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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
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 Bishop's Committee...
Agapé, love
Fran Plank, Trinity Church
After our Cottage Meeting I got to pondering about the designated Scripture for consideration - the two greatest commandments that Jesus clearly reinforced from the Hebrew Torah. They are central to Christianity also.
"You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is like it . . . . Love your neighbor as you love yourself." (Mark 12: 29-31).
That appears to be clear - on the surface. Sometimes, though, English is a regrettably indistinct language. This is one of those instances. The English word "love" is an example. In English it generally means a strong liking for almost anything - ice cream, bagels, a car, a friend, a family member, a spouse, a pet, God . . . . You get the picture!
However in this Scripture the original Greek word, agapé, has a very different and distinct meaning from our English word love. It has nothing to do with warm, pleasant feelings. It is an action word - a conscious choice to behave in specific and often not easy or comfortable ways. There is no mandate to like or agree with the person, group, or ideas and beliefs.
I Corinthians 13: 3-7 spells it out painfully clearly. "Love is patient, kind; it is not jealous, conceited or proud; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable; love does not keep a record of wrongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth. Love never gives up; and its faith, hope and patience never fail."
A pretty tall order, yes? Lots and lots of opportunities to keep working on this!
And if this isn't enough, consider what it cost the Good Samaritan in Jesus' parable about who our neighbor is. It cost him time. He had to interrupt his own agenda. He risked his own safety. It was a personal expense to provide him with care. Also he had no way of knowing how the wounded man would respond. As a Jew he might have been upset that this foreigner had touched him. It becomes clear that there are risks and costs in being a caring neighbor.
When we sign on to be followers of Jesus, it is wise to be aware that we are taking on a mighty big assignment, one that may push us way beyond our comfort zones. This is only possible when we are given the patient, merciful, and loving strength and goodness of our God, and the One who shows us the way, Jesus.
Thanks be to God! Ever onward! .
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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Nov. 20
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The aid offered through our Discretionary Fund; Mark & Ginnie-Lee McCaddin
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Nov. 27
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Concluding collect for our Shared Ministry
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Interfaith Thanksgiving Service in Portsmouth
North Church in Market Square, Portsmouth, will host this year's Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at 7:00 p.m., Monday, Nov. 21. An ad hoc choir drawn  from area churches will rehearse a simple anthem at 6:00 p.m. You need not be a choir member to join in this effort. Pastor Phil Johnson of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church will preach the sermon, titled, The Power of a Thankful Heart. Offerings of cash and non-perishable food items will be collected and given to the needy in our community. A time of fellowship and refreshments will follow the service.
Music Director search team named
At its September meeting, the Bishop's Committee received word that our Music Director, Alexis Zaricki, is retiring as of the end of the 2016/17 academic year (May, 2017).
This month, we begin the search process for a new Director of Music. While, before this process is over, I will be inviting the discernment and prayer of all of us in our two churches as to where the Spirit is leading us with respect to our music ministry, our first task in the process of finding a successor has been to assemble an outstanding team to lead the search process.
Each church's team consists of a combination of choir members (who, along with me as Vicar, will work with Alexis' successor most closely) and "at-large" members "from the pews." Our team is as follows:
From Trinity Church: Wesley Rowe, Belinda Wilkes, and Patrice Wood
From Christ Church: Kris Ebbeson, Suzanne George, and Peter Monte
From Both Churches: Cindy Robinson (who attends both); Chip Robinson (as vicar)
As we work together, we will invite our team to dream and wonder, to look ahead to the future of our music program in the Shared Ministry, and to frame their work within a church-wide discernment process that prayerfully opens us to what God has in store for us as a community. Our liturgy and worship are the central point of our common life, and I hold this space of common prayer close to my own heart as your vicar.
As always, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or write me. Be watching for further news as this process unfolds.
Fr. Chip
Please bring your pledge form by Dec. 1
 If you haven't yet done so, please bring your sealed pledge form with you to church this Sunday - or by Dec. 1 at the latest. (Those of you who did not attend one of our Cottage Conversations should have received your form in the mail by now. Those from whom we have not heard by Dec. 1 will receive a gentle follow-up call to remind them to return their form.
Your Stewardship Team
Proposed bylaw revisions now posted online
Forums set for Dec. 4 at Trinity; Dec. 11 at Christ Church
Last winter, the Bishop's Committee authorized the formation of a working group to review our bylaws in both congregations. That committee has now completed its work, and the documents they produced were approved unanimously at the October Bishop's Committee meeting. You will find the proposed bylaws online at www.trinityhampton.org/contact.htm and www.christepiscopalchurch.us/contact.htm. On both pages, the actual link is in the bottom right-hand corner of the page.
Between now and the 2017 Annual Meetings (Jan. 22 at Trinity; Jan. 29 at Christ Church), there will be a public forum at each church to introduce the proposed bylaws and respond to any questions you may have. Trinity Church's forum will be on Sunday, Dec. 4 at 10 a.m. Christ Church's forum will be the following Sunday, Dec. 11 at noon.
If approved at our two annual meetings, the proposed new Bylaws will then be submitted to the Standing Committee of the Diocese for final approval.
"Grubby Sunday" at Christ Church
Sunday, Nov. 27 after the 10:30 service
Winter (and our Christmas Fair) is coming, and that can only mean one thing: It's time for our fall "Grubby Sunday" at Christ Church! On Sunday, Nov. 27, we'll do a general clean-up of the grounds, wash some windows, and winterize the church. As always, "many hands make light work," so come in your jeans and "grubbies" and join us!
Christmas flowers
We'd love your help in adorning our altars for Christmas by purchasing a Poinsettia. At the same time, you may honor your loved ones, acknowledge a special occasion, or give thanks and praise, which will be included in the bulletin.
This year there are two size choices: 6 ˝" at $ 6.50 or 7 ˝" at $12.00 and the color choices are: White, Red, Burgundy, and Pink.
Envelopes for ordering poinsettias are on the table in the narthex at Trinity, or in the hallway at Christ Church. Please fill out the information on the envelope, then place it with your payment, marked "flowers," in the offering plate, give it to Alberta True at Trinity or Liz Malone at Christ Church, or snail-mail it to the Shared Ministry Office.
The deadline for orders is Sunday, Dec 4 at coffee hour - no exceptions.
Stocking the shelves to feed Hampton's hungry
 On Saturday, Nov. 12, while one whole group of parishioners was inside Hobbs Hall offering a very successful Holly Berry Fair, outside another group was unloading 75 boxes of food that had been donated in the 2016 Scouting for Food Drive.
Our thanks to all who set food outside their doors for pickup last Saturday - and special thanks to our crew who brought it back to Hobbs Hall for sorting and, as winter unfolds, distribution to those who need it.
This week, volunteers from Timberland are coming to begin that sorting process. Our thanks to them for their hard work on behalf of Hampton's hungry.
Left: Robert Bischoff and his grandson, Christopher, help unload the 75 boxes of food that came our way last Saturday, Nov. 12
Seacoast Convocation to again fill Ditty Bags for Seafarers
All this month, you are invited 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 bottles of shampoo.
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. The ditty bags will be assembled on Dec. 6, so please bring your donations in by Sunday, Dec. 4.
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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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