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 From the Vicar... The Great Fifty Days have begun Easter is a festival season of fifty days whose first day was Easter Day, the Sunday of the Resurrection, and whose last day is the Day of Pentecost. Easter began after sundown on Holy Saturday - which is why the Great Vigil began at 7:30 this year. (Sunset that day was at 7:12.) The Easter season includes the events of Christ's resurrection and ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. The word "Easter" is unique to the English language and is not paralleled in the languages of most other cultures. It comes from Eostre, a Teutonic goddess whose name is associated with springtime, growth, and fertility. In nearly all other major languages the name of the day is Pascha, which means "Passover." The resurrection means that Christ has overcome death and in his victory has opened to us everlasting life. Nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). The Lord's new life in which we share is the message of this season. As the sacrament of new life, baptism is an Easter theme; as baptized Christians we take time during Eastertide to ponder the meaning of membership in Christ's body, the Church. We look at events in the Church's life, the sacraments, the accounts of resurrection and the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus to discover their meaning and what they tell us about how we as a community are to live the life of the Risen Lord. Like the two who walked the Emmaus road with Jesus, we can know Christ in the sharing of the word and in the breaking of bread at the Eucharist. The Great Fifty Days of Easter are the time when those who have reaffirmed their baptismal vows or have been baptized at the Easter Vigil reflect on the meaning of their baptism. Through the lectionary texts they explore the "mysteries" of their faith. The early church called this period of the process mystagogia. Today the whole church enters into this period of uncovering anew the mysteries of faith expressed in sacrament, word, and life lived for others. Fr. Chip
Mutual Ministry Review open forums
In November, 2013, a year after Fr. David "Chip" Robinson joined us as vicar of our two churches, both congregations voted to adopt a "Covenant for a Shared Ministry" between our two churches. This came about after months of serious discussion, debate, and eventually mutual unanimous agreement by the members of each church's Bishop's Committee. The resulting covenant was signed by the wardens, Fr. Chip and our bishop, The Rt. Rev. Robert Hirschfeld.
Since that time, your Bishop's Committee has been working on behalf of us all in the best interests of each church and what we hope and believe God intended us to do. One of the requirements under the covenant was to have a "Mutual Ministry Review" a year after signing that document.
In February, with input from many of you by way of a questionnaire, we undertook that review. Now, we want to share our findings with you and address the concerns you raised in that input. With this in mind, we invite you to an "Ask the Bishop's Committee" meeting of the entire congregation.
- For Trinity Church parishioners, the meeting will be April 12 in Hobbs House including "coffee hour" immediately after the 8:45 service.
- For Christ Church, the meeting will be April 19 in the church and will include "coffee hour" immediately after the 10:30 service.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Your Bishop's Committee
Coming up next...Trinity's 60th anniversary! 
Now that the Easter season is underway, we can begin turning our attention to our next big milestone...Trinity's 60th anniversary! The celebration kicks off on Trinity's actual 60th anniversary: Trinity Sunday, May 31. We will have a special Eucharist in honor of the occasion that day, with a festive event (still being planned) to follow. Between then and the end of 2015, we plan to theme a number of events around this milestone, so stay tuned. Your ideas for ways to help us celebrate are welcomed.
Jazz Night at Hobbs House - Trinity Church
Come listen and dance to the
Epsico-Cats Jazz Band! We will have hors d'ouvres and desserts.
Date: May 2, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Place: Hobbs House - Trinity Church
200 High Street, Hampton, NH
Tickets are $10 per adult, and $5 for children under 18 and seniors.
Calendar drawing winners
Throughout the month of April, we will be publishing the winners of our daily Calendar fundraiser drawings. Cindy Robinson will draw a name at noon each day and the winner will be notified they've won - and how to retrieve their gift. All names go back in the basket - so each person has thirty chances to win. And no prize is worth less than $50! Here are our winners for the April 1-7 drawings ("GC" means "gift card"):
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Date
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Prize(s)
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Winner
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Apr. 1
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$25 GC: Trader Joe's
$25 RiverStones frame
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Cheryl Monat
(sold by Gretchen Gobar)
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Apr. 2
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$25 GC: Darden Restaurants
$30 GC: Cumberland Farms
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Zachary Nickerson
(sold by Sandi Nickerson)
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Apr. 3
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$60 GC for a reflexology session
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Jamie Kantapin
(sold by Carol Gobar)
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Apr. 4
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$30 GC: Barnes & Noble
$20 GC: Flatbread Pizza
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Joann Murawski
(sold by Patrice Wood)
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Apr. 5
Bonus:
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$25 GC: Market Basket
$25 GC: IHOP Restaurant
Pro-Brush dental care system valued at $100
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David Plank
Ginnie-Lee McCaddin
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Apr. 6
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4 GB 7" XTreme Play tablet valued at $50
$25 GC: Philbrick's Fresh Market
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Billy Leibundgut
(sold by Donna Northam)
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Apr. 7
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$20 GC: Domino's Pizza
$30 Visa GC
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Iris McLoughlin
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Our Shared Ministry Cycle of Prayer
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...
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Apr. 12
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Christ Church Sunday School; J.R., Coleen & Faith Bridle of Trinity Church; Liza & David, Colin & Griffin McGuckin of Christ Church
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Apr. 19
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Soup Kitchen teams at Trinity Church; Bob Main & Belinda Wilkes of Trinity Church; Melanie Harden, Jim Heinz & Jeffrey Heinz of Christ Church
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An Easter "thank you"
I want to express my thanks to everyone who helped make our Holy Week and Easter services so meaningful and beautiful. A special "thank you" to our altar guilds, who made both sanctuaries look so festive; to Alexis and the choir for the joyful music you played and sang; to the Acolytes and other Altar Ministers who led the Congregations through our worship and praise; to the Readers and Intercessors, who told the Story so well; to Nita for all the hard work typing, printing and assembling bulletins; and to all of you whose presence pulled it all together. What a week!
Fr. Chip
2015 Lay Leadership Institute
Saturday May 9 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Rundlett Middle School, 144 South Street, Concord
 It is now time to get ready for the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire's 2015 Lay Leadership Institute. This full and exciting day is your chance to meet and network with other congregations, while learning new skills and coming to a fuller understanding of how your Church works, its structure, and your role. All members of the congregation willing to work in the governance and ministries of the church (as well as all members of the Bishop's committees and church committees) are encouraged to enroll in this Diocesan program dedicated to the preparation and formation of our congregational leaders. Please refer to this website Lay Leadership Institute for further information about the 2015 Lay Leadership Institute, including detailed seminar content and the registration schedule. Blessings, Judith Esmay Canon for Lay Leadership; Dean, Lay Leadership Institute (603) 643-9085 One Day To Serve Saturday May 2nd 11am-4pm One Day To Serve is a one-day event in the Seacoast Area where neighborhoods are transformed by Christians eagerly helping people in need. Your church group will transform a neighborhood in a single day by: Picking up trash, Raking, Spreading mulch or loam, and Painting or washing windows. WHAT'S NEEDED FROM YOU! BY APRIL 15: Your Time - 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Name of Group and Logo, Number Attending T-Shirt Sizes, Type of Sandwich (Turkey, Salami, or Vegetarian) I am really excited to be working with everyone. ANY questions you have, feel free to throw them my way. I have organized this for the past 6 years and have seen some truly amazing things come through this effort. I love the partnership between us and the community. Not only is this a great example but it makes a difference in the quality of life for our neighbors. Tammy Joslyn, Operation Blessing Outreach Director (603) 988-2671 seacoastadoptablock@yahoo.com or outreach@theobnh.org | 
