May 7, 2015
News from the Shared Ministry 
of
Christ Church, Portsmouth  & 
Trinity Church, Hampton 
In the Episcopal Diocese of NH
 
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Worship Services
The Rev. David "Chip" Robinson

Vicar 

 

All people of faith are welcome to receive Holy Communion at the Lord's Table 


 

Christ Episcopal Church 

1035 Lafayette Road

Portsmouth, NH 03801

Rite II at 10:30 am
Coffee Hour follows
 
Clergy office hours 
Tues & Thurs 9am-12noon

200 High St.
Hampton, NH 03842
Saturday Rite l at 5pm
Rite II at 8:45 am
Coffee Hour after the service
  
Clergy office hours
Mon & Wed 9am-12 noon
 
 
The Vicar's sermons can be found by clicking on the link for either church and going to the Worship page.
Pastoral Care
Leaders
 
Jean Shula
Linda McVay

603-430-9888 (home)
603-988-9755 (cell)
Links

Little Blessings Child Care Center at Christ Church Portsmouth  

Little Blessings Child Care Center 

(603) 431-1809 

at Trinity Church, Hampton

Village Preschool
(603) 929-7349

Episcopal Churches on the Seacoast
 
Seacoast Convocation
 
Christ Church,Portsmouth
St. John's, Portsmouth
St. Thomas, Dover
St. George's, Durham
Ministry Schedule

 

Christ Church
 

Going into the hospital?

 

Due to privacy laws, churches are no longer routinely informed if you or a loved one is admitted to the hospital.  Please be sure you let us know when and where you will be a patient so we can be in touch with you and include you in our prayers and healing ministry. Don't assume the Vicar knows - he would much rather hear from several people than from no one!

 





 

 

mountain-cross-silhouette.jpg

 

From the Vicar...

The Ascension tells us that it is good and holy to be human

 

One week from today is the Feast of the Ascension. The Ascension (Luke 24:44-53/Acts 1:1-11) is probably not the best known of the feast days in the Church's calendar, but it is one that takes on increasing depth and importance the more you think about it and experience it. In this feast, we are drawn into an event that has cosmic significance.

The Ascension is not about gravity, or the physical location of heaven, or any of that. It is about God. In fact, even though it comes toward the end of the season of Easter, the Ascension is most closely related in meaning to Christmas. At Christmas we celebrate the Incarnation, God becoming flesh and living among us.

What was begun at Christmas is brought full circle and proclaimed again in a different way at the Ascension. In the Incarnation, what it means to be God became fully a part of what it means to be a human being. In Jesus, the human and the divine become united in the person and life of one man. In the Ascension, this human being became fully a part of who God is.

It was not the spirit of Jesus, or the essence of Jesus, or the divine nature of Jesus, or the invisible part of Jesus, or the idea of Jesus, or anything like that, that ascended to the Father. It was the resurrected body of Jesus: a body that the disciples had touched, a body that ate and drank with them, a real, physical, but gloriously restored body - bearing the marks of nails and spear. This humanity has become a living, participating part of Divinity.

The Ascension tells us that it is a good and holy thing to be a human. It is so good and holy a thing that God became human. The fullness of God now includes what it means to be a human being.

So we are able to approach God with confidence and joy. Because we are not only dealing with the Creator of the universe and the Sovereign of all time and of eternity; we are also drawing near to the One who lived our life, has shared our fate, who knows us, and cares about us.


Here on the Seacoast, we are planning a special and festive way of celebrating the Ascension - a Taiz� celebration at St. John's Church next Thursday evening at 7:00 - about which more below. Pardon the pun, but I think you'll find it an "uplifting" experience.

 

Fr. Chip

 

 

Seacoast Convocation Ascension Day Taiz� service

St. John's Church, Portsmouth  

Thursday, May 14 at 7 p.m.

 

Ascension Day stands alongside Christmas, Easter and Pentecost as one of the four "Major Feasts of Our Lord." Following the chronology outlined in the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, it commemorates our Lord's Ascension to the Father on the fortieth day after the Resurrection.

 

The Seacoast Convocation of the Episcopal Church will offer a joint celebration in the Taiz� tradition in honor of this occasion on Thursday, May 14. The 7:00 p.m. service will be held at St. John's Church, Portsmouth.

 

I encourage you to come.

Fr. Chip



An invitation from the Bishop

 

Dear Clergy and People of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire,

 

I write to encourage you to participate in a series of "Community Conversations" across the Granite State, and to ask you to specifically invite members of your church communities to attend these meetings - during church announcements, through your church newsletters, or any other means you have to extend this encouragement from me - and ask that they bring back ideas and solutions for how our church can respond. For more information about the dates and locations near you, see the short article below. I hope you can make it and be a part of this critical conversation. If you can't make it, but would like to share your thoughts on the questions posed, please send your comments to Tina Pickering at  [email protected] and she will see that they get to the organizers.

 

Yours in Christ,

Bishop Rob

 

Opportunity Gap: NH Listening Sessions

This May, New Hampshire Listens, part of the Carsey School of Public Policy at UNH, is hosting local conversations across the state that will engage residents in an important conversation about the increasing barriers our state's children face in achieving their dreams, based on Robert Putnam's bestselling book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. We hope you will attend and begin thinking about how we, as a Church, can provide solutions to the growing Opportunity Gap. There are 12 locations across the state. For more information and to register, click HERE.

 

Southern New Hampshire dates and locations:

 

Wednesday, May 6         Elm St. Middle School, Nashua

Thursday, May 7             UNH, Manchester

Tuesday, May 12            Portsmouth High School cafeteria, Portsmouth

Wednesday, May 13       South Campus, Frisbie Hospital, Rochester



The Remarkable Life of Celia Thaxter

Saturday, May 16 at Hobbs House, Trinity Church

 

You are invited to explore "The Remarkable Life of Celia Thaxter" in a presentation by actor Stephanie Voss Nugent on Saturday, May 16 at Hobbs House at Trinity Church. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and refreshments will be served; the presentation begins at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10. Trinity and Christ Churches are the co-sponsors of the event.

 

"The Remarkable Life of Celia Thaxter" is a slide presentation in which Nugent, a professional actor, director, producer, and founding Executive Director of ACT ONE, invites participants to join her "backstage," as she transforms historical research into performance, tracing Celia's life from her childhood on White Island Light to her unexpected fame as a writer. Using archival photography and performing extended passages from Celia's prose and poetry, Nugent explores the forces that shaped Thaxter's work, and we are introduced to some of the writers, musicians, and artists who followed Celia to her beloved island home each summer.

 

For more information or to reserve your tickets, please call (603) 926-5688. Tickets may be purchased at the door (cash or check only please).

 

 

Capital Campaign planning gets underway at Christ Church

 

On Sunday, April 19, Fr. Chip and the Bishop's Committee introduced to the Christ Church congregation a broad outline of the plans for that community's upcoming Capital Campaign.

 

Originally scheduled for last spring, the campaign was moved to this spring to allow the opportunity to better define both the mission priorities and capital projects to be included in the campaign. Now, the Bishop's Committee feels confident we have the pieces in place to make the campaign a successful one, so planning has now begun in earnest.

 

On Sunday, May 2, after the 10:30 a.m. liturgy, there was an initial meeting of our five Capital Campaign Teams to flesh out more fully the parameters of the Campaign and to begin organizing for the tasks ahead. Here are our teams as now constituted:

 

Coordinating Team (consists of one representative from each of the five working teams, under the leadership of the Vicar): Suzanne George (Advance Gifts Team); Lynda Swartz (Hospitality Team); Peter Monte (Contact Team); Craig Davis (Information Team); and Melanie Harden (Response Team).

 

Advance Gifts Team (this group "brainstorms" names of potential lead donors and develops the Gifts Chart for the campaign): Suzanne George, Paula Kidder, Cindy Robinson. One additional member needed - preferably one with long experience at Christ Church.

 

Hospitality Team (this group plans events by which we will communicate and celebrate the campaign): Craig Davis, Lynda Swartz, Jim Sparrell, Cindy Taylor.

 

Contact Team (these folks make the actual one-on-one calls with lead donors and participate in making the presentation at the Cottage Meetings this summer): Liz Malone and Peter Monte - so far. At least three additional team members are needed. There will be training in making this an easy, time-limited task.

 

Information Team (does all the publicity and designs the pledge forms and other literature): Craig Davis, Gary Dozier, Kris Ebbeson, Katie Towler.

 

Response Team (tallies and reports responses; providse acknowledgement letters to donors): Marilyn Bunting, Melanie Harding, Shirley Phillips.

 

Two of the teams have already set their next meeting dates: The Advance Gifts Team will meet on Monday, May 11 at 10 a.m.; the Contact Team on Saturday, May 16 at 1 p.m. As both of these teams are in need of additional members, we are inviting any who might be interested in learning more about these teams to attend one of these one-hour meetings.

 

Be watching for more about our campaign as it gets more organized. Our hope is to complete background planning by the end of June; to conduct lead donor contacts this summer; and to offer the Cottage Meetings and other events late this summer or early fall. We aim to complete the pledge-gathering phase of the campaign by Homecoming Sunday, Sept. 13 or 20.

 

 

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...

 

May 10

The Worship Committee at Trinity Church; Hope Murray & Tommy, and Anne Newell of Trinity Church; Joan HoSue of Christ Church

 

May 17

 

The Worship Committee at Christ Church; Dan & Barbara Nicholson of Trinity Church; Paula Kidder of Christ Church

 

 

Trinity's 60th anniversary

 

Trinity's 60th anniversary is rapidly approaching! 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 - but the "festive event" referenced in last week's article will come one week later, on Sunday, June 7, when we will invite all Trinity "alumni" to return and join us for an outdoor service and picnic on the Trinity Church lawn. Christ Church folk are, of course, welcome as well - but we'll be saving our joint picnic for an August date. Between then and the end of 2015, we plan to theme a number of events around this milestone, so stay tuned. 



23rd annual Letter Carriers' Food Drive is on May 9

 

On Saturday, May 9, 2015, letter carriers across the country will be collecting food for families in need. Our own pantry at Hobbs House is among the agencies that will be receiving this food for distribution. It's easy to help:

 

1. Collect and bag non-perishable* food items

2. Place by mailbox for letter carrier to deliver to a local food bank or pantry

 

*Donate items like canned meats, fish, soup, juice, vegetables, pasta, cereal, peanut butter and rice. Please do not include items that have expired or are in glass containers. 

 

 

Our last two Calendar drawing winners

 

Throughout the month of April, we have been publishing the winners of our daily Calendar fundraiser drawings. Here are our winners for the final two drawings of April 29 & 30 ("GC" means "gift card"):

 

Date

Prize(s)

Winner

 

Apr. 29

$30 GC: Subway

$25 GC: Barnes & Noble

 

Brenda Givens

(sold by Louise Bridle)

Apr. 30

Simple Will or other Legal Work

Valued at $150

Jessica McClain

(sold by Alexis Zaricki)

 

And now for some interesting statistics on this month's winners:

  • Eleven of the winning tickets were sold by Christ Church members: 8 to members of the congregation; 3 to friends and neighbors.
  • Twenty were sold by Trinity Church members: 5 to members; 15 to friends and neighbors.
  • Why 31 winners in a 30-day month? We had a bonus drawing on Easter Sunday to give away a prize that had been submitted after the calendar was printed.
  • We had two double winners: Craig Davis of Christ Church and Joann Murawski, a co-worker of Patrice Wood. What are the chances of the Wardens of each congregation being the sellers of the twice-winning tickets?

Our thanks to all who sold tickets - and all who bought them!

 

 

Annual Plant Sale on Saturday, May 9th

 

Just a reminder for the upcoming plant sale at Christ Church on Saturday, May 9th from 8-2.  

Now is the time to start separating the perennials in your gardens so that they can be part of the annual plant sale. 

Thanks for your help!
Tena Wolf
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNH Professor Jason Sokol to Speak About Racism and the "Conflicted Soul of the Northeast" 

 

Jason Sokol, Assistant Professor of History at the University of New Hampshire, will speak about racism and the "conflicted soul of the Northeast" at South Church on Friday evening, May 15, at 8pm. Prof. Sokol will discuss and read from his newly released book, All Eyes Are Upon Us: Race and Politics from Boston to Brooklyn. The book talk will be followed by a Q & A and book signing. 

Raised in Springfield, MA, Sokol graduated from Oberlin College, and received his doctorate in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of There Goes My Everything: White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights (Alfred A. Knopf), which was named one of Jonathan Yardley's 10 best books of 2006 in the Washington Post Book World. Sokol is the recipient of fellowships from Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Cornell University, and has taught courses at all of those universities. He received the Harvard University Certificate of Teaching Excellence. His writings have also appeared in popular publications such as The Boston Globe, The American Prospect, The Nation, Slate, and The Root.  This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 603-436-4762.

 

Contacts
The Rev. David "Chip" Robinson, Vicar
Christ Episcopal Church, 1035 Lafayette Road, Portsmouth, NH 03801
phone: 603-436-8842
Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:00-Noon

Trinity Episcopal Church, 200 High Street, Hampton, NH 03842
Shared Ministry Administrator: Nita Niemczyk
phone: 603-926-5688
Office hours: Monday-Friday from 9:00-1:00