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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 Vicar...
Advent's strongest message: Do not be afraid
I don't know quite how it started, but for as long as I can remember, I have been in love with the Advent and Christmas seasons. Cindy and I never fail to make time to light the candles on the Advent wreath each Sunday and spend time in quiet contemplation of the mysteries being revealed.
The Gospel reading we have this weekend is typical of the kind of mystery this time of contemplation reveals. It comes from the Gospel of Matthew and is Matthew's version of the Annunciation - the announcement that the Virgin Mary will give birth to a child who will be called Jesus.
As you will hear this Sunday, Matthew's version of the Annunciation is quite different from the version in Luke - which is the one that many of us are more familiar with. It's in Luke that the angel Gabriel is sent by God and tells Mary that she will conceive a son. Mary questions him, saying, "How can this be?" since she is a virgin. Gabriel explains that the Holy Spirit will "come upon" her and the child she will bear will be holy. And Mary's now-famous response is, "Let it be with me according to your word."
But, that's from Luke. This week's reading from Matthew is quite different. Mary barely gets a mention except to say that, "she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit." Matthew's version, unlike Luke's, is a story not only about Mary, but about Joseph as well.
You know, Joseph doesn't get to be in much of the Christmas story and especially not in the rest of the story of Jesus. Once the Magi show up and Joseph has the dream that tells him to take the family to Egypt, he's pretty much gone from the narrative.
We don't really know anything about the life of Joseph before this reading. We don't know what his life experiences may have been - but it is clear that Joseph was well prepared to take on this critical role in our story. In Advent, this time of preparation, we have the opportunity to look at how Joseph was prepared to accept Jesus in his life - and how we are called by this time of contemplation to be prepared to accept Jesus in our lives.
This Advent world we live in is, in many ways, like Joseph's world. It's an uncertain place where, more often than not, the people around us don't know our stories, our history. It's a world where relationships are messy, even painful. It's a world where our jobs are insecure. It's a world where betrayal breeds mistrust, where the ones we hope are righteous seem to be careless, where people make decisions out of anger and fear.
It is in such a world that, like Joseph, we are challenged to hear the angel's words, "Do not be afraid." While he tossed and turned in his restless sleep, he was reassured by a divine vision, "Do not be afraid."
Joseph was a righteous man - but, more importantly, he was a human man. He wasn't above anger. He wasn't above fear. He was a human being facing a reality that confused and troubled him, and his first response was completely understandable - get out of there. But then he saw the glimmer of hope embodied in the dream. In his darkest night he saw the light of God's love shimmering even in the middle of his pain. In the end, Joseph chose love.
That's what I love so much about this season. Its incredible hope! Do not be afraid for the child is Emmanuel, God with us. Do not be afraid because he is God's presence, God's life. Do not be afraid because every pain you feel, every loss you mourn, even anxiety you experience, you will experience with him at your side. Do not be afraid. You are not alone. We are not alone. The world has not been abandoned, left to suffer in darkness. Do not be afraid because God sends a savior to accompany us, to heal us, to carry us into God's marvelous light. Do not be afraid. God is with us.
Fr. Chip
Your gifts to the Ministry for Seafarers put to use!
On Tuesday, Dec. 6, members of five the six Seacoast Convocation Episcopal churches gathered at St. Thomas' Church, Dover, to pack "ditty bags" for the crewmembers served by the Portsmouth Ministry to Seafarers. Not only were we able to pack an abundance of bags - but we even had items left over for our next Seafarers' drive.
Your generous donations created (to draw from a scriptural image) twelve baskets of leftover shampoos, soaps, toothbrushes and tee shirts to serve our maritime visitors for a long time to come. Thank you!
A new approach to 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. At this fall's Cottage Conversations, however, a whole new model for this ministry of prayer emerged. The suggestion was made that, instead of just listing the names, we be directly in touch with those listed and suggest they form a prayer partnership with one another (purely on a voluntary basis - no one is forcing you to if you find that uncomfortable). As some of the names are from one church, some from the other, this would help folks get to know one another across congregational boundaries. As in the past, about once every six weeks, we will instead using the Shared Ministry Collect we prayed throughout the opening months of our Shared Ministry.
Your feedback on this new initiative is welcomed. Meanwhile, please hold in your prayers...
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Dec. 18
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Our Music Director, Alexis Zaricki
Prayer Partners: Suzanne George, Amanda; Dave & Fran Plank
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Dec. 25
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No Cycle of Prayer for Christmas Day
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A snowy labyrinth
Our labyrinth at Christ Church isn't often all that visible - but our recent snow brought out the pattern etched by bricks in the side yard of the church. Nestled within four oak trees, it is a Medieval Modified Chartres Labyrinth with 9 circuits and paths 3 feet wide for wheelchair access. The path is grass; the border is brick. Installed in 2005, it is 60 feet in diameter.
Annual Meetings...and Annual Reports
Annual Meetings are coming up in both of our churches this January. At Trinity Church, the meeting will be at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 22. At Christ Church, the meeting will follow the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, Jan. 29.
Annual reports are due to the shared ministry office no later than Friday, Jan. 6 (earlier is better!). Conveners of all committees as well as activity/ group coordinators are asked to submit reports. Please email your reports to Nita at trinity55ad@gmail.com. Thank you!
Christmastide in our Shared Ministry 
Trinity Episcopal Church
Christmas Day
8:45 a.m.
Holy Eucharist, Rite One
8:45 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite Two
no 5:00 p.m. service Dec. 31
The Epiphany
Saturday, January 7
5:00 p.m. The Epiphany Feast of Lights
8:45 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite Two with the renewal of baptismal vows
Christmas Day
10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite Two
Feast of the Holy Name
January 1
10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite Two
The Baptism of Christ
10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist, Rite Two
with the renewal of baptismal vows
One change from our usual Christmastide practice
On Sunday, Jan. 1, the Feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ (some of us know it better as New Year's Day), there will be services in each of our churches as usual, but...one recent tradition will be omitted this year.
It has been our custom to hold a service of Lessons and Carols on the first Sunday after Christmas, but this year, anticipating the likelihood that a number of us might choose to sleep in, we've decided to forgo Lessons and Carols. By the following weekend, we will have moved into Epiphany, which has its own tradition to uphold: the Feast of Lights service, which we've set for Saturday evening at 5:00 at Trinity Church. We're hoping to follow it with a fellowship event of some sort, but plans for that are but now forming.
We make this decision reluctantly, but it seems to be the most sensible course. We will miss hearing the familiar stories and the joyful carols, and will look for them again a year from now.
Christmas Home Communion
The Sacrament of Holy Eucharist is available to any church member at home or in the hospital who desires to receive it. Fr. Chip will be setting aside time during Christmas week to make visits. If you find yourself temporarily sick or confined at home or in the hospital and would like communion brought to you, please call the shared ministry office, 603-926-5688, to set up a convenient time.
Have you got a few hours a week that you can spare? The food pantry at Trinity is in search of someone to coordinate the efforts of the Saturday group and when needed, communicate and coordinate efforts with the other three food pantries in Hampton. This small pantry is utilized by Hampton Community Coalition, End 68 Hours of Hunger and Seacoast Youth Hygiene project in addition to the Saturday distribution.
Interested? Speak with Fr. Chip or Patrice. We'll fill in the details for you!
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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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