| This Weekend's Readings | The Twelfth 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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8/13 Thursday
| 8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
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8/14 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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8/15 Saturday
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5:00 PM - Holy Eucharist: Rite II
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8/16 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 6:00 PM - Sunday at Six Evensong
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8/17 Monday
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8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
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8/18 Tuesday
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8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
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8/19 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
7:00 PM - Artworks Committee Meeting
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8/20 Thursday
| 8:30 AM - Morning Prayer
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| The Dominican Republic Mission Trip | | Clear, striking images appear in my mind when I think about the time we spent in the Dominican Republic this year. I see a work site with piles of trash, grasses, and yes, even plastic ready for burning. I touch the hard ground knowing that we will have to learn to use one of the two pickaxes on the church's garden to break up the soil and get at the weeds. I taste the daily fare of beans (habichuelas) and rice - prepared somewhat differently each day. I feel the sun's heat - at whatever time of day - turning once clean t-shirts into very sweaty ones.
But in the midst of sensory overload and cultural dissonance, I sense God is near. I hear God in the traffic that never sleeps - the ongoing beeping of horns, the roar of motorcycle engines, and the clip clop of donkeys carrying their masters to town. I hear God in a vendor with a loudspeaker on his truck advertising his delicious onions. I hear our youth's well-formulated questions to the Medical Director and Board President of Clinica Experanza (Hope Clinic) as part of our exploratory medical mission. I hear God in children's sweet songs, in teenagers' joking, and in adults' attempts to use a new language - timidly, haltingly, but increasingly. I hear God in the bells rung by the acolytes dressed in red cassocks and white surplices as part of the Eucharistic service. I hear Obispo (Bishop) Holguín not only conveying his priorities to CCC leaders about his clinic projects, but also his voice among other Bishops and clergy at the consecration of the church we helped to finish, San Simón Apóstol.
One especially powerful image keeps reappearing in my mind as I think about the sequential DR Youth and Adult Trips (July 3-13 and July 13-21, respectively). We sponsor an end-of-week fiesta for the Dominicans and Americans participating in the mission work. White plastic chairs are scattered about along the perimeter of the common areas at our hotel. Delicious food and fruit punch appear along a buffet table. The Dominicans begin arriving on motorcycles or piling out of cars. For a few minutes, the Americans and Dominicans seem to keep to themselves. And then the merengue music kicks in, beckoning people to take to the dance floor.
Merengue, of course, involves partner dancing. For most American teens and many adults, partner dancing in a prescribed style is not common. However, the vast majority of CCC DR trip participants have been on an earlier DR mission trip, and therefore exposed to merengue. At this year's fiestas, I notice that first one couple, and then another, then some little girls, and finally several pairs of teens venture forward until the dance floor is packed. Rhythmic Dominicans "lead" and their American partners do their best to "follow." Despite, or perhaps in spite of the Americans' learning curve, smiles and laughter pervade the fiesta. Indeed, a spirit of pure joy fills the air.
For me, merengue is a useful metaphor for what the DR mission is all about. The Dominicans are our teachers, our guides, and our mentors. They understand intrinsically how their culture works and are positioned to help us learn. They seek a relationship with us based on ongoing communication and cooperation that is sprinkled with courtesy and good humor. Our job is to follow - to be available, to assist them, to fit in. Just as we do not know the merengue, neither do we fully understand their ways of doing work (e.g., prioritizing manual labor over machines), nor how they prefer to engage with us - that trust (confianza) is the foundation for a long-term relationship. While we have offered our time, energy, and resources to help them with their building projects, we remain guests in their culture. As our relationship with the Dominicans grows and deepens, we can expect to enjoy a greater degree of their confianza in us. If all goes well, our aspirations to become true partners in these efforts will be realized.
Maybe it won't be so hard to learn the merengue after all if we can just learn to follow...and trust.
- Elizabeth Briody
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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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Thank God for Your Summer!
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If your summer has been a gift from God, we have a wonderful way to thank God for your blessings! Donate four hours on Sunday, August 30 to feed seven hundred people at Crossroads of Michigan. CCC will providing sloppy joes and sandwiches-to-go at the only Detroit Soup Kitchen open on Sundays. Since it is the fifth Sunday of the month, we expect a larger than normal turnout from those on fixed incomes.
Shifts are from 8 AM -12 PM (six more volunteers needed) and 12 PM - 4 PM (ten more volunteers needed).
Sign up at www.cccrsvp.org/feed or contact Pastor Manisha or Michael Andrews at m.andrews@yahoo.com
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Cedar Point Trip For All Ages
| |  Join us Wednesday, August 19 for a day of fun, fellowship and roller coasters! We will gather bright and early at 6.45 AM and leave the church parking lot promptly at 7 AM, getting home around 9 PM.
Elementary aged children (entering up to fifth grade) are to be accompanied by an adult. All unaccompanied youth will fill out a permission slip for the trip. The cost of non-refundable tickets, transportation, and t-shirt is $60 per person (all ages). You may give the check made out to Christ Church Cranbrook (memo "Cedar Point") to Pastor Manisha or Jill Bednas. Get ready to ride! 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 are $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. Tickets are for sale at Coffee Hour and in the Church Office.
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| 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.
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 PEANUT BUTTER in August! All brand and kinds of peanut butter are welcome. These items will be donated to the Open Hands Food Pantry located at St. John's Episcopal Church, Royal Oak, MI. This organization provides emergency food to residents of Oakland County. Please place your items in the bins located in the Narthex and South entrance of the church. Thank you for your generosity.
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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 Deb Vincent at debv0419@gmail.com or 248.862.6336. |
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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| 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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| 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.
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. |
| Magnificat in Selma | | | Christ Church Grosse Pointe invites you to Magnificat in Selma remembering Jonathan Myrick Daniels in Eucharist, Video and Sacred Conversation. Thursday, August 20; Eucharist at 5:30 PM, Meal at 6:00 PM video followed by sacred conversation from 6:45 to 8:30 PM No charge but free will offering gladly accepted. For information and registration contact Ron Spann at 313.885.4841, Ext. 113 or rspann@christchurchgp.org |
| 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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| Follow CCC on Facebook! |
|  We hope you "Like" us!
 You can view our Facebook page even if you don't have a Facebook account! Our page show a more "relaxed" version of CCC! If you have a Facebook account, simply click the button above and then click the "Like" button on our page. We're just getting started and we need your help to really get moving. |
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