Joint picnic set for Saturday, August 8
Liz Malone and Lynda Swartz have graciously offered their spacious backyard in Hampton Falls for a joint picnic for both our congregations on Saturday, August 8 from 1:00-4:00 p.m.
We'll need some help getting 6 tables and at least a few chairs from Trinity and everyone should bring a lawn chair. As for food, we'll need rolls, and the usual pot luck food - side dishes, salads, beverages or desserts. The Bishop's Committee will take care of hot dogs and hamburgers. We'll also need some help getting things set up - so any who can come early to help out with that are welcome to do so.
The address is 14 Kensington Road (Route 84), Hampton Falls, and their telephone number is 603-929-1719. If folks are unsure what to bring, they can call Lynda and Liz for suggestions.
Another thing is if people have lawn games like badminton, volleyball or other, they can bring them. Come join us for a fun day!
Trinity to offer Monday evening program for families this fall
This fall, we will be introducing a new program at Trinity Church: a "family night out" on the first and third Mondays of each month. The program will begin Monday, Sept. 21 and will continue in October on the 5th and 19th.
How does the new program work? During the school year, we will meet two Mondays a month, 5:30-7:00 p.m., in Hobbs Hall. We begin with dinner (free!) - which we'll be publicizing in a variety of places to try and garner interest. This is followed by a Bible story or other children's activity, and a very brief communion service. All are welcome to participate in all parts of the gathering, including communion.
Questions? Interested in helping? Please contact Fr Chip! We need food preparers and servers, helpers with the children's program, and set-up and clean-up help. Our plan is to have Trinity provide food on the third Monday of each month, with Village Pre-School staff and parents providing food on the first Monday of each month. We are currently reviewing samples of proposed curriculum for the children's education portion of the program. Be watching for further details as they emerge.
Come and See Team presents plans for the fall
Our Come and See team has presented its plans for the fall. At Trinity Church, a light "finger-foods" reception will follow the 5:00 Eucharist on Sept. 19 and an Open House will follow the Sunday Eucharist on Sept. 27. Fr. Chip will stay to be present at that event. At Christ Church, the focus will be on inviting people to two events: the Homecoming cookout on Sept. 20 and the Blessing of the Animals on Oct. 4. Invitational postcards will be addressed at an "addressing party" at each church on Sunday, Aug. 30. More details will be published as they become available.
Have you looked at our proposed Covenant extension yet?
Two weeks ago, our Wardens, Craig Davis and Patrice Wood, introduced our plans to extend our Shared Ministry Covenant for an additional three years. Within their article was a link to the text of the proposed renewal and extension document. If you haven't read it yet, you can click here to access it. (There are also hard copies at the entrance to each church.) The Bishop's Committee plans to vote on it at its August 18 meeting. If you have feedback, please get it to the Wardens or the Vicar in time for that meeting.
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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July 26
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Our music director, Alexis Zaricki; Roy Thomas of Trinity Church; Pat Moy of Christ Church
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Aug. 2
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Our Shared Ministry administrator, Nita Niemczyk; Angie & Ike Twombly of Trinity Church; Anthony Mozelak of Christ Church
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Christ Church Capital Campaign update
The Christ Church Capital Campaign coordinating team met on July 12. Reports were heard on each individual team's progress since our last update:
Advance Gifts Team, Suzanne George, representative: This group, which additionally included Paula Kidder, Cindy and Chip Robinson, met in May to "brainstorm" potential major donors and speculate as to amounts they might be able to give. The result was a chart of potential donors both within and beyond the congregation and a gift chart showing the possibility of raising some $40,000 from pledges, an additional $3,000 from fundraisers conducted by Little Blessings, and looking for some $7,000 in energy conservation and accessibility grants. Amounts dedicated to furnace loan repayment would be matched, dollar for dollar, by the diocese.
Contact Team, Peter Monte, representative: This is the group who would make the actual solicitations of potential donors. Peter and his team need to determine the cutoff in gift level above which they will make face-to-face calls, and below which solicitations would come in other forms. The chief venue for these other solicitations would be Cottage Meetings to be held this fall, and hosted by the Hospitality Team.
Hospitality Team, Craig Davis, representative: This group was given the charge of planning and executing two events by which we would communicate or celebrate the objectives of the campaign. The first would be a series of two, or preferably three, Cottage Meetings in early September (between Labor Day and Sept. 20) to disseminate information and distribute pledge forms. The second would be a "celebration" event at the conclusion of the campaign, sometime between October 4 and 18.
Information Team, Craig Davis, representative: This team has spent a significant effort over the past two months developing a "theme" for the campaign: "Growing Connections and Community: The Campaign for Christ Church," and writing and designing a Case Statement to communicate that theme and the campaign's goals. Katie Towler was the chief "architect" of the Case Statement, with assistance from Gary Dozier in developing the campaign theme and pledge forms incorporating that theme. In weeks to come, they, along with Kris Ebbeson, will do all the publicity and design the other literature needed by the campaign.
Response Team, Melanie Harden, representative: This group will tally responses to the campaign, prepare a report summarizing them to the Bishop's Committee and congregation, and provide such materials as acknowledgement and thank-you letters and packets of envelopes to receive the responses as they come in. They will also provide follow-up to those, within the parish, who have not yet responded. Shirley Phillips and Marilyn Bunting are additional members of this team.
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Now that the Advance Gifts Team has completed preparing the donor list and gift chart, and the Information Team has designed the theme and case statements, along with the pledge form, it is time to begin printing those campaign pieces for which design is complete, and have the Contact Team begin making contacts to lead donors. The Hospitality Team, meanwhile, will go ahead with setting dates and locations for the Cottage Meetings and Celebration Event. The Information Team has additional letters and forms it will need to complete by the same August 31 deadline.
No specific date was set for a next meeting of the Coordinating Team, but a meeting will be called when we are ready to move forward with next steps in our work. Fr. Chip expressed his thanks for all the hard work so far. We are on our way to having a very well-organized, positive campaign.
Can You Help? 
Trinity's Annual Yard Sale has been penciled in for Saturday, Aug. 15th.
Not only do we need your good, used, ready to sell "stuff" but we also need help to setup, sell, break-down and tow away the leftovers. Donations can be dropped off in Hobbs Hall no sooner than the Sunday before the sale. Let me know how you can help!
Patrice
