Dear Friends,

Something wonderful is happening at Christ Church. Many of you are calling and emailing me describing your excitement about your spiritual journey. There is an expressed desire to explore your experiences more deeply, deepen your prayer lives, find methods of studying scripture, find recommendations for books, and spend some quiet time talking about life. This spiritual energy is manifesting itself in a number of visible ways in our community: through our expanded number and variety of worship services, in our outreach activities (such as the Great Potato Drop, the Arcola Food Drive and the upcoming mission trip to Alabama described in this newsletter), and the request for more book groups and discussions about the exploration of faith.

It is exciting to realize that the spiritual "emergence" that Christ Church is experiencing is also evident on a diocesan level. Bishop Marianne Budde describes this emergence in her wonderfully enthusiastic letter to us in her January 12th issue of the Diocesan News. I am including her letter here in its entirety to put our own spiritual experiences within a larger context as described in the book that the bishop is recommending to us, FINDING OUR WAY AGAIN by Brian McLaren. Bishop Marianne is inviting us to read this book together as a diocese during Lent as a way of uniting our thoughts as we continue our journey of faith together as fellow pilgrims. We will post information about the books availability and the process of reflecting together as a diocese as soon as the information becomes available.

As we begin the season of reflection and introspection during Lent (beginning with the Imposition of Ashes on Ash Wednesday, February 22nd) may we accept the bishop's invitation to join her and the rest of our diocese in a mutual reflection on McLaren's book.

Faithfully,

Here is the bishop's letter to us:

Thank you for the great expression of interest in a diocesan initiative to explore what it means to be a follower of Jesus as Episcopalian Christians. You have responded from every corner of the diocese to the simple idea of reading a spiritual book together and finding ways to share questions and insights. I have been deeply moved by your many e-mails and Facebook and blog postings. Many have offered to help organize this initiative, for which I am deeply grateful.

Pondering how we might begin, I am reminded that, in the words of author Inagrace T. Diettrich, "The early followers of Jesus Christ were not called people of 'the experience,' or the people of 'right doctrine,' or the people of 'moral values,' or even the people of 'the church.' They were called the people of 'the Way.' " They were known for the way they lived, not only for what they believed or valued. Christians were associated with a particular and discernible way of living and relating that both grew out of their faith and gave testimony to that faith.

And so I propose that our first book be one that focuses us on what it means to live as a Christian, to walk the path of Jesus, aptly titled: Finding Our Way Again, by Brian McLaren.     

 McLaren writes: "You can't take an epidural shot to ease the pain of giving birth to your character. In a sense every day of your life is labor: the rhythmic agony of producing the person who will wake up in your body tomorrow... Spiritual practices are actions within our power that help us narrow the gap between the character we want to have and the character we are actually developing... They are ways of becoming awake and staying awake to God. For the kind of person you are becoming determines how much of God you can experience-and maybe even which version of God you experience.

We will begin this diocesan initiative, People of the Way, in early March, as the season ofLent begins. If you'd like to help, or participate, or ask a question, let us know by e-mail or by posting a response on my blog. I am very excited about the possibilities before us, as we all deepen our understanding and our experience of what it means to be followers of Jesus in our time.

Faithfully, 

Bishop Mariann

Respecting Differences-Embracing Commonalities

Our forum series in February will continue exploring other faiths. Building on our January presentations from the Rev. Dr Sathi Clarke and Rabbi Stan Levin we will hear from the following speakers:

Feb 5th-All Parish Coffee

Feb 12th-Mr. Jason Fenian-Buddhism

Feb 19th-Mrs. Farhanahz Ellis-Islam

Feb 26-Presentation of the 2012 Budget in preparation for the Annual Meeting on March 4th.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent; it is a quiet service of reflection about the gift of life and the importance of time. The imposition of ashes on our foreheads reminds us of our mortality and encourages us to embrace life to its fullest while reminding us of life's priorities. Space is given to recall all barriers that we place between ourselves and God and each other. This is a journey toward God's healing, loving embrace, forgiving us so that we can receive the Good News of Easter.

Ash Wednesday Services,  February 22nd

Holy Eucharist and the Imposition of Ashes

7:00   am

12:00 pm

7:00   pm (with music)

Sunday, March 4, 10:45am

Worship:                          

8:00 AM Holy Eucharist                                         

9:30 AM Holy Eucharist  

10:45 AM Annual Meeting  

11:45 AM All Parish Luncheon

1:00 PM Adjournment                                        

Sunday, February 26 Annual Meeting Preparation Forum

Introduction of Vestry Candidates                        2012 Budget Overview 

Emily and I have been members of Christ Church Parish since 1985. We have two children -- Ian, who is attending college in Boston and Mara, a senior in high school.

Over the years I have been active in many aspects of church life. I have previously served three times on the Vestry (including terms as Junior Warden and Chair of Budget & Finance); have worked in our Christian education program including serving as an adult leader of the J2A group that traveled to Poland on pilgrimage; serve regularly as a Chalicist; have served as a delegate to Diocesan Convention; am currently a member of the Shaping the Parish team; and along with Emily, Ian and Mara participated in the 2009 parish mission trip to New Orleans.

I have also been engaged in a wide range of civic and community activities. I served on the Board of Governors of Grace Episcopal Day School, the Board of Directors of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, the Board of Directors of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce, and am a graduate of Leadership Montgomery. Over the past decade I have been deeply involved the public/private partnership to revitalize downtown Silver Spring, and led the effort that resulted in the renovation and rehabilitation of the historic Silver Theatre.

I am employed by the American Film Institute where I serve as Director of the AFI Silver Theatre & Cultural Center.

I would be pleased and honored to serve on the Vestry.

I have been a member of Christ Church for 19 years, experiencing all the gifts of the church from beautifully crafted sermons, a great Sunday School with terrific teachers, wonderful music, absorbing adult forums, fun Wednesday night dinners, I could go on but you know how rich our church is.

I have also enjoyed learning about the structure of our church, inside and out. Green Team days and wall refurbishment projects, as well as discussions with those who over the years have dedicated much thought and action to keep our building sound, safe, comfortable and code-compliant. Their vision and follow-through is what we enjoy today.

I wish to follow their footsteps by serving on the Vestry Property Committee to continue the attention and care of our church structure.

My professional background has entailed operations, documentation, and systems configurations from interdependent pieces of telecommunications equipment, and unique satellite data transfer configurations, to tracking stations. I also have experience in configuration management.    

 Ben has been a member of Christ Church Parish since 2006. He has been a member of the Vestry since 2011 and is chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. He is currently a director in the Listing Qualifications Department of the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. where he is primarily responsible for the qualification and review of companies seeking a listing on the NASDAQ Stock Market. Ben received a B.A. in Communications from Marymount University and a M.B.A in Finance from Boston University. Prior to joining the Vestry he was chairman of the board of directors at Silver Spring Day School. Ben enjoys baseball, golf, cooking and spending time with his wife, Sarah, and three children: Hannah (8), Lulu (4) and Henry (3).

 Isabell May, nee Cserno, is a native of Germany born to Slovak parents who immigrated from then Czechoslovakia to then West Germany in the 1970s. Isabel was very active in her local Catholic community growing up, serving as an acolyte and singing in the children's choir. She continued her love for music singing in her high school choir and participating in the musical theater group in her school. Isabell attended college in her hometown Siegen as well as in Munich, where she studied American history and literature. In 1999, she received a Fulbright fellowship to study at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), where she then enrolled in the Ph.D. program in American Studies, graduating with her doctorate in 2008. She is currently the Associate Director of Student & Academic Services at the Universities at Shady Grove, a satellite location of UMCP, where she heads the academic support and writing center.

Isabell and her now husband David met in 2007 and started dating in 2008. Together, they explored their faith practice. Isabell would attend services with David at the National Cathedral, where he was baptized several years before; David would attend services with Isabell at St. Raphael's Catholic Church in Rockville. In October 2010, David asked Isabell to marry him, and of course she said yes! They decided to find a local Episcopal parish to start their life as a family and found their home at Christ Church, where they were married on October 1, 2011.

Would you like to spend some time during Lent exploring our faith and the roots of our beliefs as Christians? Join the rector in a discussion about Christianity, our Jewish roots, the Catholic, Protestant and Anglican roots of the Episcopal Church, and the emergence of faith in the 21st century. Why do we do the things that we do? Can we belong to the church and still have doubts about our creeds and beliefs? How can we deepen our prayer lives and explore our faith more deeply?

Bring your questions and thoughts and share them with a group of adult inquirers. This is an exciting opportunity to experience the kind of exploration that Christians and people of faith have been sharing for centuries.

Our first session will be on the first Saturday of Lent, February 25th , in the rector's study (office). We will decide the time and place of future sessions depending on the convenience and availability of the members of the group (Saturdays, Sunday evenings or weekday nights). The course should last until May when the bishop will offer Confirmation at the Cathedral (since a number of those attending may decide to be confirmed or to join the Episcopal Church).

Please call Dr. Hague for further information.

When we take time away, we often come to realize just how good we've got it! Indeed, that has been the case for me as I have been away from Christ Church these past few weeks. I have truly missed you all and am very happy to be back among you! I look forward to our time together, but I also realize that that time is short. We will soon begin to say our goodbyes.

As I mentioned I would be in my last newsletter article, I took the General Ordination Exams (GOEs) during the first week of January. I am very grateful that they are now behind me. However, having said that, I will say that the questions asked of us were very fair questions. Past examinations have not always been as fair. We were tested in the seven canonical areas, which include liturgy/church music, church history, ethics, theology, Holy Scriptures, contemporary issues and practical theology. We had three hours to write each exam and a half hour to proof it and submit it. Two readers will read each exam and provide a score between one and four. We will receive our scores in February.

Most of my time before the GOEs was spent reviewing material for them. After the GOEs, I took two intensive courses at VTS. The first course was "Curriculum Critique and Development." In this course, we learned techniques to use to review and write curricula for the parish. It was a thoroughly practical course, and I loved it. The second course was "The Four Gospels on Sunday," which was taught by a visiting professor, Dr. Gordon Lathrop. Dr. Lathrop is professor emeritus of liturgy at a Lutheran seminary in Philadelphia. He is also my external reader for my thesis. As a "liturgy geek," I thoroughly enjoyed his class.

Now, my final semester at VTS begins. I really cannot believe it is happening this quickly! It feels as if I just arrived both at the seminary and here at CCPK. Time sure does fly when we're having fun! This semester you will still see me at the 8:00 and 9:30 services, and I may pop in to our new 5:00 service. However, you will see me less in other activities around the parish as I need to begin transitioning my responsibilities to other people. Lee Puricelli has graciously volunteered to take most of my responsibilities with the youth, and I know he'll do a fantastic job!

Please continue to pray for me. These next few months will contain many opportunities for discernment as I seek God's will for the next steps in my journey. I will be staying in the area as my partner Todd works for the federal government. However, where exactly I will be and what I will be doing is known only to God at the moment. I have no doubt, though, that whatever my next steps might be, they will be enriched by the time I have spent with you all here at CCPK. Thank you so very much!

In Christ,

Shawn

Dear Deacon 

 Dear Deacon,

Why do the hangings on the altar change? How do we know when they change?

Color Confused.

  Dear Confused,

We Episcopalians have worship that includes and engages all of the senses.

Here is a general rule of thumb that provides a key to the liturgical colors:

Red:   Red is used on special feast days, especially the day of Pentecost, Palm Sunday, and other occasions like ordinations and a bishop's visitation.

Blue:   Blue is used to celebrate Mary (mother of Jesus) and has become the "new" color during Advent. Advent used to be marked with purple, until the church decided to differentiate Advent from Lent.

Purple: Primarily used in Lent to focus on somber penitence.

Green: Green is for ordinary time and is the most used color. Ordinary time is the season after Pentecost and before Advent. Green is also used during the season of Epiphany.

White: White is used on high feast days, like Christmas and Easter.

Black: Black is used on the most somber of occasions -if at all. We have used black on All Souls Day when we remember those who have died and on Good Friday for the evening service.

(Following Morning Prayer at noon)

Christ Church offers a Bible Study based on the lectionary readings for the coming Sunday. The Bible study will start immediately following the service of Morning Prayer at noon in the church. We will meet in the library in the education wing and bring a bag lunch while we read the lectionary readings. A commentary called SYNTHESIS CE will be provided which offers an interpretation of the readings and a synthesis of the message for our discussion.

As a result of a lawsuit between the federal government and the WSSC (Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission) new regulations have been put in place that have taken a tough stand on grease being allowed into the sewer facilities in the Montgomery county area.

These new regulations have required us to eliminate our residential dish washer and our disposal and install a new grease trap which complies with the regulations.

Organizations and churches all over have had to comply with the regulations (keeping plumbers in very good business!).

This means that instead of using our old disposal (now gone) we must be ever diligent about scraping our plates after dinners and events before plates and dishes are put into our commercial dishwasher to be cleaned and sanitized.

February 21st, 2012, 5:30 pm

Cost- $5.00 for adults

For a Family of 4 or more $15

Since beginning our new worship schedule in Advent, many of you have expressed your appreciation for both the convenience and the content of our various services. Our 5:00 is well attended, the noon service is proving convenient to a number of parishioners and newcomers, and the 9:30 is proving to be a popular time for the majority of attendees. Our new Morning Prayer service at noon on Tuesdays has a faithful following and Wednesday evening continues to draw those who appreciate the midweek Eucharist and community dinner.

The only service that is proving inconvenient so far is the Evening Prayer service at 6:30 pm on Thursdays. We will consequently discontinue this service and explore other Evening Prayer options. We will continue to solicit your thoughts and will assess our worship schedule and content in the spring before heading into summer services.

Gini wrote an excellent description of our worship services in the December newsletter which is included here:

Sunday: All of our Sunday services include the Eucharist, or service of Holy Communion, and the laying-on-of-hands for healing. Loving, experienced care is offered in our friendly, sunny nursery from 9:15-noon.

8:00 am. - This is a fairly small, quiet, traditional language (Rite 1) service in the main church.

9:30 am - This is our largest service. This less-traditional (Rite 2) Eucharist service is supported by a full choir leading our outstanding music ministry. There is a joyful, interactive children's chapel led by one of the clergy downstairs in our undercroft at the beginning of this service for children who wish to attend. Children who attend chapel will join their families for Holy Communion. After the service, we have education programs for every age - children, youth, and adult - as well as a place to relax and talk with friends in our HeBrews Café.

Noon - This is a more intimate traditional language (Rite 1) service up in the chancel, or front portion of the main church. It will include sung traditional hymns, and will be a bit more relaxed and informal than our morning services.

5:00 pm - This service will be a relaxed, casual, come-as-you-are service in the main church. It will feature more contemporary music, and will use a more contemporary form of the Eucharist service. If you've been looking for something a little fresh and different, we hope you've found it!

Tuesday - Noon: This will be a service of Morning Prayer, an ancient form of prayer to open the day that has been used around the world for more than 1,000 years. It will be followed by a Bible Study in the library and a bag lunch.

Wednesday - 6:30 pm: This is a quiet, relaxed Eucharist service up in the chancel, or front portion of the church. It is a brief service, usually 30 minutes long, and it is followed by the laying-on-of-hands for healing. Everyone is welcome to our community night dinner which follows downstairs in the Undercroft at 7:00 pm.

Hymns of the Luke Warm Church

•  A Comfy Mattress Is Our God
•  Joyful, Joyful, We Kinda Like Thee
•  Above Average is Thy Faithfulness
•  Lord, Keep Us Loosely Connected to Your Word
•  All Hail the Influence of Jesus' Name
•  My Hope is Built on Nothing Much
•  Amazing Grace, How Interesting the Sound
•  My Faith Looks Around for Thee
•  Be Thou My Hobby
•  O God, Our Enabler in Ages Past
•  Blest Be the Tie That Doesn't Cramp My Style
•  Oh, for a Couple of Tongues to Sing
•  He's Quite a Bit to Me
•  Oh, How I Like Jesus
•  I Lay My Inappropriate Behaviors on Jesus
•  Pillow of Ages, Fluffed for Me
•  I Surrender Some
•  Praise God from Whom All Affirmations Flow
•  I'm Fairly Certain That My Redeemer Lives
•  Self-Esteem to the World! The Lord is Come
•  Sit Up, Sit Up for Jesus
•  Special, Special, Special
•  Spirit of the Living God, Fall Somewhere Near Me
•  Stick Nearby, It's Getting Dark Outside
•  Take My Life and Let Me Be
•  There is Scattered Cloudiness in My Soul Today
•  There Shall be Sprinkles of Blessings
•  What an Acquaintance We Have in Jesus
•  When Peace, Like a Trickle...
•  When the Saints Go Sneaking In
•  Where He Leads Me, I Will Consider Following
•  God of Taste, and God of Stories
•  Lift Every Voice and Intellectualize

(In the back of the Undercroft after the 9:30 service)

Not one for sitting still for the forum? Want to catch up with a friend? No time for coffee at home? Come relax and enjoy a cup of coffee and conversation after the 9:30 service on Sundays. Enjoy our cozy couches and a bit of free time while our children, youth, and adult forum meet. It's cheaper than Starbucks, and you don't have to leave the building!

Notes from Music Lane:   Epiphany is of course the first manifestation of Christ to the Magi representing the Gentiles or in the Eastern Rite, the baptism of Christ.   Of course, in common usage, it means essentially "to come into the light"  or to gain greater understanding.. even something which results in a new beginning as a result of a change in heart or mind. 

As one who enjoys studying hymns, two hymns not listed in the Epiphany section of the 1982 hymnal (both sung to the tune of "Bromley" and  found on pages 28 and 29) include (a)  "O Blest Creator, source of light... "  which matches very neatly with its companion (b)  "O Trinity of Blessed Light."   I think in essence they provide an important part of the Epiphany message when they are interwoven:

"O blest Creator, source of light, you have the day with splendor bright, when on the new and living earth you brought all things to glorious birth....O Trinity of blessed light, O Unity of princely might, the fiery sun now goes his way;  shed thou with-in our hearts thy ray.  ... To God the Father, heavenly Light, to Christ revealed in earthly night, to God the Holy Ghost we raise our equal and unceasing praise."

It is a hymn which calls us to Worship, the most important activity we engage in as followers of Christ.  It celebrates the wholesomeness of the Light  which he brought to the world.

James Robert Catlette

Organist and Choirmaster

2012 Mission Trip to Alabama, June 18-22  Several members of our church have signed up to travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, this summer to assist with home rebuilding efforts.  Last year's hurricanes caused extensive devastation.   When I contacted Christ Church in Tuscaloosa, they expressed their ongoing need to continue "hands on" efforts to revitalize their community.  We will work with Habitat for Humanity staff who will assign us daily tasks at their work site in Tuscaloosa.  Our work week will be June 18-22, Mon-Fri, keeping in mind you should plan to arrive not later than June 17.  We will be staying in a nearby hotel and I'll be working on trying to get the best rate possible.   Children must be over the age of 16 years.  We can take a total of 12 people in our group and so far we have 6 signed up.  So I'm anxiously waiting to hear from 6 more people.   Please contact me, Carol Jones, by email, leisuremd@verizon.net, phone, 301-598-0348 or cell phone 301-503-9244 if you have any questions or want to sign up.  I look forward to hearing from you.

Would you like to remember a loved one or celebrate a special event with flowers on the altar or a sanctuary candle?  The signup sheets for 2012 are on the outside of the parish office door. Please select a date or dates and sign up.  The office staff will contact you about what you want written in the Sunday bulletin. The requested donation amount is $50 for flowers and $20 for candles.

The WOCC will meet in the undercroft at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, February 20, 2012,  Please bring your donation for our annual toiletries collection for Bethesda Cares.  We will assemble them following our meeting. 

Episcopal Relief and Development

Living our faith for a better world.

 Working in partnership with the worldwide Church, ecumenical agencies, and local organizations, Episcopal Relief and Development (ER-D) saves lives and strengthens communities around the world.  ER-D's programs work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals, with focus on

  * Alleviating hunger and improving food supply.

  * Creating economic opportunities and strengthening communities.

  * Promoting health and fighting disease.

 Relief efforts include responding quickly to disasters worldwide, rebuilding communities after disaster strikes, and assisting local dioceses in disaster preparedness.