After the success of our Epiphany ecumenical choral celebration, we've decided to offer a sequel. On Sunday, May 4 at 2:00, the combined choirs of several area churches will be gathering at Hampton's United Methodist Church on Lafayette Rd. for an Ecumenical Eastertide Choral Celebration. Each participating choir will offer one Easter anthem from its repertoire - then all will join for a mass singing of Handel's "Hallelujah!" chorus. A new twist this time: Four of our area clergy (Fr. Chip among them) will join to form a quartet for one anthem.

You asked for it...Fr. Chip's sermons online

The suggestion was made at last month's Bishop's Committee meeting that our Vicar post his sermons on the church websites. Beginning this week, they are now posted. You will find them linked to the "Worship" page on our websites:

Our Shared Ministry Cycle of Prayer this week and next

Each week, in both of our churches, we pray for one ministry we share and one or two households in each church. About once every six weeks, we will instead using the Shared Ministry Collect we prayed throughout the opening months of our Shared Ministry.

In our prayers the next two weeks, we give God thanks for...

Final session of "Via Media" at Christ Church

The final session of our Via Media series will be held on Sunday, April 27 at 12:00 noon. We will begin with a soup and bread lunch in the Marshall Room (the room where coffee hour is held), and will continue with video and discussion in the classroom next door. Our topic will be "So What? What does it mean to be a Christian today?"     We extend a particular welcome to all who have been coming as newcomers or guests during the course of the Lenten season. This is a great "wrap up" of what the Episcopal Church teaches and lives.

Notes from the Bishop's Committee meeting

The April meeting was held a week late due to Holy Week - but that provided Patrice Wood the opportunity to build her opening meditation around the 44^th anniversary of the first Earth Day. She closed by praying the Thanksgiving for the Beauty of the Earth from p.840 of the Prayer Book.

In his report, the Vicar brought the group up to date on the work of the team that is following up on our retreat goals. This group will be meeting every other month, and started by concentrating on goals articulated by Trinity Church. One goal has been met and exceeded already: Average Saturday/Sunday attendance is running 26% ahead of a year ago at Trinity, well in excess of the 10% goal set at our retreat. At Christ Church, a 6% increase reverses the decline of the previous year. In their next meeting, they will be concentrating on preparations that will be needed to make our spaces more flexible to meet the needs of potential ministries or organizations that might wish to rent them either for weekday or weekend use.

In the individual sessions, the committees tackled the following: 

• Trinity's delegation received an update on relationships with the Village Pre-School. George Koch will be Trinity's new liaison with the school.
• There was discussion of the condition of Hobbs House and the need to do more detailed cleaning than our resident groups provide. A thorough cleaning with a waxing and sealing of the floor was suggested, hopefully prior to the Nugent presentation on May 17. We will seek bids on having this done.
• TASC has been approached about having a handicapped van. They are not sure they want to have one, but if they do, it will need to be parked on church property. The major issue: moving it to allow the snowplow to clear out the area where it is parked. We will follow up with them on our concerns. 

• Christ Church's group continued its conversation on Little Blessing's "rental" rate and other expense sharing. Lynda is going to get a figure from the Assessor's office on rental rates per square foot in the City of Portsmouth for "class B" space.
• The Capital Campaign Team is looking at a more ambitious campaign than just repaying the furnace loan. Taking into account some of the goals articulated at February's retreat, they are also looking at work that may need to be done to our main floor space, including the Nave. A preliminary slogan for the campaign: "A Fresh Start for Christ Church."
• The current copier, now 11 years old, is being replaced by a smaller multi-function printer that more closely matches our current needs. The old machine will be taken away by a company that recycles it for its parts. 

In general business: 

• The FUNdraising committee spoke of several events in the works, including the May 10 plant sale at Christ Church, the Yankee Candle fundraiser, and a proposal for a "Christmas in July" event. Meanwhile, the Calendar Drawing has proved even more popular than last year - and has raised more money.
• Gordon Lane gave an update on the upcoming Stephanie Nugent presentation on the Isles of Shoals, being presented in Hobbs Hall on May 17. Tickets are now going on sale at $10 each (120 tickets total). Gordon asked folks to place posters in area establishments. Kris Ebbeson is handling other publicity.
• The Seacoast Newspapers (Portsmouth Herald, Hampton Union) will begin charging for religious listings beginning in May. It was agreed we would not do a weekly listing at the rate charged, but will explore doing some joint advertising with other churches at a rate that would be less per church. 

Full minutes will be posted as soon as they are available. The May meeting will be held in the narthex of Trinity Church on Tuesday, May 20, at 7 p.m.

Calendar Drawing winners

On Tuesday, April 1^st, we held the first drawing of our Calendar Fundraiser. Fr. Chip and Cindy are drawing the winning ticket each morning and notifying the winners. Here are our winners so far:

Winners will be announced each week in the E-News.  We wish good luck to everyone!

Saturday, May 3 - One day to serve

Operation Blessing and Seacoast Adopt-A-Block in Portsmouth are sponsoring a one-day event called "One Day to Serve" on Saturday, May 3. This past Sunday, Linda Seward, our liaison with Operation Blessing at Christ Church, issued the invitation to any who wish to join the effort.

At "One Day to Serve," we have the opportunity to transform a neighborhood in a single day by...picking up trash, raking, spreading mulch or loam, and painting or washing windows.

The best part is this event is local (within minutes from where you live), easy (you simply show up and serve) and affordable (it's free). The goal is to involve 300-500 local church people from all over the Seacoast area working together for the same cause.

There is power and impact in "showing God's love in practical ways." Serving is a way to treat people the way God wants to see them treated.  It is the very essence of God's personality. That's why it's so powerful. Registration is at Connect Community Church, 200 Chase Dr., Portsmouth (just off Market St., near I-95 Exit 7) from 11:00-12:00. Service will take place in 13 locations from 1:00-4:00. For details, contact Tammy Joslyn at 603-988-2671 or log on to

The History, Lore and Legends of the Isles of Shoals

May 17 at Trinity Church

Celebrate the history, lore and legends of the Isles of Shoals - fishermen and pirates...ghosts and grand hotels!  Trinity Church in Hampton and Christ Church in Portsmouth invite you to join us on May 17th at Hobbs House, 200 High Street Hampton, NH, to celebrate the rich history of the Isles of Shoals with an original program by actor Stephanie Voss Nugent.  The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and refreshments will be served; the presentation begins at 7 p.m.  Tickets are $10.  For more information or to reserve your tickets please see Ann Newell or Gordon Lane at Trinity Church, or Kris Ebbeson at Christ Church

Annual Plant Sale

The Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire has revised the Safe Church Policy during the summer of 2013. The curriculum for Safe Church Training now consists of three hours of online training and three hours of class training. On-line Modules must be completed prior to attending any Safe Church Class.

Anyone in need of refresher training is asked to take the new Initial Safe Church Training. Refresher training is required every three years vs. five years. Please contact your Safe Church Minister to verify when you are due to take your refresher training.

Please register with your Safe Church Minister. You may register anytime. Even if you plan on attending a class this fall you may register now and complete your online training whenever is convenient for you between now and the fall. For Christ Church, contact Patsy Tremblay at pehjat@comcast.netor call 603-205-2195. At Trinity Church, contact Patrice Wood at phwood2013@gmail.com.

Training classes for this spring are offered the following Saturdays from 8:30am to noon except as noted on May 22nd below:

May 22, 2014 - Trinity Church, Meredith, 6pm to 9pm, Thursday

May 31, 2014 - Trinity Church, Claremont

Training classes for the fall are offered the following Saturdays from 8:30am to noon except as noted on October 7th below:

September 13, 2014 - Trinity Church, Meredith

September 20, 2014 - Christ Church, Exeter

October 4, 2014 - St. Barnabas, Berlin

October 7, 2014 - All Saints, Peterborough 6:30pm to 9:30pm, Tuesday

November 15, 2014 - St. Thomas, Hanover

November 22, 2014 - St. Paul's, Concord