November 12, 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
Rev David Robinson
 
The Vicar's sermons can be found by clicking on the link for either church and going to the Worship page.
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!

 



From a Bishop's Committee member...
Thank God for fleas!
 
Probably most of us, if not all, already know the importance and value of giving thanks to God. However, there is a less known and more challenging aspect to giving thanks.
  
Scripture and the Prayer Book make it clear that we are to give God thanks "at all times and in all places," and "for all things," not only the pleasant things and/or when we happen to feel like doing so.
 
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch lady in her 50's who lived with her father and sister, Betsy, at the time of the Nazi occupation and persecution of the Jews and anyone who sheltered them in the Netherlands. As committed followers of Jesus, they opened their home as a hiding place, (thus the name of her book, THE HIDING PLACE). Late one night, having been reported to Nazi authorities by a neighbor, they were all arrested and shipped off to death camps--Corrie and Betsy to one and their father to another. Thus began the horror of extended interment in a variety of such camps.
 
In one particularly nasty camp, the women's building was infested with fleas. For Corrie, that topped the accumulation of indignities and sufferings to which they had been subjected! Corrie complained mightily! Betsy reminded her that as people of faith, they were to continue to give thanks to God for ALL things. Corrie responded that she was NOT going to give God thanks for fleas! Betsy continued to press her until she gave in, crossly saying she would say it, but she would not FEEL it.
 
Sometime later, Betsy asked her if she could now see the benefit of giving thanks for the fleas. Corrie could not. The fleas were as bad as before! Betsy then gently pointed out to her that, because of the fleas, the brutal guards did not come into the building. As a result they were free to minister to the other prisoners without interruption or harassment. Corrie got it! (Now, mind you, she still hated the fleas!)
 
It becomes clear that one does not have to feel like giving thanks for situations that are painful, degrading, or devastating. Simply doing so opens the possibility of recognizing God's presence and activity in any and all of life's circumstances and experiences. That is an extraordinary blessing!
 
Thank God for fleas!    Amen!
Fran Plank


The holidays are coming and the Vicar's Discretionary Fund needs your help 
 
With the arrival of Thanksgiving and Christmas, we come to the time of year when demand on the Vicar's Discretionary Fund is the greatest. The money in this fund helps many people, both within but largely beyond our congregations. People who have challenges often need help, particularly at this time of year. Government programs on which many rely have a plethora of rules and requirements, which often allow deserving people to "fall between the cracks."
 
Your gifts to the Vicar's Discretionary Fund have made it possible:
  • to provide emergency car repairs for a couple who needed transportation to work
  • to join with other Hampton clergy in helping keep a dying man from losing his apartment
  • to purchase groceries beyond what the local food pantry could provide
  • to provide temporary shelter for a homeless man after his release from treatment for injuries at Portsmouth hospital
  • to assist a family with its electric bill to avoid shut-off
  • to help a local man with a security deposit so he could, at last, have housing
  • to provide gas vouchers to families referred to us by Cross Roads House
  • ...and much, much more
The best part is that all money given is used for assistance. There is no overhead cost. It is flexible and convenient. It allows me to meet needs and know that the money is being used for the right reasons.
 
Please make checks payable to your own church and mark them "Vicar's Discretionary Fund." Any amount is appreciated. Thanks, on behalf of those you have helped, for your support.
- Fr. Chip


Drum roll please!
Christ Church to announce results of
Capital Campaign this Sunday
 
While some pledges from the beyond the congregation are still trickling in, and perhaps a half dozen households within the congregation have not yet responded, the bulk of the response to this fall's Growing Connections and Community campaign has been most generous - and very heartening.
 
This Sunday, we will announce the results at the 10:30 Eucharist. Our thanks to everyone who has contributed, not only by their generous pledges, but by giving their time and energy to make this campaign a success.  Those whose pledges are monthly or quarterly over the three-year giving period that begins this Advent will have packets of dated envelopes placed in their boxes in the hallway. Those with annual commitments will receive reminders as the anniversary dates near.
Your Capital Campaign Team
 

Ministry Minute...
I came to the church late in life
 
Mark McCaddin
Trinity Church
 
I came to the church late in life. And by that, I mean as a participant. When I was a child I lived down the street from a magnificent Episcopal church in Newton, Mass. I attended occasionally with my Uncle, and for a brief time I attended Sunday School there.
 
I'm an Air Force brat, and our family moved around a little so I had long periods when I attended no church at all. I went through confirmation when we moved to Durham and I was in the ninth grade, but after that found that I really couldn't get with the program. After Ginnie-Lee and I married, she attended when she could, and I stayed home with our girls. I would attend a service once in a while, but never got much out of it. Nothing really changed when we moved to Hampton. Sunday mornings were for golf. Later, because of the youth program in Exeter, we began going to Christ Church, and I attended a little bit more frequently because the minister was a golf buddy.
 
As time wore on, Christ Church didn't seem to fulfill our needs, so we returned to Trinity a dozen years or so ago. At the same time I put Sunday golf on the back burner. We began to attend the 7:30 service. Many mornings there were five of us. A good day was seven, a really good day was nine. Because we were conspicuous by our absence, and because I thought that Peter Lane was an amazing individual to hold a service for so few people, I began to attend regularly. And when there are only a few of you it's hard to hide and not pay attention. So I listened and thought about what I heard. And I came to make attendance a part of my life.
 
To this minute, I have some problems with some of things I read, but I have a simple goal from my attendance. That is to come out of the service a better person than when I went in. Doesn't happen every time. But on occasion I hear a word or words that help me put things in perspective and impact me. And of course there is a comfort of certain parts of the Rite that cannot be measured, my favorite starting with "may the peace of God..."
 
So that leads me to the pledge. Ginnie-Lee and I pledge, and we do so because we know that for the church to continue it has to have a support commitment, and not rely solely on weekly collections. We give what we are comfortable giving, not by any particular formula. I urge you to think about what this church means to you, and do the same.
 

What better day than Thanksgiving to celebrate Eucharist?

Please come join us in the Christ Church chapel at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, November 26, for a simple celebration of the Holy Eucharist to begin your Thanksgiving Day. Dress is casual and the time is just right to let you sleep a bit late and get to your afternoon Thanksgiving Day activities with family and friends. Given the name "Eucharist" means "thanksgiving," what better day is there than Thanksgiving Day to start your day...giving thanks?


Please bring your pledge form this weekend
When you come to church this weekend, please remember to bring your sealed pledge form with you.  (You should have received it in the mail by now.) A boat will be placed before the altar to receive your form at the offertory, reminding us that "A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats."
 
For those who will not be in church this Sunday, you may mail or bring your form back so it arrives no later than Saturday, Nov. 14. Those from whom we have not heard by Sunday, Nov. 15 will receive a gentle follow-up call to remind them to return their form.
 
Over the course of our campaign, we have been encouraged to express our goals in terms of participation, awareness and creating a nurturing environment in which conversion of life, not merely dollars, is our goal. Our collective goals, then, for the campaign have been threefold:
  • To encourage 100% participation of our members and households in pledging toward the support of our two faith communities.
  • To make each member of Christ Church and Trinity Church aware of how our contributions enable a vibrant ministry to the Seacoast area.
  • To create a nurturing environment for stewardship as an expression of our faith, no less important than our worship, our prayer, and our service to others.
Our thanks to that have already made their pledges for 2016. We look forward to hearing from the rest of you this weekend.

Your Stewardship Team
 

Seacoast Convocation Ditty Bags for Seafarers appeal
 
This is the last Sunday to provide items for seafarers' "ditty bags" being assembled by the churches of the Seacoast Convocation.
 
Christ Church members are asked to bring toothbrushes and toothpaste (full-size tubes, please - not travel size). Trinity Church will be collecting disposable razors and shaving cream (again, full-size, not travel size).
 
We are also looking for a few more expensive items: tee shirts (smaller sizes preferred - many seafarers are small in stature) and wool knit caps. They may be new or used, but in clearly like-new condition. Shirts need not be plain white, so if you have a lightly-worn promotional tee shirt around (with a slogan on it, for instance) that is acceptable.


Help needed for the Holly Berry Fair!

With just over a week until the fair, we find that we are still in need of your help to make it successful.
  • Time - to set up, serve the day of the fair, and clean up.  
  • Call parishioners with a reminder.
  • Talent - cook!  Pies, cakes, brownies and especially COOKIES!
  • Talent, again! Have you been crafty and making things that would be appropriate for the craft table? 
  • Cleaning out those no longer used holiday decorations?
There is a sign up sheet in the Narthex of the Church - but no need to wait until Sunday to sign up.  Call us!
 
Carol - 603-502-3533
Patrice - 603-734-2394

 
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...

Nov. 15
The aid offered through our Vicar's Discretionary Fund; Rusty & Louise Bridle of Trinity Church; Rose Breslin-Dawson of Christ Church
 
Nov. 22
Thanksgiving for all blessings in our two congregations; Mark & Ginnie-Lee McCaddin of Trinity Church; Jim Sparell & Katie Towler of Christ Church

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