a committee, helping with various church maintenance or clean-up projects, service on the Altar Guild, being a Worship Leader, Lector or, assisting with any of the other organizations that are so vital to the health of our church. This along with our financial commitment is what Stewardship is all about. Yes, we can all be very proud of our support of our 2007 pledge campaign however, now is not the time to say that Stewardship can now take the "back burner" until the next pledge campaign. Now is the time to continue to illustrate our commitment to our church by helping out in any and every way possible so that the product of our faith will be clearly visible to the community around us. We are making the dream happen. Together, we will show our faith and love to Christ through our Total Stewardship. Thank you all! Fred Widman Stewardship Chairman
SHOW YOUR SPIRIT ON PENTECOST! The great feast of Pentecost is just around the corner. Sunday, May 11th is the early date for our next big holy day. As Pentecost is the feast celebrating the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives – and red is the color of the Spirit – please don your brightest red garments on the 11th to show that you believe in the presence of the Holy Spirit in our midst. A NEW BIBLE STUDY? Would you be interested in participating in an on-going read through of the Bible, with a small group of seekers interested in learning more of our salvation story? If so, please reach out to Nora Sweeney (sweeney.nora@gmail.com) who is looking for a team to enter into such a partnership. ATTENTION ALL WOMEN OF CHRIST CHURCH The WCC (aka Wine, Cheese and Chocolate) will have its annual picnic on Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 6:00 PM at the McFarland's home which is located on The Burt Farm about 1/2 miles past the Warwick Methodist Church on Galloway Road/17A. There will be a sign-up shett in the Parish Hall in the near future. P;ease sign up to bring a salad or desert. Also, please bring $1 the day of to help cover expenses. Hamburgers, hot dogs, condiments and drinks will be furnished. Hope all you ladies out there can make it! A good time will be had by all! Call Mary Neal McFarland (986-4825) for further details and/or better directions. A WARM WELCOME A recent visitor to Christ Church wrote a letter reflecting on their experience of worship with us. They said in part, "I am sure that if Christ Church were more accessible to me I would become a member, drawn by the enthusiasm, friendliness and warmth." Thanks to all of you for making such a great impression on a one time guest. It is a wonderful act of faith and grace to reach out to our neighbors in this way, and it is the principal reason that out church is the healthy and growing community that it is! SOME OF THE RESULTS FROM OUR PSALM WRITING WORKSHOP... Here are a few samples of psalms written by our own Christ Church folk from the April 16th psalm writing workshop led by Ray McGinnis. Be sure to look for more writings in the next month's issue!
FROM THE FINANCE COMMITTEE . . . . Pledge income through the month of March was as follows: Pledged income: $45,750.00 Actual income: $44,870.00 Shop Rite / A&P Gift Card sales though March: Dollar amount sold: $30,000.00 Profit to church: $1,500.00 Ahhh, so close! Easter arrived early this year, and it's promise & blessings were ever present at Christ Church throughout March. Among them was a boost to our pledge income that just missed getting us back on budget. Looking back at the 1st quarter as a whole, our total income figures are just over 96% of where they need to be. We are well within reach of our goals, and each & every member deserves credit for that. Let's keep the momentum going!! CHRIST CHURCH HEROES Betty Hurd, Lloyd Jeffords and Simon Turner have been hard at work to bring our video ministry back on line, including wiring our new parent's room for a live feed from the church. Way to go team! We're blessed by all our acolytes, especially Gillian Jeffords and Nick Vogt, who routinely check-in on Sunday mornings to fill in for any absent altar servers. Thanks to Shannah Whitney for organizing the visit of psalm-writer Ray McGuiness to Christ Church. Pat Burke and Steve Laico spent a precious Saturday morning planting a beautiful new dogwood tree outside the parish hall, which will soon be graced by a plaque honoring our retired sexton John Fasolo. And how about our Thrift Shop volunteer sorters, who manage to keep the shop clean and orderly even during this "spring cleaning" time of abundant Thrift Shop donations. Thanks to all these Christ Church heroes!
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