This Week at Christ Church 

 

 

2015 Pledge Campaign

 

Raised to date: $356,999

No. of Pledges: 129

 

Goal: 460,000

 

                                    WE CAN DO IT!

 

Click on the "Walking the Way" image to check out our stewardship pages and submit your pledge online.   

 

Sunday, December 7
8:00 AM    Holy Eucharist
10:00 AM    Lessons & Carols and  Holy Eucharist Rite II
11:15 AM    Sunday School & Youth Bible Study
12:00 PM    Women's Cookie Swap
4:00 PM    Bible Study
5:00 PM    Colors of Christmas @ St. Paul's United Methodist, Kensington

Wednesday, December 10
11:00 AM    Staff Meeting
6:30 PM    Holy Eucharist
7:10 PM    Needlework Ministry
7:30 PM    Choir Rehearsal
7:30 PM    Search Committee

Friday, December 12
5:00 PM    Youth Lock-In

Saturday December 13
9:30 AM    Flower Guild

Sunday, December 14
8:00 AM    Holy Eucharist
10:00 AM    Holy Eucharist Rite II
11:15 AM    Sunday School & Youth Bible Study
4:00 PM    Bible Study
5:00 PM    Come as you are Holy Eucharist
ANNOUNCEMENTS


Adult Forum, December 7 Every year the Episcopal Church conducts a nation-wide survey of parishes and missions. For today's Forum, Lee Puricelli and Fr. Tim will co-lead a discussion about the recently released Episcopal Congregations Overview: Findings from the 2014 Survey of Episcopal Congregations.  Please join us for a fascinating review of this year's study with illuminating insights about parishes and their settings, church size, average attendance, diversity of membership, programs and ministries, theological perspectives and congregational vitality that provide helpful context for the Episcopal Church across our country, and our parish church here and now.

Sunday Bible Study @ 4:00 pm (library)  Join the Bible study in the library before the 5:00 pm service as we discuss the Gospel of John.  All are welcome. For more info contact Lee Puricelli at  [email protected].

Potluck Supper Every month Christ Church comes together for a  potluck supper. In December, we will gather on Wednesday, December 17 at 7:00 pm. Bring a main dish, salad, bread, or dessert.  Join your parish family for dinner!
Sign up online by clicking here.

Youth Bible Study  Middle school and high school youth Bible study continues this Sunday in the youth room in the lower level of the education wing after the 10 o'clock service. We will continue our exploration of the book of Genesis with the story of Jacob. Hope to see you there!  

Christmas Flowers if you would like to remember a loved one by making a donation toward the cost of the special flowers that adorn the altar for Christmas, please do so using the envelope in the pew racks.  The (firm) deadline for all memorials for Christmas flowers is Sunday, December 21.

Formation Group We Make the Road by Walking Tuesdays, 7:30-9:00 pm Christ Church is participating in the diocesan-wide book discussion of Brian McLaren's We Make the Road by Walking: A Year-Long Quest for Spiritual Formation, Reorientation, and Activation.  Join us in the library  as we continue this every week, year-long journey! The group will meet December 9th and 16th this month.

This Week and Upcoming

The New Women's Group will host a cookie swap  TODAY after the 10:00am service and coffee hour.  We will meet at Gail Marks' house 4213 Franklin St.  starting at noon. Please bring 2-3 dozen cookies and your favorite recipe(s) to share as well as a lunch/brunch item for us to snack on. Gail will have icing to decorate sugar and gingerbread cookies.  

The Colors of Christmas - A Service of Hope and Healing TODAY at 5pm, St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 10401 Armory Ave. Kensington.  Christmas can be a time when we need particular reassurance and comfort.  Sponsored by the Kensington, N. Chevy Chase Stephen Ministry. Our Sunday 5pm congregation will be attending this service.

Youth Lock-In The youth of Christ Church will be having a lock-in here on the weekend of Friday, December 12th to Saturday, December 13th! During that time, we will enjoy: caroling, a field trip to see the new movie Exodus: Gods and Kings, games at church, Bible study/Eucharist service, and an opportunity to earn SSL hours the following morning! Please contact Dylan Thayer (240-620-9640; [email protected]) for more details.

Christmas Pageant The Annual Christmas Pageant will be held at 10:00 am on Sunday, December 21.  Come and hear the children of Christ Church tell the Christmas story!

Christmas Reception Come and make merry after the Christmas Pageant and enjoy a yuletide reception in the undercroft. 

Feast of Lights and 12th Night Party  January 11th at 4pm Come and celebrate the feast of the Epiphany with our traditional Feast of Lights service followed by a joyful reception at 5pm. 





Outreach News

Fourth Quarter - Hunger Ministry

In Montgomery County, one of the most affluent counties in the country, hunger is around every corner. Many of the people that need food assistance in our community are families, senior citizens on a fixed budget, people who have mental or physical disabilities, people going through a temporary crisis, and the working poor. The weakened economy, increased unemployment rate, and high costs of living in Montgomery County have made it difficult for many to afford their basic needs. There are many people in our community who must make choices everyday between having enough to eat and buying the medicine they need. Others find they must choose between paying utility bills or grocery bills.

One in three students attending Montgomery County Public Schools qualifies for a free or reduced price lunch (32.3%). This is a true indication of the poverty that exists in our community. Each month, there are thousands of people in Montgomery County relying on emergency food programs to put food on the table for their families. For struggling families, hunger is a harsh reality they face every day.

What Can You Do?

There are so many ways that you can help those in our neighborhood who are hungry. Donate food at the grocery store, make a monetary donation, pray for those who go to bed hungry and join your Outreach Committee and your parish family as we "build a Church!"   , Please join us in the Undercroft with your donation of cans of food or boxes of cereal and prepared foods as we "build a church", not with bricks and mortar, but, can- by-can and box-by-box.

And what happens after we "build our church" in the undercroft. We celebrate with fellowship!   The following week we will dismantle our church and take it to Manna where the "pillars of our church" can be shared with the hungry in Montgomery County.

Watch for more details regarding what to bring, time and date.

Education Moment - Something to think about...

The Self-Sufficiency Standard measures the amount of income that is needed for a family to meet their basic needs without public or private assistance. The Standard takes into consideration the cost of housing, child care, food, health care, transportation, taxes and miscellaneous expenses. The Self-Sufficiency Standard for Montgomery County, researched and published by the Montgomery County Community Action Agency in 2012, indicates the amount needed to make ends meet for one adult, one preschooler, and one school-age child is $36.90 per hour ($77,933 annually) in Montgomery County, or 421% of the Federal Poverty Level. A single adult would need to make $17.07 an hour to meet basic needs. The minimum wage for Maryland is $7.25 an hour!

 

     10% of Maryland residents live in poverty as defined by the National Poverty level, while 12% are food insecure. Between November 2007 and November 2010, the number of Maryland residents receiving food stamps increased by over 300% (from 159,348 to 643,651 individuals). 244,000 children in Maryland receive Food Stamps. Maryland's unemployment rate more than doubled from its pre-recession level of 3.5% in December 2007 to 7.4% in November 2010. Over 147,000 residents rely on WIC services.

Nationally...Food insecurity exists in 14.5 percent of all U.S. households. Economists expect U.S. poverty to reach 15.7 percent of the population this year, the highest level since the mid-1960s.

     Nationally, in 2012, 46.7 million people in an average month relied on the SNAP/Food Stamp Program to help put food on the table.   More than 16 million, or almost one in five, American children are at risk of hunger. During the 2009-2010 school year, 20 million children received free or reduced-price lunches through the National School Lunch Program. In fiscal year 2012, nearly 8.9 million women, infants and children relied on the WIC program every month.

 

WHAT'S COMING UP: Reinvisioning Outreach

 

If you have some ideas that you would like to share with us that would involved reaching outside our church doors to those in need, please send to Liz Quinn in advance at [email protected] or call her at 301.775.2545. And of course, if you have any questions, please let Liz know.

 

All parish members interested in expanding our Outreach activities are encouraged to pray and to participate.

 

Walking the Way!

Liz Quinn

Outreach Coordinator

 

 

 




Christ Church Kensington Maryland

 

 The Rev. Timothy D. Raasch 

Interim Rector

Mr. Kurt Ellison
Administrator

 Ms. Ann Enkiri    
 Children's Christian Formation

Mr. Martin Kehe
Interim
Minister of Music

 

Dylan Thayer

Youth Minister

 

Sexton 

Mr. Lenord Hawkins

 

Head Verger
         

 Verger 

Mr. Anthony Coe

 

  

 Office Hours

 

Monday-Friday

9:00 am-5:00 pm;

 

Telephone:  301.942.4673

Service Schedule
 Sundays:
 8:00am, 10:00am, 5:00pm

 Wednesday:  6:30 pm
 

 

VESTRY

 

 

Sr. Warden
Ben Haskell 

 

 

Jr. Warden 

Ray Barry  

 

 

Treasurer-Bonnie Douglas

 

 

Clerk - Sharon Bartram 

 

 

 Kay Bondehagen  

(Outreach)

 

 

Kevin Robinson   

(Budget & Finance)

 

 

Sarah Leung  

(Property)

 

 

Kari Rudgers   

(Communication)

 

 

Lew Price   

(Stewardship)

 

 

Suzanne Lawrence (Education)

 

 

Nora Buckley

(Inreach)

 

 

Carol Jones

(Membership) 

 

 

Eva Nye  

(Worship) 

 

 

 
 Quick Links