Weekly Services
~ Sunday ~- 8:00am, Morning Prayer / Holy Eucharist
- 10:30am, Organ & Choir / Holy Eucharist
- 5:30pm, Sung Vespers / Holy Eucharist
~ Wednesday ~
7:15am Holy Eucharist,
located in the Parish Hall,
in Fr. Wilkins's Office
ADDRESS:Church: 25390 Maddox Rd Parish Hall: 37497 Zach Fowler Rd
Mailing: P.O. Box 8, Chaptico, MD 20621
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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
Parish Leaders
Altar Guild:
Robbie Loker
Finance Chair:
Parish Life:
Shelby Oppermann
Registrar:
Stewardship:
Robbie Loker
Fundraising:
David Spranger
Friday-Night Sunday School
(FNSS) Coordinator:
Muriel Dollins
Building & Grounds Team
Herbie Redmond
John Colton
Mike Oliver
Robert Oppermann
Greg Penk
Brad Reeves
David Spranger
Mark Topolski
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Hall Activities and Rental Information 
Hall Rental Availability www.christepiscopalchaptico.org/parishhallevents.html Book Your Event Today! ~ 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. Other St. Mary's County .Episcopal Churches  | | St. George's Episcopal, Valley Lee, |
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St. Mary's Parish
Ridge,
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All Saints Episcopal, Avenue MD
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All Faith Episcopal,
Mechanicsville
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Church of the Ascension, Lexington Park, MD
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St. Andrews
Leonardtown, MD
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 | Trinity Church,
St. Mary's City, MD |
Diocese of Washington Bishop's Photo Journal The Bishop's Blog Letters & Writings Sermon To learn more about the Episcopal Faith, Please visit http://www.episcopalchurch.org/ The Episcopal Church Uses the Revised Common Lectionary. You can find it online at: www.lectionarypage.net/ It's good to stay up to date with the Daily Office and weekly readings.
The Daily Office from Mission St. Claire is available online and as an app for your Smartphone. We also have Forward Day by Day available in the church and at the parish hall, which is another way to keep up with daily prayer and Bible reading at |
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March 27, 2013
The Annunciation
Dear People of Christ Church:
Alright, fine. The Feast of the Annunciation is March 25th, which was this past Monday. Strictly speaking, today's saint should be the powerful and effective priest and bishop, Charles Henry Brent. He witnessed vigorously against the opium and heroin trade, among other things, and was beloved in both dioceses of which he was bishop: the Philippines and Western New York. By bitter irony, opiates are no friends to these places, even today. Children loved him, soldiers respected him, parliaments listened to him, and Christ worked through him even more than he could ask or imagine. I would be amiss were I to slight or forget him.
Yet, the Annunciation is not a feast to be missed, either. One of the five feasts of Mary (Conception, Presentation/Purification, Annunciation, Visitation, Assumption/Dormition) that parallel the five major feasts of Christ (Christmas, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, Transfiguration), it tells a simple but vital story.[1] Mary, a young woman about to be married, finds favor with God. God decides that she will bear his son, who will save the world. Mary agrees to this, if with less than resounding joy - "let it be done to me according to thy will" - not fully realizing its power and its cost. She saw him in all his glory, but not before seeing him as a helpless, crying child or the boy she raised to know the ways of God. She saw him in all his suffering and bore this on her heart, also, till it broke at the foot of the cross. Mary is the Christ-bearer, or God-bearer. Insofar as any of us bears Christ, we do so in her image and, if we do it well, while being mindful of her. She carried his body, alive and dead, in her womb and in her arms. Later, according to medieval Christian traditions, he made her Queen of Heaven. In art she is either pensive or weeping. I have never seen an image of Mary in which she either laughs or smiles.
Lady Day. That is what they used to call this day in England. Quarterly rents were due, and many tenant farmers signed their annual contracts and moved to new farms. One more crop cycle, one more year. By exquisite coincidence, Lady Day in modern times has another meaning. It is the nickname of Billie Holiday, once called "the best and most honest jazz singer alive."[2] Pain, promise, heartache, disillusion, warmth, poise, beauty, wit, steel, silk, smooth, a voice that few who heard it could forget or ignore, "strange fruit from Southern trees..." - and that's just for starters. Liquor, heroin, racism, and abusive men took her too often and too soon, but did not silence what she sang or how she sang. It is something of a miracle that we have from her as much as we have. To listen carefully to her recordings, which has become one of my Lady Day traditions, is to be moved profoundly. It is not always clear why - and then sometimes it is.
The poet / priest Gerard M. Hopkins wrote several lovely poems about Mary and her spiritual power. These make good Lady Day reading, too, though at some distance from jazz and the blues. One of the keenest is "The Blessed Virgin compared to the Air we Breathe." It starts, "Wild air, world-mothering air, / Nestling me everywhere..." and goes on in that vein. The grace of Mary is like the air we breathe: it is all around and vital, yet we can neither see it nor capture it. Without it, we perish. In it, we can thrive.
Hopkins goes on to say that just as Mary mothered an infant, so does she mother - bring into being - each new grace that turns human grief to joy, darkness to light, weeping to laughing, and death into life. Attending closely the air by which we live and through which we move, Hopkins could sense the grace of God made alive in Mary and in her son, and thus in all of us and each of us. You can name it Spirit, Wisdom (Sophia), or simply Life, if you like. To be aware that we are surrounded by what saves us and what we need is the point. Reach it however you like.
Many of us seek to turn darkness to light, and grief to joy, in the midst of lives in which grace can seem hard to find. To acquaint ourselves with the sensibility that all around us is the power of God made real and loving - and as present and clear as the air itself - is to take one step towards light and joy. It is to hope, at least for the moment, that today can be better than yesterday. It is to realize that our desire for God's grace would have already been met, had we but eyes to see, ears to hear, and lungs to breathe it in.
We do have these things, by the way. Never forget that.
Blessings for Holy Week and Easter,
Fr. Christopher
[1] There are lots more feasts for each, but these seemed the most prominent in each case.
[1] By music critic Nat Hentoff in the liner notes for The Essential Billie Holiday (Verve/HMV, 1961).
P.S. Most of Billie Holiday's song, "Lady Sings the Blues" would fit well, at this point. Here are three lines, which could've been in Mary's voice, too: "Ain't gonna just sit around and cry / And now I know I won't die / because I love him". (There's at least two ways to hear that, btw.) CIW+
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Easter Sunday Liturgical Schedule
March 31, 2013
Propers
1st Lesson - Acts 10:34-43
Psalm - 18:1-2, 14-24
2nd Lesson - 1 Corinthians 15:19-26
Gospel - John 20:1-18
Holy Eucharist - 8:00AM
Greeters - Bill Fleming & Eb Cooper
Lector - Tom Oliver
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LEMs - Fred Wyant & Mike Whitson
Greeters - David & Crystal Spranger
Lector - Susan McQuilkin
Acolytes - Leigha Gardiner, Harmony Spranger, and Ava Ciabbatoni
10:30 Refreshments Reminder:
Potluck Easter, bring something to share with everyone!
REMINDER: NO 5:30PM Service Easter Day
March Altar Guild: Mary Simmons and Susan Tyner
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Please Pray For
Please pray for the following parishioners: Clare Whitbeck, Chris & Bonny Moore, William Mattingly, Russell Maske, Rayetta McWilliams, 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, Ginny, Anne & Mark Atwood - Fitch; Louise Quade - Burch; Deborah Schoenbauer - Rocheleau; Michael Montillo - Montillo; Ralph Horrell, The Brizendine Family - Heflin; and Charles Laskey - Laskey.
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Come Worship with us during HOLY WEEK and EASTER
 March 28 - Maundy Thursday
- Seder (Passover) Supper & Eucharist, Parish Hall 6:30pm; with Bishop Mariann Budde
Maundy service to follow in the church. We will celebrate
the Last Supper of Our Lord together with all the
Episcopal churches in the county. Please RSVP to Crystal Spranger.
Please contact Fr. Wilkins or Mike Whitson for additional information.
Note: Maundy Thursday ends with the stripping of the altar down at the church. There will be a garden of repose there as well, where people may choose to spend some time in silent prayer throughout the night.
March 29 - Good Friday
- Good Friday Liturgy - 7:00pm
March 31 - Easter Day
- Great Vigil of Easter and Holy Baptism - 10:30am
Easter Egg Hunt: will be held in the Church cemetery following the 10:30am service. In case of inclement weather, the Easter Egg Hunt will be moved to the Parish Hall. Questions, please contact Monty Wright @ 240-434-2883 (cell), or e-mail:wrightjm@md.metrocast.net.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS
MAUNDY THURSDAY - Tonight, March 28, 2013. Seder (Passover) Supper & Eucharist, at the Parish Hall at 6:30pm; with Bishop Mariann Budde. Maundy service will follow in the church. We will celebrate the Last Supper of Our Lord together with other Episcopal churches in the county. Please contact Fr. Wilkins for additional information. Please RSVP to Crystal Spranger..
FLOWERS, FELLOWSHIP, AND FUN - Saturday, March 30, 2013 at 11am.
Join members of the altar guild as they prepare the church for the celebration of Christ's Resurrection. With your help, we can complete the transformation in 2 hours. Have flowers in your yard or questions? Contact Robbie at 301-904-6634 or at rloker@md.metrocast.net.
WEDNESDAY'S WINE & BIBLES - Wednesday at 6:30pn in the Parish Hall. Moving on, once we're back online on April 3, to the book of Hebrews. Read some of that, and come see what's happening.
ANNUAL RUMMAGE & YARD SALE - 7:00am to 1:00pm Saturday, April 6
on Christ Church Parish Hall grounds. Refreshments drinks, and baked goods will be available. All vendors welcome! Bring your own table and rent space for $20 or rent space and a table for $25. Contact Crystal at mailto:office@christepiscopalchaptico.org or 301-884-3451. Mark Your Calendar Now! Rain or Shine! Proceeds from table rental and donations to the Christ Church Rummage Table will support ministry programs. 
FOUNDATIONS OF EPISCOPAL IDENTITY -You've seen it advertised for weeks, and it's finally on its way. The 1st meeting will be the Sunday after Easter, April 7, at 12:15 pm downstairs in the Parish Hall. We will meet in the small conference room (to the left) or, if our numbers are high enough, in the vestry room. We'll go for about an hour, and then decide when it is best to hold the other sessions. Please bring either a Bible or a Book of Common Prayer, and at least one question that's been on your mind or heart about church or Christianity, and that you'd like to explore together. Attendees can be as young as 12 or as old as Methuselah (Gen. 5:27).
FRIDAY-NIGHT SUNDAY SCHOOL (FNSS) - Preschool to High School Ages! Friday, April 12 & 19, May 3 & 10, 2013, 6:30 - 8:00pm. Family & friends are welcome. Contact us at the Office, or Muriel Dollins at 301-884-4710, if you are interested in participating or volunteering with this growing and vibrant program. To learn more, visit
http://www.christepiscopalchaptico.org/Our%20Ministries.html
COMING TOGETHER TO CELEBRATE OUR STORIES - Saturday, April 13, 2013, beginning at 4pm. Join us for an afternoon of storytelling by renowned storyteller, Corinne Stavish, on April 13 at Church of the Ascension. The program begins at 4:00 pm. with a reception to follow in the Parish Hall. Corinne credits her father, Martin Grayson, for instilling in her a love of justice, a passion for history, a wicked sense of humor, and a drive to share stories. She uses her degrees in Theatre, Literature, and Performing Arts to great advantage, whether in the classroom or on stage, to shape personal and public history into inspiring narratives described as powerful and poignant. She has been featured at the National Storytelling Festival and has presented workshops nationwide, was a keynote speaker at the 2005 National Storytelling Conference, and is a College Professor in Humanities at Lawrence Technological University. For more information on Corinne Stavish. Church of the Ascension is located on 21641 Great Mills Road, Lexington Park. Please call (301) 863-8551 with questions or email the Parish Office.
SPRING DIOCESAN SERVICES - Confirmations, Reception and Renewal of Baptismal Vows at the Cathedral on Saturday, May 11 and Saturday, June 15, 2013, both at 10am. The service of Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation of Faith is a moment of great blessing and affirmation in the life of a Christian. It signals a spiritual turning point in a person's life, a conscious decision to step forward and be counted among other believers, to claim one's faith and choose to live as a follower of Jesus in community with others. Please contact Fr. Christopher or the office if you are interested in one of the Cathedral Confirmation services.
 CAMP EDOW (Episcopal Diocese of Washington) REGISTER NOW!
SPRING, SPRING, LOTS OF SPRING? They tell me maybe be tomorrow, or later this week.
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Christ Church Cash Raffle
3 Chances to Win! Only 400 tickets sold!
First Prize - $2,500; Second Prize - $1,000; Third Prize - $500;
Drawing: June 14, 2013 (Flag Day)Tickets are $20.00 each
Contact Crystal at 301-884-3451 or via email , or David Spranger at 240-298-8310 to purchase a ticket. Tickets will be for sale at all upcoming Christ Church events. All proceeds will go towards Christ Church growing ministries.
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Have You Signed Up Yet?
Safeguarding God's Children
Christ Church, Chaptico, Saturday, April 13, 2013
9:30am - 12:30pm
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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.
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
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Alyssa Bolton - March 3;
Tyler Derrington - March 17;
Shawn Gregory, II - March 14;
Austin Burch - March 29;
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COMMUNITY HAPPENINGS
MID-ATLANTIC FIREWORKS FESTIVAL -
April 6th, 5 pm until whenever, on Allens Fresh Road, hosted by the River View Grange #438. $10 per car; parking limited to 800 vehicles. No alcohol and no glass containers. Here's a link with more details: http://www.maff.ws/.
CLOTHING SALE - Mechanicsville Elementary School PSTO is hosting a children's clothing sale on April 20th from 7:00am to 12:00pm. Clothes will be sold for $1. We are also collecting gently used clothes for the sale. Clothing donations can be
dropped off at Mechanicsville Elementary School or to Christ Church and Helen
Wright will take them to the school. Funds made from the sale will be used to
purchase Technology for the school. If you have any questions, please contact
Helen Wright at wrighthr@md.metrocast.net or 301-884-9958.
2013 BISHOP'S BIKE RIDES- Join Mariann Edgar Budde, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, and other cyclists in a series of rides around the diocese this spring and summer. The goals of these rides are having fun, getting healthy and connecting with the community and our bishop. Beginning Sunday, March 17, through June 15, 2013. For updated information visit
OUR LADY OF THE WAYSIDE FOOD PANTRY- just around the corner from us, is in need of the following items: Peanut Butter, Jelly, Hamburger Helper, Noodle & Rice Sides, Pancake Mix, Noodles, Mac & Cheese and Juice. Monetary donations are also accepted, and can be sent to the Parish office and will be forwarded to the Food Pantry.
SOUTHERN MARYLAND FOOD BANK - is in need of the following items: Canned Meat, Peanut Butter, Pasta, Fruits (canned or dried), Canned Soup & Vegetables, Sauces/Salad Dressing, Evaporated Milk, Powdered Milk, Oatmeal, Breakfast Cereal, Rice, and Beans (canned or dried). If you wish to donate money you can send your donations to: Southern Maryland Food Bank, P.O. Box 613, Hughesville, MD 20637. For every dollar donated, the Food Bank can purchase 8 pounds of food.
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