From the Vicar...
It is time to get ready for the resurrection that is to come
This Sunday, we turn from Luke's Gospel, which we've been following so far this Lent, to the Gospel of John - and what do we see but one of the first Church fights! You know the fights churches get themselves into: How do we spend our money? How do we pursue our mission? What is the most important item on the agenda?
The community is gathered around Jesus. There is Judas, who is in charge of the bank account. Martha as usual is busy serving and not really seeing or hearing what Jesus is up to. There are the other apostles eating and drinking. Lazarus whom Jesus has raised from the dead is probably still a little stunned. And there is Mary, Martha's sister, the one who hangs on every word that Jesus utters.
Mary decides to anoint Jesus' feet. She loves him so much that she wipes his feet with her hair. Judas becomes annoyed. He thinks that the community's money is being wasted on this costly ointment. Jesus is always going on and on about the poor. Shouldn't that money be spent on them? Judas is later of accused of thievery but that could have been a later invention. He may very well have seen the hypocrisy of spending that money on something that wasn't needed.
Jesus shoots back at Judas, "Leave her alone. She bought this ointment for my burial. The issues of poverty and injustice are always going to exist; there is something more important going on right now."
Mary wins the argument. She has been paying close enough attention to Jesus' teachings that among all the financial concerns and all of the serving and cleaning up Mary knows what really matters. She knows that at the heart of Jesus' message is death and resurrection. She saw it with her own brother when Jesus restored him to life.
The one thing that matters to us as Christian community is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. At the core of everything that is going on within the faith community and out in our everyday lives is the Realm that Jesus is inaugurating. In the death and resurrection of Christ we learn again that even though this life is full of suffering and death - and, yes, even contentious if sincere church-people, there is always hope. God will always do a new thing.
As we prepare for Easter, the Paschal Feast, I challenge each of us to find out where in our lives God is doing a new thing - and where we let ourselves as a Church remain mired in lesser concerns rather than seek and follow that new thing. It is time to get ready for the resurrection that is to come.
Fr. Chip
Our Lenten program for 2016 concludes...
What Wondrous Love
Our Lenten series for 2016 is nearing its conclusion. This year's program, "What Wondrous Love" focuses on the story of Jesus' walk from the threshold of Jerusalem to the Cross at Calvary. Meditations by renowned theologians from Emory University's Candler School of Theology (on video) show us that within each of the stories of the road to Calvary is woven a unique message about what we receive through the crucified Christ. Parishioners can take the message with them to enrich their own stories of faith in Christ as they journey through Lent.
This week: The Crucifixion...and the Resurrection
Christ Church: Sunday, Mar. 13 at 12 noon
Trinity Church: Wednesday, Mar. 16 at 6 p.m.
Each session begins with a soup and bread meal, followed by discussion and worship. The Christ Church sessions will end by 1:30 p.m.; at Trinity, we will conclude by 8:00 p.m.
"Spring Forward" this Saturday night!
This weekend, Daylight Savings Time begins. Be sure to set your clocks forward one hour before retiring Saturday night, March 12.
Holy Week and Easter services
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At Trinity Church
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At Christ Church
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Palm Sunday
March 20
Note: no Saturday evening liturgy at Trinity Church on March 19
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8:45 a.m.
Palm Sunday Procession and Holy Eucharist
- Service begins in Hobbs Hall with the Blessing of the Palms
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10:30 a.m.
Palm Sunday Procession and Holy Eucharist
- Service begins on front steps with the Blessing of the Palms
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Maundy Thursday
March 24
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7:00 p.m.
Holy Eucharist and Stripping of the Altar
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Good Friday
March 25
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7:00 p.m.
Good Friday Liturgy
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12:00 noon
Stations of the Cross
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Easter Even
March 26
Note: No Saturday evening liturgy at Trinity Church on March 26
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7:30 p.m.
Great Vigil of Easter
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Easter Morning
March 27
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8:45 a.m.
Festival Eucharist
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10:30 a.m.
Festival Eucharist
- Easter Egg hunt follows on church grounds
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Additional Holy Week notes Maundy Thursday - Christ Church will host our liturgy, to be held at 7 p.m. The service ends with the solemn Stripping of the Altar and the procession of the reserved Sacrament to the Chapel for repose. The Chapel remains open after the service for any who wish to stay for prayer and meditation. Stations of the Cross - At the hour of Our Lord's suffering on the Cross, 12:00 noon, Christ Church will offer the Stations of the Cross. The Good Friday Liturgy - Please join us at Trinity Church for our joint evening service, at 7:00 p.m. This moving liturgy recounts John's version of the Passion and includes the praying of the Solemn Collects of Good Friday and the Veneration of the Cross. The Great Vigil of Easter - Ringing in the Resurrection! On Saturday evening, March 26, you are invited to bring a bell, small or large, to the 7:30 p.m. Easter Vigil service at Christ Church. We will gather in the darkness, light the New Fire of Easter, process the Paschal (Easter) Candle to the strains of the glorious chant, Exsultet, hear the marvelous stories of God's work in salvation history and then ring those bells at each mention of the word, "Alleluia!" as we celebrate the First Eucharist of Easter. This is a joint celebration, with music from our combined choir and participants from both congregations. Easter Sunrise Service at North Beach -This annual service near where Rt. 27 meets Ocean Blvd. in Hampton, will be held at 6:15 a.m. Easter morning. Fr. Chip will be among the clergy participants. Fundraiser for Discretionary Fund is now underway Between now and the Day of Pentecost (May 15), we will be undertaking a fundraiser for the Vicar's Discretionary Fund. Peter Monte (at Christ Church) and Gordon Lane (at Trinity Church) will be selling raffle tickets for a $200 gift card from the Atlantic Grill in Rye. Tickets are $15 each or three for $30. See Peter or Gordon at coffee hour if you'd like to help us beef up this Fund, which helps people in need both within our congregations and in the community at large.
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...
March 13
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Online Prayer Ministry of Trinity Church; Suzanne George, Daniel Paul, and Amanda Paul; Gordon Lane & Diana Jodoin
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March 20
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Collect for our Shared Ministry
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Calendar raffle for our Shared Ministry
The calendars have been printed and are now available for sale! There are items worth approximately $1,500 in prizes and you can win up to 30 times for the month. Please be sure to buy a calendar from a church member and pick up additional copies to sell to your friends! You may also email the Shared Ministry Office to purchase a calendar at [email protected].
For anyone that donated gift cards or items to the calendar, please bring the items to church and give them to Fr. Chip or me so that they can be available.
Throughout the month of April, we will be publishing the winners of our daily Calendar fundraiser drawings. Cindy Robinson will draw a name each morning starting April 1 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. One reminder to our Calendar sellers: If you are selling to someone outside our congregations, put your name on the back of the ticket so we can convey the gift via you.
Tena Wolf
Episcopal Relief & Development achieves 75th Anniversary fundraising goal ... and more!
Last year, Episcopal Relief and Development set a goal of raising $7.5 million in 75 weeks of celebration of its 75th anniversary. They are pleased to report that, thanks to your generosity and that of thousands of others around the Episcopal Church, ERD raised almost $8 million during that time.
The 75 weeks of celebration drew on many different forms of raising awareness of ERD's work, and ultimately raising the funds. Two highlights of the anniversary celebration were the 75 Stories Project and a photo exhibit that traveled to various events. The 75 Stories project was aimed at collecting 75 inspiring stories from ERD staff members, project partners and friends of ERD nationally and globally. The stories were collected in various forms; written, audio and visual media. 95 stories were ultimately collected. The traveling photo exhibit was comprised of 30 photographs which told ERD's history & mission, by sharing a glimpse of ERD projects historically and from different regions of the world. The exhibit visited numerous dioceses, other events and last summer's General Convention in Salt Lake City.
There's still time for you to add your donation to the total. Please make your check payable to your own congregation (Christ or Trinity) with the memo, ERD, and the total raised will be forwarded to ERD as Lent draws to a close.
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