From the Vicar...

The audacious light of God
 

As I was studying the gospel reading for this coming Sunday I was struck by the intensity of Jesus' words. I was reminded of the fact that throughout the gospel accounts, no one walks away from an encounter with Jesus thinking that it was a boring conversation. No one walks away thinking it was a pleasant but benign chat. You see over and over again folks walking away either full of joy or full of sadness... full of wonder or full of anger. Jesus seemed to touch the core of people and stir and even expose them in a way that drew out profound responses. 

 

In Sunday's reading from John we are given a portion of a larger conversation that Jesus is having with a Pharisee named Nicodemus who was one of the Jewish ruling council. At the beginning of this chapter John records the interesting detail that Nicodemus came to talk to Jesus at night...an unusual time. We are not given the specifics why it was at night but I believe, in context, it's safe to assume that he did not want the other Pharisees to know about his interest in Jesus. We know that the Pharisees in general were not big fans of Jesus and in fact, were the primary group that wanted him executed. They wanted him gone because they found his teaching threatening to their view of God, of life, of people, and of self.  

 

In this nighttime conversation, Jesus says something that blows Nicodemus away: that love has sent the presence of God as light into the world. It is an illuminating and exposing light where everything is revealed...all our struggles, our false selves, our ego driven fa�ades. If this is the case, it is no wonder people have such extreme reactions to Jesus...he is the light of God that reveals our false selves and calls our true selves to life. He is disruptive.  

 

This exposing and disruptive light is audacious. It beckons us, calls us, invites us to grow in awareness of God's presence and love. We are immersed in his presence as we bathe in this light and Christ's eyes are locked on us with invitation and endless compassion.

 

Meister Eckhart may have captured the essence of this audacious, all-encompassing light best. He describes it using another metaphor: "We swim in a sea of God." As we listen to this remarkable story again this coming Sunday, imagine the sea in which you and I swim - and rejoice in the light that is sent us in Christ...the light that is God's never-failing love.

Fr. Chip

 

 

Notes from the Mutual Ministry Review follow-up team

 

On Saturday, March 7, our Mutual Ministry Review follow-up team held its first meeting since the Bishop's Committee's retreat of Feb. 24. At the meeting, we reviewed the top priorities named in the closing session of the retreat. They were as follows:

 

1.     Building trust with the congregation

a.    Communications from the Bishop's Committee.

b.     Specific outreach to concerned parishioners. 

c.     Prayerful listening: "Ask the BC" opportunities.

 

2.     Joint activities - TC and CC

a.   Agap� dinners with a BC member hosting each group of eight (four from each church in each group).

b.   Other activities: We discussed doing one picnic in each location this summer, with a third picnic on "neutral ground" such as the grounds of St. Andrew's Chapel, Rye.

 3.     Programs for children

a.    Paying attention to needs of special needs children where present

b.     Nourishing involvement with Little Blessings and Village Pre-School:

c.     Integrating those children into Sunday services.

d.     Perhaps having an article in the pre-schools' newsletters.

e.     Involving the children that do attend and reaching out to children and families not now attending.

f.      Joint Vacation Bible school program with St. John's and/or others.

 

Actions and recommendations

We concluded that our top priority needs to be drawing the larger congregation into the conversation we are having.  Accordingly, we are recommending that there be an "Ask the BC" open forum after church on Sunday, Apr. 12 at Trinity (David Plank will cover the service that day at Christ Church) and on Sunday, Apr. 19 at Christ Church to introduce what we are doing and answer questions/quell rumors. In the latter case, there can also be some introduction of the upcoming Capital Campaign there.

 

We then recommend that we have a joint "whole congregation" retreat sometime in May, facilitated by Canon Hannah Anderson to address the questions, concerns, celebrations, fears, and in some cases misconceptions the February questionnaire revealed. By bringing the whole community "on board" we can dispel myths while at the same time pull the voices of all of us together. Fr. Chip will contact the North Hampton Congregational Church about serving as a "neutral" venue.

 

Subjects for future meetings of the follow-up team:

• Who is responsible for what?
  • Creating a poster with such information as who you call to book a room, etc., and post it near the entrance of each church for easy reference.

• Children's ministry:
  • Following up on the priorities named above in time to implement them by summer/fall.

• "Shepherding" those who arrive at our doors so they feel welcome and would want to return.
  • "Bread ministry" (taking a loaf of bread to newcomers) in both congregations (Trinity has this, Christ Church doesn't)
  • Lay follow-ups with new arrivals

• Can we/should we hire a Sexton?
  • Is it possible to budget for a sexton (perhaps a 10 hour/week position shared by the two churches) to keep our churches clean and safe in 2016?
  • Barring that, what can we do to be more systematic about building cleanliness and maintenance?

 

Amare Cantare concert coming to Christ Church

Amare Cantare welcomes special guest artists Catherine York on piano and the Artful Noise String Quartet to accompany the choir for Mozart's Misericordias Domini and Fern Hill by John Corigliano, a lyrical setting of Dylan Thomas's poem about his pastoral childhood in Wales. The program also includes Samuel Barber's a cappella Reincarnations and Four Slovak Folk Songs by B�la Bart�k, accompanied by Ms. York. A special feature of the concert will be Artful Noise's performance of Land of Pure Delight: Shaker Songs and Dances for String Quartet by New England's own Kevin Siegfried.

 

The concert at Christ Church will be on Wednesday April 1, at 7:30 p.m. General Admission: $15 at the door, $12 in advance. Seniors and Students: $12 at the door, $10 in advance. Advance tickets are available at: Baldface Books, Dover; Flower Kiosk, Portsmouth; Water Street Books, Exeter; Durham Book Exchange, Durham. For more information see www.amarecantare.org. 

Our Lenten series for 2015 continues

 

Our Lenten series for 2015, "The Parables of Lent," focuses on a series of biblical parables that connect to Lenten themes. Meditations by renowned Lutheran theologian Dean Nadasdy speak of how each parable's plot is a unique message about what we receive through the crucified Christ. Parishioners can take the message with them to enrich their own stories of faith in Christ as they journey through Lent.

 

Christ Church: Soup and bread luncheon and session at noon on five Sundays. (We promise to wait for the end of choir rehearsal to actually begin our sessions!)

 

Trinity Church: Soup and bread supper and session on five Wednesday evenings at 6:00.

 

Coming up next: "Receive Grace: The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard"

 

Coming up next: "Receive Grace: The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard"

• Sunday, March 15 at noon, Christ Church
• Wednesday, March 18 at 6 p.m., Trinity Church 

Week Four in The Parables of Lent is based on the parable of the workers in the vineyard. In this parable, all workers in a vineyard are given the same pay from the master, no matter how long they have labored. The program includes a reading from Scripture, a meditation and a thematic Bible study that helps us to remember that all who have been called by the Master are blessed by the same reward in Christ.

 

 

Holy Week notes

 

Maundy Thursday - Christ Church will host our liturgy, to be held at 7 p.m. The service ends with the solemn Stripping of the Altar and the procession of the reserved Sacrament to the Chapel for repose. The Chapel remains open after the service for any who wish to stay for prayer and meditation.

 

Ecumenical Good Friday Services - During the first of the three hours of Our Lord's suffering on the Cross, North Church, Market Square, Portsmouth, will host an ecumenical service of readings and meditations. Our Vicar is one of the clergy participants; lay participants are invited as well. Hampton will also have a service at noon that day, with First Congregational Church, 127 Winnacunnet Rd., serving as host.

 

The Good Friday Liturgy - Please join us at Trinity Church for our joint evening service, at 7:00 p.m. This moving liturgy recounts John's version of the Passion and includes the praying of the Solemn Collects of Good Friday and the Veneration of the Cross.

 

The Great Vigil of Easter - Ringing in the Resurrection!  

On Saturday evening, April 4, you are invited to bring a bell, small or large, to the 7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil service at Christ Church. We will gather in the darkness, light the New Fire of Easter, process the Paschal (Easter) Candle to the strains of the glorious chant, Exsultet, hear the marvelous stories of God's work in salvation history and then ring those bells at each mention of the word, "Alleluia!" as we celebrate the First Eucharist of Easter. This is a joint celebration, with music from our combined choir and participants from both congregations.

 

Easter Sunrise Service at North Beach - This annual service near where Rt. 27 meets Ocean Blvd. in Hampton, will be held at 6:15 a.m. Easter morning. The Rev. Mark Lowe of Hampton's First Baptist Church is the preacher; Fr. Chip will be among the clergy participants.

  

 

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...

 

Mar. 15	Pastoral Care Ministries of both congregations; Barbara Hall of Trinity Church; Kathy & Bill Geisendorfer of Christ Church
Mar. 22	Salvation Army Soup Kitchen ministry of Christ Church; Debra Littlefield of Trinity Church; Eliza Gifford of Christ Church

  

 

Village Preschool, 200 High Street, Hampton will host their annual Easter Bunny Breakfast on Saturday, March 28, 2015 from 8:00 - 10:30.  There will be a full breakfast, raffles, crafts, and visits with the Easter Bunny.  The cost for the breakfast is $5 per person.  The breakfast will be held at Hobbs House and Village Preschool, 200 High Street, Hampton.   All are welcome to come and participate.