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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.
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(603) 431-1809
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at Trinity Church, Hampton
(603) 929-7349
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Episcopal Churches on the Seacoast
Seacoast Convocation
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Ministry Schedule
Christ Church
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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!
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From the Vicar...
It's time to move up from "second to the bottom"
A few years ago, the Gallup polling organization surveyed over 11,000 people about how often they attended their house of worship. I know that surveys can make eyes roll (aren't you sick of the Presidential primary polls by now?), but they do reveal some notable tendencies among the people surveyed. With this in mind, I was interested in which group had the highest percentage of weekly church attendees. I had thought it might be either the Southern Baptists or Roman Catholics, due in part to their denominations' stress on weekly Sunday worship.
According to the survey, it was neither of these groups. Do you want to guess which denomination had the largest percentage of weekly worshippers? It was the "Churches of Christ" with a weekly attendance rate of 68% of its members (according to the poll). Next came the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or Mormons) with an attendance rate of 67%. Southern Baptists were a little down on the list with a rate of 60%. Roman Catholics -surprising to me - had a weekly attendance rate of 45% of its members. I looked down on the list and saw the Episcopal Church, 2nd to the bottom of the list, with an average weekly worship attendance rate of 32% of its members.
"Whew!" I thought. "At least we weren't at the very bottom of the list!" But as I looked at the list, I realized that, among Christian churches, we were. The last listing was the Jewish community with an average weekly attendance of 15% of its membership. So, according to the survey, at least, the Episcopal Church is the Christian church with the lowest rate of weekly attendance by its members!
Now, not to be defensive here, but I think our percentage of Sunday attendance is somewhat better than that indicated in the survey: having just completed our parochial statistics for 2015, we show that 76 members (in both congregations combined) out of 149 "communicants in good standing" attend on an average Sunday, for a percentage of 51% -- or about half our members attending church weekly. (This is far better than the survey's 32% attendance rate for Episcopalians.) But wouldn't our churches be stronger in their life and witness if, rather than 5 out of 10 members regularly attending, we would have 7 out of 10, or even better yet, 10 out of 10?
In many churches, I've heard a number of excuses from people who do not worship regularly. Here are some that I've heard: "I don't care for the priest," or "I don't care for the music we're singing." "I'm still upset about what person X did to person Y, and I don't want to let that go." "We're too high church [or low church]." "The service is too early [or late] for me." "Sunday is my only day to sleep in." "I don't have enough time to go to church."
Although we're all entitled to our feelings and opinions, that should not stop us from the privilege and joy of worshiping our God faithfully and regularly! The Body of Christ is bigger than any hurt we've had in the past, or any bad feelings we may carry about some aspect of our worship! The bigger question for us is this: Where does God fit in with my (God-given) time, worship, prayer, money, possessions, talent, and my relationships?
I would like to think it bothers you as a member of this Church that the Episcopal Church (at least, according to this survey) has the lowest rate of Sunday attendance among Christian churches. What bothers me is that some of us feel that our not attending won't matter to God or to each other. Let me be clear: it does matter! If anyone deliberately misses the Eucharist for reasons other than sickness or infirmity, you're not only hurting yourself, but you're making the Body of Christ less powerful to meet the needs God calls us to address around us.
As 2016 gets underway, I encourage all of us to resolve to participate at weekend services weekly and to pray about God's mission for us here in our Shared Ministry. I think that part of God's mission for us is growth, but we will all need to cooperate with God's grace and love if this mission is to be accomplished.
Fr. Chip
What do you know about the Palestinian people and the West Bank today?
Come to Christ Church at noon Jan. 17 and Jan. 24 to explore this complex situation
What do you know about the Palestinian people and the West Bank today? I was fortunate enough to travel there in 2012 and have a chance to meet with Palestinians and others concerned about the situation in the West Bank. Using my experience and resources provided though the Episcopal Church, we will have a chance to learn, question and explore this complex situation. This is a two-week Epiphany series after the service and coffee hour at Christ Church, and all from both parishes and anyone else is invited to attend. A light soup and bread lunch will be provided. Please contact Betty Lane or Vicar Chip so we may have an idea of how much lunch to provide. You may attend even if you have not signed up in advance, or cannot attend both sessions.
Betty Lane
Official Notice of Annual Meetings
Know all persons by these presents that the Annual Meeting of Trinity Episcopal Church will be held on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 at 10:15 a.m. in Hobbs Hall at Trinity Church and that the Annual Meeting of Christ Episcopal Church will be held on Sunday, Jan. 31 at 12:00 noon in the Christ Church Undercroft.
The purpose of these meetings shall be to receive the Reports of the Officers and Organizations of the Congregations; to elect Officers and Delegates for the terms specified for their offices as stated in the By-Laws of the Congregations; and to conduct such other business as may lawfully come before these meetings.
Any baptized person, sixteen (16) years of age or older, who acknowledges in writing the authority of the By-Laws of the Congregation her or she attends and who declares his or her intention to aid in maintaining public worship therein by regular attendance at such worship and who is a contributor of record, is entitled to voice and vote.
Craig Davis, Warden, Christ Church Patrice Wood, Senior Warden, Trinity Church
Suzanne George, Clerk, Christ Church Diana Jodoin, Clerk, Trinity Church
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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Jan. 17
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Concluding collect for our shared ministry
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Jan. 24
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Trinity Church Annual Meeting; Bruce Chambers; Bill & Monika Bottlinger
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Dover woman seeks temporary housing
A Dover woman is looking for a few months of no or low cost temporary housing for herself and her grown son since her Dover house is currently unlivable and she is in the process of working out a permanent housing solution. If you would like more information please contact Suzanne George at holosafe@aol.com or 603-692-7109.
Martin Luther King program at South Church, Portsmouth
The Seacoast Reads: Words of Peace and Protest, an open mic celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 17, at South Church, 292 State St., Portsmouth.
Individuals, including young poets, are invited to share poetry (primarily) or prose pieces on the work of peace and justice for which Martin Luther King, Jr. was appreciated and admired. If you would like to read please arrive by 3:30 pm that day to sign up. Or you may sign up in advance by contacting Kate Leigh via peacekate@gmail.com.
If you are planning to read, please keep your poem to no more than three minutes to allow as many to read as wish to.
Trinity Institute: "Listen for a Change"
Jan. 21-23 at St. John's, Portsmouth
Trinity Institute is an annual conference in its 45th year that equips clergy and laypersons for imaginative and catalytic leadership, sponsored by Trinity Wall Street, an Episcopal parish in New York City. This year's conference - TI.2016: Listen for a Change - focuses on racial justice. Trinity Institute takes place at Trinity Church in New York City and is streamed at Partner Sites throughout the world and St John's Church is a partner site for TI.2016.
Speakers & Artists
TI.2016 presents speakers, panelists, and artists who are leading activists, scholars, authors, and experts on racial inequality. Presenters include:
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Eduardo Bonilla-Silva
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Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department at Duke University
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Michael Curry
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Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
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Melanie DeMore
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A vocal activist who has made an impact on audiences all over the world through her compositions, solo performances, and choral conducting
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Gary Dorrien
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Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary
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Kelly Brown Douglas
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Professor and Director of the Religion Dep't. at Goucher College in Baltimore, MD.
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T. James Kodera
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Professor of Religion at Wellesley College since 1976
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Nicholas Kristof
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Columnist for The New York Times since 2001
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Michele Norris
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Journalist and former host of NPR's "All Things Considered."
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Victor Rios
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Author, speaker, and Associate Professor in Sociology at UC-Santa Barbara.
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Anna Deavere Smith
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Professor at NYU and founding director of the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue.
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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
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