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This Sunday
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May 17th
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
O God, you have prepared
for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding:
Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all
things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all
that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
8am: Holy Eucharist
Our early service is unaccompanied by music and usually lasts about 50 minutes. Coffee and fellowship are offered before the service begins in the parish hall, while the sanctuary is available for quiet prayer. Another coffee hour follows the service.
10am: Holy Eucharist
This Eucharistic service is accompanied by our choir of mixed adult voices and organ, or on second Sundays of each month by Soul Purpose, our contemporary band. Nursery care and children's education are available during this service. A festival reception for kids and adults follows the service.
11:30am: Music rehearsals
Following the worship services, our musical groups gather to prepare for the next weeks' offerings.
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Next Week at Christ Church
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May 18th through 23rd
Monday
Cornerstone Office Closed
Knitting Ministry, 7pm, Argus Manor (204 9th Ave SE)
Wednesday
Holy Eucharist & Lunch, 12:05pm
Thursday
Men's Group, 7pm, Trackside Pizza
Saturday
Cornerstone Bike Garage Open, 3pm-4:30pm
Parish Bike Ride, 4:30pm from the Cornerstone or 5pm from the East Puyallup Trailhead of the Foothills Trail
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Announcements
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Upcoming Events
The Parish Bike Ride is starting up again for the season, and the Cornerstone Bike Garage is going to be open for business too! Beginning tomorrow, May 16th, the garage behind the Cornerstone Office Building will be open starting at 3pm. Last year, thanks to the help of several dedicated parishioners, the garage was transformed into a bike haven. If you need tires pumped up, brakes tightened, or other simple tune ups before riding, be sure to stop by. Around 4:30pm cyclists at the garage will head out for the East Puyallup Trailhead of the Foothills Trail. Others should feel free to join us there, as we head out for Orting around 5pm. This evening ride time is a change from last year's morning schedule in hopes that more folks will be able to join us. We're trying it out for a few weeks, so if you're interested come on out! Let's ride! The Knitting Ministry meets on Monday, May 18th, at Argus Manor (204 9th Ave SE in Puyallup). Regular members and new knitters are welcome! The Church Office will be closed on Tuesday, May 26th, following the Memorial Day Holiday. The Men's Group meets Thursday evening, May 21st at 7 pm at Trackside Pizza in downtown Puyallup. All men are welcome! Sunday breakfast, June 7th, 9-9:45 am hosted by the women of Christ Church. This is a fund raiser, with donations going to fund scholarships for the October 23-25th retreat at St. Andrew's House. Tapestry Singers' rummage sale: Saturday, June 20th, during the Meeker Day celebration. The sale will be from 9 am until 2 pm in the Parish Hall. Come shop and help support our local 501 (c) 3 choir, which is part of Valley Arts United. From: Sherry Phinisey Subject: Love INC needs help moving to the new office God
has brought together so many different things to move us into a larger
building so we can have more phones and desks to accommodate more
volunteers to help us help those in need. We would like to move the
desks, computers and supplies at our old office to the new office on
Saturday May 23rd starting at 9:00 am at the old office address is 3403 72nd St. E. Tacoma. The new office address is 9116 Gravelly Lake Drive S.W. Lakewood. If you can help load & unload the
truck please call Sherry at 253-468-6236.
Livin' on a Shoestring: Sunday, June 14 at 3 p.m.
On Sunday, June 14, Bob Riler from the Pierce County Department of Aging and
Long Term Care will be at St. Joseph-St. John Episcopal Church to present
"Livin' on a Shoestring". This free program begins at 3 p.m. It will include
dozens of ways not only to save money and cope but thrive in difficult
economic times. There will also be displays from various community agencies
including Shared Housing Services. Refreshments will be served (what's
better than free food when times are tough?) The church is located at 11111
Military Rd. SW, Lakewood, at the intersection of Military Rd. SW, 112th
St.SW and FarWest Drive SW. Call (253)584-6143 or email stjjs1@juno.com for
information.
United Thank Offering ingathering will be Sunday, May 24th: UTO is a ministry of the Episcopal Church. Through the United Thank Offering, men, women, and children nurture the habit of giving daily thanks to God. These prayers of thanks-giving start when we recognize and name our many daily blessings.Those who participate in the UTO have discovered that thankfulness leads to generosity. A short prayer of thanksgiving leads to an offering in the United Thank Offering box. All offerings are used to support grants for ministries at home and overseas as an outreach of the Episcopal Church. Prayers and offerings make it possible for the UTO mision to stretch in unexpected ways. If you have never had a 'little blue box' and would like to be part of the United Thank Offering, here is what you do: · Offer thanks and prayers as a part of your life in Christ · Take the opportunity to put an offering in your UTO box · When the yearly ingathering comes, roll your coins, and put the cash or a check into the UTO envelope and put it in the alms basin There are UTO boxes and pamphlets titled 'UTO and Me-Shared Blessings' and 'Home Devotional Guide' next to the Welcome table in the Parish Hall.
General Announcements
May is 'packaged and canned meals month' for the Food Bank. Thank you for your generosity!
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Mark Your Calendar!
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These are events a bit farther off. Mark your calendars now, and if you have any questions in advance, contact the office. New entries are in bold.
- June 7th: Women's Retreat Parish Breakfast
- June 14th: High School Senior Sunday
- August 1st: Mother Earth Farms Volunteer Day
- Early October: Pierce Co. Hunger Walk
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Gospel Reflection
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by Janet Nielsen |
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Standing Up for Jesus
A few weeks ago, I wrote:
"It seems clear that the instruction to share the Good News is meant for all of us- those who have not seen, and yet believe, are also called to testify. I can share the facts of Jesus' life. Nevertheless, when someone says, 'Show me,' it is in my own life that I must bear witness."
I sat as a child in the wooden pew at the new Calvary Baptist Church at South 65th and C Street in Tacoma. I seem to remember dozens of elderly women, prim in their hats and gloves, their faces looming in mine, asking, "Are you going forward today?" At this distance I realize that these ladies might have been in their forties, and I might have been asked two or three times.
I had secretly accepted Jesus into my life, but I had concluded I was not good enough to call myself a Christian. I knew I could not live up to the standard. I thought that if I went forward to profess my faith, I would call down upon myself intense scrutiny and more impossible expectations. Although I didn't yet know the word for it, I was afraid to be a hypocrite.
Each and every Sunday I sat with great anxiety as the service worked up slowly but surely to the Altar Call. At that dramatic moment, all the responsibility shifted from Reverend Hess to his listeners. "Will you stand up for Jesus? Will you come forward and surrender your life?" I dreaded the awful silence that followed. I should mention that 'the alternative' had been well and graphically described. But my personal agony in the pew was more immediate and therefore worse than my expected future eternity in Hell. I was damned if I did and damned if I didn't!
This was my early experience with evangelism, and my first understanding of spreading the good news. To this day I hesitate before answering about my faith, for fear that the obvious chasm between my life and that of a true Christian will open, wide open, and I will topple in.
Memories of my time in church as a child fed my fear of self-disclosure and my reluctance to discuss my faith. What a relief to enter the Episcopal Church, with its evangelistic reticence and preoccupation with privacy and personal dignity! How wonderful to sit in the pew without squirming (much) in fear of public confession and judgment!
We have read in almost every lesson and scripture of the Easter season how Jesus commanded the disciples to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. We learned of the disciples' methods and experiences as they travelled far and wide.
How will I answer Jesus' call? I surely need to live out my life in evidence of God's love and salvation. That is good, but not enough. Anyone who has children knows that the example is often more powerful than words. Yet many, many Christians lead exemplary lives of service, devotion, and wise choices. If living well were enough to draw others to the Christian faith, the holy catholic church would be bursting.
The disciples were not told to live good lives and wait for others to notice and wonder. They were told to spread the Word. True, they had miraculous powers that attracted throngs of people, but in some ways that made their task even more difficult. People wanted to attribute the power they saw to the men who exercised it.
It had to be explained, many more times than once, whose power it was. To do this, the disciples told the long story of Israel, from the beginning, to the Exodus, through the prophets, to Jesus' birth, life, execution and death. They methodically provided the context for Jesus' life, and then what they personally witnessed and experienced that led them to believe that he is the Messiah. Leaving the people to draw their own conclusions would spell disaster.
What I should have said a few weeks ago is. "It is to my own life I must bear witness." From the outside, I may not seem so remarkable. Yet I say my life is a miracle. No one will know that miracle, unless and until I tell about it. I need to provide the context of my life-my experiences, my background, how I was then and how I am now, what the Lord has done for me and what I see him doing for others. Otherwise, there is no way for the outsider to interpret what he sees.
I need to become comfortable explaining what has happened to me. I need to give both the (short) story of my life and the reasons for my faith. I need to tell the story of Jesus' life. It's not so much about aggressively persuading someone to believe as it is about giving them a fighting chance to draw an informed conclusion.
Uh-oh. My private faith is not enough.
-- Janet Nielsen, May 2009
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CECoP @ MEF
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Volunteers on Video!
Last Saturday a dozen CECoP volunteers headed out to Mother Earth Farm to shovel and hoe. You can watch a short video/slideshow of our trip on the CECoP website.
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Questions? Comments? More Information?
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