| This Weekend's Readings | The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Click HERE to view this weekends readings.
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This Weekend's Preacher
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The Reverend Joyce Matthews
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7/23 Thursday
| 8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
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7/24 Friday
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8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
9:30 AM - Al-Anon Meeting
11:00 AM - Women's Spirituality
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7/25 Saturday
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10:00 AM - Funeral Service for Anna Lisa Nyquist
5:00 PM - Holy Eucharist: Rite II
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7/26 Sunday
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8:00 AM - Holy Eucharist: Rite I
9:00 AM - Rector's Forum
10:00 AM - Holy Eucharist: Rite II
10:00 AM - Summer Sunday School
11:30 AM - Docent Tour
4:00 PM - Summer Carillon Series 6:00 PM - Sunday at Six Evensong
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7/27 Monday
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8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
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7/28 Tuesday
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8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
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7/29 Wednesday
| 7:00 AM - Holy Eucharist: Rite II
7:30 AM - Bible Study
8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
9:30 AM - Adult Children of Alcoholics Meeting
10:00 AM - Service for Jervis McMechan
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7/30 Thursday
| 8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
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| Pastor Joyce Matthews: Ten Years of Serving Christ | |  The Reverend Joyce Matthews has been serving at Christ Church Cranbrook for ten years, first as the Marquis Fellow Curate and now, as our Senior Associate Rector. Pastor Manisha Dostert sat down with her to reflect upon her last ten years and learn her hopes and dreams for the future of our church.
I remember when you first were ordained in 2005. What was that time like?
One day, while I was in seminary, I went to my room to check my messages. There was a phone call from Father Ed Mullins, asking me to interview at Christ Church Cranbrook. It was such a surprise. I spoke to Gary Hall, who was the new dean of Seabury-Western Theological Seminary and had served at CCC as a newly ordained priest. He encouraged me to interview, which I did. At the interview, the conference room was filled with people, all people I now know and love. It took them a while to extend the call, but it was worth the wait for me.
I remember the first time I preached. I had never even dreamed of preaching my first sermon as a priest at Christ Church Cranbrook. The readings for that Sunday were not my first choice for Scriptures to preach on and the pulpit was so high, but I thought, "Okay. Here we go!"
What are some of your favorite memories of the past ten years?
I really enjoyed providing pastoral care to the parishioners, hearing their stories and receiving advice from them. A couple of elderly parishioners told me once, "Getting old is not for sissies!" I find myself sharing that quote with others!
What accomplishments are you most proud of in Christ?
According to the lay visitors when I arrived, pastoral care was limited to only the laity providing visits. I began to visit, which offered the gift of clergy providing pastoral care to the parishioners. I feel the visit with parishioners provides not only a blessing to them but also to me. I learn so much from them.
I started a healing ministry and a Grief Support Group. The feedback I have received from both has been overwhelming. With the Grief Support Group, I worked on it for several years, researching, attending grief support seminars and putting it together on my sabbatical. I wanted it to be the best we have to offer to people whose loved ones have died. They deserve only the best. When you are grieving, having a place to go where you feel supported is important in the process of healing. Through the regular meetings, the group itself began to support and take care of one another, calling and looking out for each other. Even though each person was hurting, they took care of one another. It was amazing.
What have you learned about God during these years at CCC?
God is always with us no matter what we are going through. Whenever I had difficult moments in my ministry, God was there right beside me. When I am preaching something personal or challenging to the congregation, calling them to discipleship, God is with me. He gives me strength and courage when I need it the most.
What are your hopes and dreams for the future of CCC?
I hope we will continue to grow biblically. I hope we will continue to grow spiritually and learn more about the Episcopal Church. Finally, I hope the people will connect to each other more. The parishioners do take care of each other, but I would like them to pull others in who are on the fringes, to welcome and involve them. |
Special Coffee Hour for Pastor Joyce
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Please join us for a special coffee hour to celebrate Pastor Joyce's 10th anniversary at Christ Church Cranbrook on Sunday, July 26 after the 10:00 AM service.
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| Special Guest this Sunday | |  This Sunday, July 26, at 10 AM service of Holy Eucharist we are honored to host the Rev. Kimberly Whitsett, a beloved and revered singer in Detroit. As we turn our attention to Rebuild the Churches this Sunday, Kimberly will sing a story of hope, of love, and of our commitment to follow Christ through helping others. Share with Christ Church Cranbrook in the special offering to help churches that were victims of arson and with Kimberly Whitsett's offering as she sings:
"You gave me hands to reach out to man, To show him Your love, You gave me my ears, I can hear your voice so clear, I can hear the voice of sinners, but cannot wipe away the tears. Lord, I am available to You." [Carlis Moody, Jr.] |
| Rebuild the Churches | | As many of you no doubt know, CCC will be taking a special collection on July 25 and 26 to assist with the rebuilding of predominately black churches that were victims of arson in late June. Currently, 180 congregations from 36 states have contributed funds in excess of $190,000 (with a goal of $250,000), and I am proud that we will be among this number. An updated list can be found HERE.
In addition to this special collection, there will be a benefit concert sponsored by the Diocese of Michigan on Sunday, August 9, at 4:00 PM. The suggested donation for attending the concert will be $20, and there will be light refreshments and fellowship afterward. Further about this concert can be found HERE.
Some of you have asked why we are going with a "both-and" approach to the Rebuild the Churches Fund by having both a special collection and by advertising this upcoming benefit concert. My main reason is what the special collection represents to us spiritually. The collection will carry on the uniquely Christian practice of giving within the Eucharist. By doing so, it reminds the people of God that our gifts are given by all, as each can afford, for the welfare of the whole. It reminds us, in other words, of the core meaning of stewardship. Stewardship is not something the few do for the rest, but an activity we all share in based on the gifts God has given us. No matter what each of us gives, we all bear the same responsibility to support our ministry together.
Further, by contributing to the rebuilding of these predominately black churches, whose lives and communities have been threatened, we send a message that we stand by them on the basis of our shared life in Christ. We bear witness, in other words, to a deeper politics based in the Gospel that goes beyond what is normally implied by the word, "politics." Fundamentally, politics defines the way we live in the world with others, and every form of politics is animated by a guiding vision and ethos, or way of life. By standing with these threatened churches and communities, we are saying that we believe that our politics is based on the love we have for each other as mutual members of the body of Christ. This politics will always be the measure and judge of any other politics practiced, and particularly a politics practiced on the basis of racism or hate.
The benefit concert also provides us with another way to come together as a diocese and to bear witness to the politics of God I have just sketched. It offers another way to explore what it means to grow together in Christ and to live Eucharistically, by giving thanks and praise to God for the gifts we have received to benefit those among us who need our help and support.
No matter where you feel God is calling you to give, it is my hope that you will find this "both-and" approach an opportunity for you to live into the fullness of God's grace in your life. The motto of the Rebuild the Churches Fund, "What hate burns, love rebuilds," unites both of these initiatives into a vision of the beloved community Jesus calls us to be.
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| This Week's Intercessions | | |
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| Rector's Forums | | Bowing to popular demand, the Sunday morning Rector's Forum will continue at 9:00 AM in the Hospitality Center throughout the summer. The preacher for each Sunday will discuss that day's Scripture readings as they connect with current events and Christian practice.
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| Crossroads of Michigan Lunch | | Join fellow parishioners on Sunday, August 30th as we prepare and serve a hot lunch to almost 700 guests of the Crossroads of Michigan Soup Kitchen. Crossroads provides the only meal available in Metro Detroit on Sundays to those who are hungry. Thirty- four people are needed for two shifts: 8 AM - 12 PM and 12 PM - 4 PM. Open to adults and high school students. All volunteers will be commissioned at the 5 PM Saturday, August 29th service. Sign up at www.cccrsvp.org/feed or contact Pastor Manisha or Michael Andrews at m.andrews@yahoo.com
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| 87th Annual Summer Carillon Series | |  The 2015 Summer Carillon Series - our 87th at Christ Church Cranbrook - features an exciting roster of carillonneurs bringing their skills to the church's beautiful 50-bell carillon. The series runs Sundays at 4 PM, July 5th through August 9th.
Tower tours will be offered on several Sundays following recitals. A CCC docent will be in the church an hour before each program to answer questions and conduct brief tours, and plans are under way for some pre-recital preludes to add to the interest and enjoyment of the afternoon. Carillon series programs are free and open to the public and include printed programs and refreshments at the hospitality tent.
Program Schedule
July 26 - Sue Bergren (Naperville, Illinois)
August 2 - Olesya Rostovskaya (Moscow, Russia)
August 9 - John Gouwens (Culver, Indiana)
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| Worship With Our Partner Church: Church of the Messiah in the City! | |
On Sunday, August 2 at 11:30 AM after our worship service, you are invited to travel down to Detroit to worship, have lunch and enjoy Christian fellowship with our brothers and sisters at Church of the Messiah, 231 E. Grand Blvd. Questions or to set up a car pool, talk to Pastor Manisha at Mdostert@christchurchcranbrook.org
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| CCC Cedar Point Trip | |  Save the date for Wednesday, August 19th, for an all day trip to Cedar Point! Bus transportation will be provided and the bus will leave early in the morning from Christ Church Cranbrook parking lot and will return in the evening. All ages are welcome. Elementary age children must be with a parent. More details forthcoming. To register, please click HERE For any questions, please contact the Reverend Dostert at 248.644.5210, Ext. 30 or mdostert@christchurchcranbrook.org
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| Save The Date! CCC goes to the Tiger Game! | | Friday, September 18 - Detroit Tigers vs. the Kansas City Royals, 7:00 game.
Tickets will be $40 and bus transportation will be provided by Cranbrook Schools. The seats are on the third base line and are in section 141, rows 32-35 and section 142, rows 26-29. They are across the aisle from each other. As soon as we have the tickets in hand, we will have them available for sale at Coffee Hour and in the Church Office. We will let you know when the tickets are available and have a departure time for the buses. |
| One Bread Ministry | |  How would you like to be an ambassador... for Christ, and for Christ Church Cranbrook? We invite you to do this with a simple commitment.
HERE'S HOW:
You make contact by phone with a first-time visitor to ask if you might deliver a gift of welcome from the church. The visitor's name, address and phone number will be supplied to you. Once successful, you would then deliver a pre-packaged artisan loaf of bread to the visitor's home, at a time that is convenient. There will be a supply of loaves stored in the church kitchen.
This kind gesture would be accompanied by your invitation for them to return to Christ Church Cranbrook and to contact you for any information they would like to have. You do not have to know the answer to every question asked - just point them in the right direction to someone who can, like a member of clergy or staff.
"Yes, sign me up"... Please contact J. J. Benkert at bbjjb3@gmail.com or 248.642.7790 to become an ambassador for this warm and welcoming new ministry.
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| Do You Need a Ride to Church? | |  Do you or someone you know need a ride to the 10:00 AM service on Sundays? We now have a shuttle running from Fox Run retirement community in Novi to CCC every Sunday for the 10:00 AM service. The shuttle leaves Fox Run at 9:15 AM and will make stops between there and Christ Church Cranbrook. If you or someone you know lives in Farmington Hills, W. Bloomfield, Bloomfield Hills, Beverly Hills or Birmingham and would like a ride to church, please contact Mr. Don Canavesio at 586.747.6587.
CCC has contracted with Don to drive our van to pick up parishioners. If a ride is needed, you need to contact Don by Saturday at Noon for a ride for the next day. Seating is limited so rides are on a first come-first served basis. There is no charge for this service. |
| Item of the Month | | Collecting SCHOOL SUPPLIES in July! Christ Church Cranbrook will collect school supplies for Glazer Elementary which will be distributed to their students. All types of supplies are welcome such as notebooks, filler paper, crayons, markers, pencils, erasers, pens, two pocket folders, pencil sharpeners and backpacks. Please place your donations in the bins located in the Narthex and at the South Entrance. Thank you for supporting this worthy cause.
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| Sunday at Six - Evensong | |  MOST OF THE TIME, Christ Church Cranbrook is a busy place, with meetings, classes, concerts, tours, and worship services filling every available space with wholesome noise and blessed activity. THERE ARE TIMES, however, when a stillness descends, and, as the Book of Common Prayer says, "...the shadows lengthen, and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done." ONE SUCH TIME occurs "Sundays at 6", when a (usually) small congregation gathers in the choir pews for the traditional Anglican service of Evensong. Sundays at 6 is not a carefully rehearsed choral effort, but rather a "do-it-yourself" offering of psalms, readings from scripture, and prayers, lasting about 25 minutes. The service is chanted, using repetitive melodies that have been sung in monastic communities for more than a thousand years. ONE DOES NOT HAVE TO SING WELL, or be musically inclined, to participate meaningfully in such worship. In a semi-darkened church, in the company of other spiritual pilgrims like ourselves, the ancient words emerge from silence almost of their own volition, and the wordless intervals between phrases point to God as eloquently as the sacred writings and chanted prayers. CONSIDER ATTENDING SUNDAYS AT 6. And, even if you don't, consider making space in your life when you can sit quietly and pray along with Psalm 62 which says, "For God alone my soul in silence waits." |
| Hospitality Hour after 5:00 PM Service on Saturdays | | | Our Hospitality Hour after the 5:00 PM service on Saturdays is a huge hit! Your help is needed to continue this welcoming ministry. Come about 20 minutes before the service to set everything up and then clean up afterward. If you are willing to help out, please contact Debbie Moore at dmoore@christchurchcranbrook.org or at 248.644.5210, Ext. 35. |
| Serve a Meal, Experience Great Joy! | | We will be serving a hot lunch on Saturday, July 18th to about fifty to eighty people at Baldwin Center, 212 Baldwin Avenue in Pontiac. We need four people from 10 AM -1 PM to set up, serve and clean up the meals Baldwin provides. We also need five people to fill our shift on Wednesday, August 5th from 10 AM - 1 PM to serve lunch to the guests. Sign up at www.cccrsvp.org/feed or contact Pastor Manisha or Michael Andrews at m.andrews@yahoo.com
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Summer Sunday School
| | It is time for Summer, praise God! Summer means fun and relaxation, same with our Summer Sunday School! Children, preschool - 6th grade, meet in rooms 201-202 at 10:00 AM for Christian formation, fun and prizes.
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| Can you run a Video Camera? | |  We are going to begin live streaming the 10 AM service every Sunday and need to recruit a team of people to work the video camera. It's quite simple and training will be provided. Depending on the number of people who volunteer, the commitment will be no more than one Sunday a month. Please contact Peggy Dahlberg at pdahlberg@christchurchcranbrook.org or 248.644.5210, Ext. 12 to volunteer or for more information. |
| Parish Health Nurses | | To promote and raise awareness of health including the body, mind and spirit in our congregation.
Contact Pastor Joyce Matthews 248.644.5210, Ext. 15 or email jmatthews@christchurchcranbrook.org |
| CCC Community Gardens Needs Helpers | |  The three vegetable beds near the Church's south door are planted! Volunteer gardeners are needed to weed, water, harvest, and deliver vegetables. No previous gardening experience is needed. We have planted tomatoes, kale, collard and mustard greens, string beans, zucchini and eggplant. There is an herb garden too with parsley, basal, mint, and cilantro. Our fresh produce goes to the weekly "Farmer's Market" at our sister parish of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pontiac. Please help by signing up today. Contact Coco Siewert at e.siewert@wayne.edu to sign up or if you have any questions. Join the fun and we will work around your summer vacation, work, and play schedule.
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| Women's Spirituality Group | | Women's Spirituality Group meets on Fridays for a sack lunch at 11:30 AM and a one hour program at 12:00 PM in Rooms 201-202. This lively, conversational group addresses a wide range of topics relevant to Christian women today. For example, we have discussed Celtic Christianity, the Books of Common Prayer across the Anglican Communion, Spiritual Gifts, Lenten hymns, Interfaith Understanding and more. Come when you can!
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| Help Wanted! | | Christ Church Cranbrook needs help answering phones three mornings a week. If you are able to help out on Monday, Wednesday or Friday mornings, please contact Kathy Doyle at kdoyle@christchurchcranbrook.org or 248.644.5210, Ext. 11.
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| End Homelessness Now 5K/10K | | SOS partners with St. David's Episcopal Church on Sunday, August 2nd. This race will benefit SOS programs and include pancake breakfast, interfaith celebration and giveaways after the race activities. Start your team before July 1st for a discounted price! If you are interested in purchasing a ticket or donating items and services to the event, please contact Megan Holt at 248.809.3773 or megan@oaklandshelter.org
Click HERE for more details.
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| Job Seekers Boot Camp | |
One of the most productive investments that Christ Church has made at Focus: HOPE has been the Job Seekers Boot Camp. This month-long intensive training program helps to put the finishing touches on the application skills of the candidate. Since we began sponsorship of the program, 112 people have found sustainable employment. There's one more way we can help, by looking into our own areas of work and identifying a job opportunity. Here are sketches of 2 graduates from the most recent cohort.
Olivia Wills is a college graduate with a degree in marketing and has experience in the banking industry as a teller and knows how to deal with customers on a one-to-one basis. She is well versed in the Microsoft Office Suite, has excellent communication skills and professional mannerisms.
Michael Tucker has experience in the warehouse field with knowledge of the use of pallet jacks, RIFD technology and product packaging. Mr. Tucker also has experience in the automotive plant field with excellent problem solving skills gained from being a line leader. Michael can operate a HiLo and is also skilled at welding, cleaning both hardwood and carpeted floors.
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| Fact and Fiction Fun | | |
 Fact and Fiction Fun will not meet in July and August. A new season will begin again on Monday, September 28, 2015 from 7:30 to 9:00 PM in the Conference Room. The selection for September is The Leopard by Giuseppe Di Lampedusa. Please join us.
In Sicily in 1860, as Italian unification grows inevitable, the smallest of gestures seems dense with meaning and melancholy, sensual agitation and disquiet: "Some huge irrational disaster is in the making." All around him, the prince, Don Fabrizio, witnesses the ruin of the class and inheritance that already disgust him. His favorite nephew, Tancredi, proffers the paradox, "If we want things to stay as they are, they will have to change," but Don Fabrizio would rather take refuge in skepticism or astronomy, "the sublime routine of the skies."
Giuseppe di Lampedusa, also an astronomer and a Sicilian prince, was 58 when he started to write The Leopard. E. M. Forster called his work "one of the great lonely books." What renders it so beautiful and so discomfiting is its creator's grasp of human frailty and, equally, of Sicily's arid terrain. The author died at the age of 60, soon after finishing The Leopard, though he did live long enough to see it rejected as unpublishable. |
| Interfaith Question of the Week | | |
As a way of learning about our neighbors of different faith traditions, we will be providing a link to the Question of the Week on the InterFaith Leadership Council (IFLC) of Metro Detroit's website. Please feel free to submit our own questions to IFLC for consideration to be featured.
This week's question is: What saint was called "the penitent"?
The InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit is a faith-based civic organization made up of visionary religious and lay leaders of many faiths whose shared values compel them to work toward a community that lives together in harmony.
Our Goals:
BRING TOGETHER, encourage and nurture interfaith groups and networks
SUPPORT CONCILIATION between and among religious groups as well as the community at large through active conflict resolution
PROMOTE INTERFAITH EDUCATION so that the metropolitan Detroit community can benefit from the synergies and creative benefits that knowledge and understanding can provide. |
| Spirituality and Nature: What's Behind the Image? | | 22 July 2015 (GROSSE POINTE FARMS, MI) - The Christ Church Spirituality Center will be offering a retreat on putting nature photography to work as a spiritual practice. The retreat begins Thursday evening, August 6 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and continues Friday, August 7, 9am-3pm.
Bonnie Edwards, an award-winning photographer who also serves as an Episcopal priest in Portage, Michigan, will be the retreat leader. Returning after last summer's well-received retreat using many of the same elements, she will direct the participants' attention this year to discovering new connections between the activity of taking a particular photo and one's own spiritual sensitivity to the image as it came from the realm of nature.
"This year we'll be exploring what's behind the image. But what does that really mean?" As she unfolded her retreat plans to Ron Spann, Director of the Christ Church Spirituality Center, Edwards explained, "There's a story behind every image we make that makes sense of why we photograph what we photograph." One's story connects with one's spirituality. She is asking everyone to bring to the opening session a copy of one of their own previously taken photos of something in nature. Those images will serve as a point of departure for answering the question, "What's behind the image?"
The retreat is open to anyone willing to spend time out of doors with a camera of whatever kind, and an interest in their own spirituality, however they think of it. No special camera skills are required, but the retreat will hold the interest of the newest amateur to the seasoned professional. Phone cameras, point-and-click, and DSLR's can do the job. The Friday morning segment takes place at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford Estate, but everything else happens at Christ Church Grosse Pointe's Miller Hall.
Everyone is welcome. The suggested contribution for the workshop is $60 per person and includes lunch. It is based on a sliding scale of $60-45, and further scholarship is available if needed. Registration deadline is Wednesday, August 5; call the Spirituality Center office at 313.885.4841/xt. 113 to register. For more information, visit the Christ Church Spirituality Center website.
The workshop meets in Miller Hall, Christ Church Grosse Pointe, 61 Grosse Pointe Boulevard, next to Grosse Pointe South High School, in Grosse Pointe Farms. Helping persons become fully alive
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| CCC Services Live Streamed | | Christ Church Cranbrook is now live streaming our 10:00 AM Sunday service! No matter where you are you don't have to miss a service. To view services, please click HERE. Videos of previous services are archived on this page as well.
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| Online and Text Giving - It's Easy! | | |
 Contributions can now be made online and by text messaging. Please click HERE and see how quick and easy it is.
We invite you to consider our new electronic "Online Giving" program as a way to automate your donations to Christ Church Cranbrook. Read more
We encourage you to consider these new giving opportunities.
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