Weekly Services

 

~ Sunday ~

1. 8:00am, Morning Prayer & Holy Eucharist           
2. 10:30am, Organ & Choir with Holy Eucharist  
3. 5:30pm,  Sung Vespers & Holy Eucharist

~ Wednesday ~


7:15am Holy Eucharist,

located in the Parish Hall,
 in Fr. Wilkins's Office

Rev. Dr. Christopher I Wilkins,  

Priest-in-Charge

ciwilkins@christepiscopalchaptico.org 

Office: 301-884-0644  

Cell: 301-247-2482

Crystal Spranger, 

Parish Administrator

Office Hours: Tuesday - Friday  

10AM to 2PM

Office Phone: 301-884-3451  

Email: office@christepiscopalchaptico.org  

Vestry Members

Robbie Loker, Sr. Warden

Robert Oppermann, Jr. Warden

Bill Dollins, Treasurer

Betsy Franklin

Julie Burch

Sheila Hiebert

Mike Oliver

Jill Oliver

Donna Gutierrez 

 Hall Activities

and   

Rental Information    

Hall  

Rental Availability

http://www.christepiscopalchaptico.org/parishhallevents.html   

~ Wednesday  ~     

Holy Eucharist, 7:15am,   

Priest's Office   

Wine and Bibles, 6:30pm,   

~  Every Thursday ~ 

Yoga 

9 -10:15am  & 10:30am -12:00pm  

Narcotics Anonymous  Mtg, 

7:00-8:00pm  

Historic Churches

We are one, but not the only one. Whereas  all modern churches look the same, each historic church

is historic and intriguing

 in its own way.

Check them out at http://www.daytrippingmetro.com/historicchurches.html

Other St. Mary's County Episcopal Churches   

St. George's Episcopal, Valley Lee, MD

Diocese of Washington   

Bishop Mariann Budde

Bishop's Photo Journal

The Bishop's Blog

Letters & Writings

Sermon

Visitation Schedule

To learn more about the

Episcopal Faith,

Please visit

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/

The Episcopal Church

You can find it online at:

http://www.lectionarypage.net/      

February 13, 2013

Ash Wednesday

"Ash on an old man's sleeve / Is all the ash the burnt roses leave."-T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

Ash Wednesday is not easy. While it is comforting, at one level, to know that the church recognizes what any can see - "thou art dust, and to dust though shalt return" - late winter / early spring might not be the best time for remembering our mortality. In the midst of bare tree or bud, loss is all too near right now. Our forebears, even more than we, reached winter in fear and trembling, and early spring was the time most ripe for famine. The harvest was often gone by then, either as food or waste, and the planting just begun. Many a child starved, in days gone by, within sight of fields fresh green with new-sown grain. According to some scholars, Lenten fasts were put in the church year at this time in order to prepare the body to live on very little, should famine come or until the first of the year's plantings bore its fruit.

There is a particular American tendency to deny the naturalness, if not the power, of death. It seems hard for us to accept it as a charism or grace, instead of as a curse or the wages of sin. That is sad. We should be thankful not to last as long as the world lasts, but to have the gift of being able to complete a life and end it in peace, knowing that this gift we did not earn was cherished and well used. Yet, many reach the end of life regretting how it was spent and lamenting that it will end, and how. What's worse, death too often comes like a thief in the night, robbing us of years we expected to have either for ourselves or with a loved one too soon gone. That, too, is sad. It is natural, at one level, to turn away from thoughts such as these. Nonetheless, mortal we were born and mortal we remain, while we remain.

Mortal, however, does not mean meaningless. We do not have to live or die in vain. Indeed, we should not, no matter that our birth was contingent and our death is unavoidable. It may be because of this, not in spite of it, that we should live as well as we can while we still have time given to us and the power of reason. Would we leave to our children and their children a world made fouler by our wickedness, negligence, and wrong? Would we leave undone what we ought to have done? Since we won't be here forever, would we not rather live in a world in which each loves neighbor as well as each loves self?  

We can but answer "No, no, and yes" to these questions, and then act to fulfill the promise in the prayer that they compose. We've only got one life to live, and it is a travesty to waste it. To say that and mean it marks a true faith, I think. It is also the point of Lent and a guide to how we might keep it holy. Mindful of our mortality and reminded of our sinfulness, let us call to mind in this season, with profound grace and thanksgiving, the power of God made real in us to live loving, caring lives full of faith and hope. Let that be our prayer.  

One last note. Pope Benedict XVI announced this week that he would resign at the end of this month. He is only the 6^th to ever do so, and about the 3^rd to do so for an actually good reason. Though, as the 37^th of the 39 Articles of Religion originally has it, "The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England" (cf. BCP 876), and hence none over us Episcopalians, his witness here is well to note. His recognition of the inevitability of decline and the consequences of mortality is, to my mind, both appropriate and selfless. As it's best to leave the stage while the audience in still clapping, it's best to lay one's burdens down before they become unbearable and one becomes oneself a burden to others. The Jesus of the gospels would have us carry our own cross (never someone else's), but not beyond our ability to bear it. Whether by an accident of the calendar or with a deep and clear intent, by making this announcement just before Ash Wednesday Pope Benedict has given his flock, along with all the rest of us, a good example of how to keep a holy Lent and to fulfill the prayer that is, or should be, what we make of our lives. It may even be fair to say, altering Shakespeare's original, that nothing in his papacy became him like the leaving it.

There is wisdom in that, methinks.

Blessings,

Fr. Christopher

Liturgical Schedule - February 17, 2013 

First Sunday in Lent  

Propers

1st Lesson - Deuteronomy 26:1-11  

  Psalm - 91:1-2, 9-16 

2nd Lesson - Romans 10:8b-13  

 Gospel - Luke 4:1-13 

Greeters - Eb Cooper & Bill Fleming 

Lector -  John MacBryde 

LEMs - Monty Wright & Mike Whitson 

Greeters - Mark & Amy Topolski 

Lector -  Muriel Dollins 

Acolytes - Aidan & Riley Dollins, and Ava Ciabattoni  

10:30 Refreshments:  The Spranger Family   

Please pray for the following parishioners: Clare Whitbeck, Chris & Bonny Moore,  William Mattingly,  Russell Maske, Rayetta McWilliams, Keith Owens,  and Ed Moore.

Please also pray for: Richard Griffith - Colton; James McCarty, Judy Thomas - Rogers, Robert Whitlock - Donahue; Bill Armstrong - Baldwin, Marvin Miller, Carol Stockman, Dee Brooks, Greg Rumph - Penk; Henry & Melba Lauver,  Chrissy Cliff - Moore; Michael Mulling, Grace Ann Guy, Irving Hall - Zantizinger; Claire Broadhead - Tyner; April Sauerwein - Swann; Kay DesMarais - Edger; Dana Biacetti - Weston; Laura Wible - Cooper; Katherine Stormont - McQuilkin; Karli Trost, Janice Chearney - Sirk; Rose Kinnaman - Oppermann; William Turner  - Derrington, The Reisinger Family, Shingo Yamamoto - Fitch; John Lawton - Burch; Rebecca Comp - Drumgoole; John Woodward - McGarity Deborah Schoenbauer - Rocheleau; and Michael Montillo - Montillo.

Parish Notes & Events   

        

http://www.christepiscopalchaptico.org/Our%20Ministries.html 

 

 

Wednesday's, Wine and Bibles

- continues this week at 6:30pm, and in the weeks coming, with a close study of 1 Thessalonians. This is the oldest letter we have from the apostle Paul, and the oldest book in the New Testament. It offers great insight into the power of the change Christ made in Paul's life and in the lives of the people of that city. Read it ahead of time if you have the chance, but come even if you didn't and enjoy some focused text-study and good fellowship, food and wine.  

 

 

 

Foundations of Episcopal Identity - Why was Jesus Jewish? Who invented the catholic church, and are we part of it? The Church of England? The Nicene Creed? Whose ideas were they? Where is this See of Canterbury, and who lives there and why? Why do we have communion every Sunday? What is communion anyway? What is the meaning of this Book of Common Prayer, and why is it sometimes so hard to read? Who wrote it and why? These questions and more lie at the heart of our particular form of Christian faith and our Episcopal identity. If you're interested in exploring these and other related questions, please see Fr. Christopher, who's looking to start a new study group for adults and clever teenagers to ask and answer them.

 

  

Vestry Meeting - Thursday, Feb. 21, at 6:30pm in the Parish Hall. Please let Crystal know if you will not be able to attend.

  

 

Mens Night for the Ladies Fundraiser   Saturday, Feb. 23, 2013

Cocktails start at 5:00pm, dinner starts at 6:00pm. 

Menu: Beef Tenderloin and Crab Imperial, and live entertainment with Jennifer Cooper and the Groovespan duo from 6-9pm. Come out for an evening of elegant dining, fellowship and fun. A $50 donation per couple, and/or $25 per guest. BRING YOUR FRIENDS!  Please RSVP by Wednesday, February 20, to  Robert (301-884-4581) or John Colton (301-807-0777).

Annual Church Rummage Sale & Refreshments

On Saturday, April 6, 2013, 7:00am to 1:00pm, on Christ Church Parish Hall grounds.  Proceeds from table rental and donations to the Christ Church Rummage Table will support ministry programs.  Refreshment proceeds from drinks, breakfast foods, and baked goods will support our Friday Night Youth Program. Bring your own table and rent space - $25, or for space and a table - $30.  Contact Crystal at mailto:office@christepiscopalchaptico.org or 301-884-3451, to rent your space. Mark Your Calendar Now! Rain or Shine!

 

 

CAMP EDOW (Episcopal Diocese of Washington)

- Save the date!  For rising 4th-8th graders, at Lions Camp Merrick in Nanjemoy, MD; Sunday, July 28 - Friday, August 2, 2013. Cost is $500, scholarship application will be available.  Get ready for a week of fun, faith, friends, activities, and memories with an Episcopal flair! More information visit www.edow.org/camp

 

Snow, snow, ice and snow -  It fell. It iced the roads. The sun came out, and the sun won. If this process halfway repeats itself, re-slickening the roads one Sunday morning, act accordingly. Church will be there once the sun wins again. The sun always wins in the end...

On WARM -  If you would like to volunteer at any of the host sites for the WARM program during this season or otherwise support the program, please be in touch with Fr. Christopher or the parish office to learn of the schedule of host sites and their various needs. Under new management, the program has strengthened its ability to safely and efficiently serve, during the chilly months of the year, those in our community who lack permanent housing. All reports indicate that the new, improved program is going quite well this season.

Safeguarding God's Children

Christ Church, Chaptico  

Saturday, April 13, 2013

9:30am - 12:30pm 

Our Growing and Vibrant Youth Group

Child Abuse Prevention Training for Paid Full-time Staff and

All Who Work With Children & Youth

Safeguarding God's Children provides participants with the information they need to protect the children they know and care for in their personal lives and the ministries in which they serve. The program is based on the philosophy that if every adult can protect just one child, the will forever change one life. If we can all change one life, together we will make a difference in this generation of children.

In the Diocese of Washington, we want each of our parishes to actively protect their children and youth so that we may live into our baptismal covenant and to help them grow stronger in their life in Christ.

Who needs to attend?

• All paid parish staff members who have not completed a child abuse and sexual misconduct prevention of program in the last three years
• Any volunteers working with children and youth (including Christian education leaders) who have not completed a child abuse and sexual misconduct prevention of program in the last three years
• Anyone who wishes to learn more about how their parish can protect children and youth.
•  

Please contact the Crystal Spranger if you are interested in registering, or helping with setup and cleanup. 

Light refreshments will be provided by Christ Church Parish.

For further details visit http://www.edow.org/news-and-events/events/featured-events/safeguarding-god-s-children  

What's Happening In Your Community?