From the Vicar...
A joyous Easter season continues - now take it with you!
What an extraordinary Holy Week and Easter we had this year! Attendance was up, and I've heard from many of you how our worship together over that time was both moving and meaningful. I share those sentiments. From the lows of the crucifixion on Good Friday to the exuberant joys of the Easter Vigil and Easter Day, the Holy Spirit was powerfully with us throughout our worship those holy days.
That said, Easter is not over - by a long shot. Easter is more than a one-day celebration: it continues over fifty days until Pentecost (June 8th this year). The seasons of Lent and Easter complement each other beautifully: if Lent is a time for us to contemplate our sins of commission - the vices that distract us from God - Easter is a time to ponder our sins of omission, our neglect of the virtues with which we sometimes forget to clothe ourselves in the afterglow of Christ's resurrection. Among the Christian virtues (or "fruits of the Spirit") associated with the risen life are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23).
These are not just for Sunday mornings. These are Spiritual fruits we need to nurture at home with our loved ones, as well as out in "the world" where the daily challenges we face are matched only by the call we have to let our "light so shine" in witness to Christ's love.
Easter, as a matter of history, may have happened long ago, but everything Jesus was and is remains. He resides within us, as we, the Body of Christ, continue to bear him up in our own time, our own century. I know you will be reading this about two and a half weeks into Easter - well after you receive most of the Easter greetings you are likely to get. But to emphasize that the season isn't over, let me repeat: A joyous Easter season to you all! Now...take it with you out into the world.
Faithfully,
Fr. Chip
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 use 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...
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May 11
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Worship Committee at Christ Church; Joan HoSue of Christ Church; Hope Murray & Tommy, Ann Newell of Trinity Church
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May 18
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Worship Committee at Trinity Church; Paula Kidder of Christ Church; Dan & Barbara Nicholson of Trinity Church
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Upcoming events |
May 10
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8 a.m.-2 p.m
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Plant Sale - Christ Church
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May 17
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7:00 p.m.
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History, Lore and Legends of the Isles of Shoals
Trinity Church
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May 18
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11:15
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Community Conversation - Christ Church
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May 20
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7:00 p.m.
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Bishop's Committee - Trinity Church
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The Peace of Wild Things 'The Peace of Wild Things', Women Singing Out's second concert of their 2014 season will be presented on Saturday, June 7th at 7 pm and Sunday, June 8th at 3 pm here at Christ Church. This Spring Concert celebrates the beauty and fierceness of the natural world. Join us for a musical journey that will restore your soul, motivate you, and make you smile! See Betty Lane or Suzanne George for tickets. Women Singing OUT! will also be performing at New Hampshire Audubon's 100 Year Anniversary Celebration at the Massabesic Audubon Center in Auburn, New Hampshire, on Sunday, June 1st at at 3:00pm. Tickets can be purchased by calling 603-668-2045 Call to Personal and Global Transformation God, as Lover and Healer, ever invites us to new possibilities and to believe in our potential to make a difference in the midst of our violent and hurting world. Through Scripture, contemporary stories, and poetry, we will be stretched and challenged to believe in our call to become mystics, saints and prophets. We will laugh, cry and celebrate as we recognize more deeply the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. This program will be presented at Adelynrood in Newbury, MA, May 30 - June 1 (Friday dinner - Sunday lunch) by award-winning author, poet, missioner and retreat leader, Edwina Gateley. (See www.edwinagateley.com) Contact Betty Lane or go towww.adelynrood.org for additional information. Plant Sale The annual Christ Church plant sale will be held on Saturday, May 10th, from 8-2. Please consider donating some of the perennials from your gardens or something for the bake sale. A sign-up sheet will be posted in the Marshall room for anyone who would like to donate time as well to make the plant sale a success. Smiling faces help make our plant sale GREAT!
Letter Carriers' food drive this Saturday To combat hunger, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will conduct its 22nd annual food drive on Saturday, May 10. Letter carriers will collect non-perishable food donations on that day as they deliver mail along their postal routes. It is the nation's largest single-day food drive, and is held annually on the second Saturday in May in 10,000 cities and towns across America. Locally, our Trinity Church pantry and Portsmouth's Operation Blessing are among the pantries benefited by the program. People who have questions about the drive should ask their letter carrier, contact their local post office, or go to nalc.org/food. 'History Lore and Legends of the Isles of Shoals ' Dedicated to Kay Scott and in Memory of Jean Wadman A little more than a year ago, Kay Scott was able to make arrangements for Trinity Church and Christ Church to have a special presentation about the Isle of Shoals, by Stephanie Voss Nugent, a woman well know in both local and regional theatrical circles. Kay, joined by her friend Jean Wadman, presented this fund raising opportunity project to the Joint Bishop's Committees in the fall of 2013, where it received their full endorsement. As work on the project started, Kay had the a major stroke. Even then, and while residing at Webster at Rye, she offered to do what she could. Then, following a brief illness, Jean passed away. With the loss of both of these women, the Bishop's committees agreed it would impossible to organize this fundraiser for the fall. Early this year, there was a resurgence of interest in the program and Stephanie Nugent was thrilled with the idea and agreed to present 'part one' in the spring with a 'part two' of her presentation in the fall. A committee was quickly formed, including members from each church, with the date and place set. "The History, Lore, & Legends of the Isles of Shoals" introduces the rocky archipelago that lies just off the New Hampshire coast. In this program, actor, theater director and researcher Stephanie Voss Nugent introduces some of the hardy people, (ordinary, famous and infamous) who lived on these islands over the last 500 years. The presentation includes wonderful archival photographs from the 1870s that chronicle the transformation of Star Island from the tiny fishing village of Gosport, into a lair for pirates, a home for poets, a grand hotel and island resort - even ghosts and a whole lot more! Tickets are available through Betty Lane, Kris Ebbeson and Peter Monte at Christ Church; Judy Koch, Anne Newell and Gordon Lane at Trinity. And at the administrative office at Hobbs Community Center. Fr. Chip Robinson also has tickets. We could use your help with set up that Saturday afternoon and clean-up immediately afterwards. This will be a night of fellowship and friendship, while having a nice evening out, all while learning a bit about our local history! A word about our Calendar Drawing winners You might be interested to learn that, of the 223 slips that were in the basket for the 2014 Shared Ministry Calendar Drawing, our winners were distributed as follows: 10 were members of Christ Church and 6 were non-members to whom Christ Church members sold tickets; 7 were Trinity Church members and 7 were folks to whom Trinity members sold tickets. We also had 6 two-time winners! Our thanks to all who contributed prizes, all who bought calendars for themselves, and all who sold them to neighbors, co-workers and friends. Not only was this year's drawing a lot of fun - it made our two churches a lot of money! (223 x 10 = $2,230!) |
