| This Weekend's Readings | The First Sunday after Christmas
Click HERE to view this weekends readings.
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This Weekend's Preacher
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The Reverend Manisha Dostert
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Usher Schedule
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To view the usher schedule, please click HERE.
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12/24 Thursday
| 1:00 PM - Jazz Mass
4:00 PM - Children's Service
7:00 PM - Festival Holy Eucharist
10:00 PM - Festival Holy Eucharist
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12/25 Friday
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10:00 AM - Holy Eucharist: Rite II
11:30 AM - Christmas Brunch
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12/26 Saturday
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5:00 PM - Sanctuary with Holy Eucharist: Rite II and Holy Baptism
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12/27 Sunday
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8:00 AM - Holy Eucharist: Rite I
10:00 AM - Holy Eucharist: Rite II
11:30 AM - God and Me
11:30 AM - Docent Tour
11:30 AM - Baptismal Preparation Class 6:00 PM - Congregational Evensong
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12/28 Monday
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Church Offices Closed
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12/29 Tuesday
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4:30 PM - God and Family
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12/30 Wednesday
| 9:30 AM - Adult Children of Alcoholics Meeting
1:00 PM - Mission-Outreach Planning Meeting
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12/31 Thursday
| Church Offices Closed
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| Merry Christmas | |
Joseph went to Bethlehem to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.
Luke 2.5-7
For Joseph, it was the worst time for it to happen. He was hoping and praying she would be able to make the journey and back so they could be at home when she was ready to give birth to the baby. At this point, he knew he couldn't turn around and take her home. They had no option; the baby would be born here, in the hometown of his ancestors, where he did not know a single person. And he could not get a room for her. Not even a bed.
For Mary, it was the worst time for it to happen. Her first delivery and she had been promised by all the women in her village that they would be with her through it all. She wanted to be with her mother. She wanted to be in her own home, and to place the baby in the crib Joseph had made. She promised Joseph she was fine without a bed- what else could she say? The timing was terrible.
And yet the world, which had been groaning under the weight of suffering, evil and death-the world, which had been waiting, longing and crying out for God to save it, could wait no longer.
For us, it was the best time for it to happen: "In the fullness of time, God sent His Son, born of a woman..."
May you celebrate the birth of our Savior with the assurance God's timing in all things is for our sake.
---Pastor Manisha and Eric Linder
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| Special Notice | |
The Church Offices will be closed on the following days: - Friday, December 25
- Monday, December 28
- Thursday, December 31
- Friday, January 1
We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! |
| This Week's Intercessions | | |
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| Christmas Services | | Please join us for Christmas Eve services on Thursday, December 24th. This year we will be offering four services:
Jazz Mass, 1:00 PM
Family Service, 4:00 PM
Festival Holy Eucharist, 7:00 PM, featuring brass and choir
Festival Holy Eucharist, 10:00 PM, featuring brass and choir
On Christmas Day, we will have celebrate Holy Eucharist at 10:00 AM, followed by the Christmas Brunch (for more details on the brunch, see below).
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| Christmas Day Brunch | |  Join us on December 25th at 11:00 AM for a traditional Christmas Day feast with turkey, ham, and all the trimmings. You will also enjoy appetizers, festive music and warm-hearted conversation with others in the community. Please RSVP by December 22 to Shirley Green at 248.253.1316 or the church office at 248-644-5210. Transportation can be arranged if needed. All are welcome! |
| Item of the Month | | |
In keeping with the Spirit of Christmas and celebrating the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, we will be collecting BABY ITEMS this month. These donations will be delivered to the Center for Children, a division of Focus:HOPE and Crossroads of Michigan. Some suggestions are layette sets, baby toiletries, crib sheets and blankets, children clothing 0 - 4T, diapers newborn to 4T and bottle sets. Please place your donations in the bins located in the Narthex and at the South Entrance. Thank you for helping these precious children.
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| Choral Evensong & God in the City | | Sunday, January 3, 2016
Please join us the first Sunday of the month for Choral Evensong at 6:00 PM. There will be an organ recital preceding each Choral Evensong at 5:30 PM. The recitalist for January is Dr. James Kibbie, Chair of the Department of Organ and University Organist at the University of Michigan.
This year, at our Choral Evensong services, we will provide an opportunity for activists, academics, clergy, community leaders, and artists to share how they find God in the midst of their work in the Greater Detroit Area and beyond. After offering a sermon at our monthly Choral Evensong, they will offer additional remarks and take questions about the work they do during a special reception.
Our next Choral Evensong and God in the City preacher will be the Reverend Dr. Stephen Butler Murray, the president and professor of Systematic Theology and Preaching at the Ecumenical Theological Seminary (ETS) in Detroit. All are welcome.
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| Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation Classes | | Confirmation is a pastoral rite in the Episcopal Church; therefore it is not a rite that notes fuller initiation into the Church, the Body of Christ. A person is a full member of the Church through Baptism. Confirmation is a "mature public affirmation of faith and commitment to the responsibilities of Baptism" BCP (p. 860). At Confirmation one receives strength from the Holy Spirit through prayer and laying on of hands by a bishop. There are some positions of leadership in the Episcopal Church that require one to be confirmed such as Vestry members, Eucharistic Ministers and Eucharistic Visitors.
Reception is common for people who have been active throughout their lives in other denominations. These folks have made a mature public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of Baptism in their previous denomination.
Reaffirmation means that you choose to re-state your commitment to Christ in the Episcopal Church honoring your growth in faith throughout your spiritual journey.
Our Adult (16 years or older) Confirmation, Reception, and Reaffirmation Classes are scheduled on January 6, January 20, January 27, February 3, February 17, February 24, March 2, March 9, and March 16 in room 201 and 202 at 7:00 PM. These classes will provide knowledge regarding the Episcopal Church. They are open to adults who not only want to be Confirmed, but may want Reception or Reaffirmation or just a refresher course to learn more about the Episcopal Church.
If you have any questions or would like to participate in the classes please contact The Reverend Joyce Matthews at 248.644.5210, Ext. 15 or email jmatthews@christchurchcranbrook.org.
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| New Children and Youth Liturgical Drama | | Mark your calendars for the new play to be performed on Saturday February 6 at 5:00 PM. The theme of the play is Transfiguration. Casting call is Sunday January 10 after the 10:00 AM worship.
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| Trinity Institute comes to Cranbrook! | |
Sponsored by Trinity Wall Street, an Episcopal parish in New York City, the 45th Annual Trinity Institute is a theological conference that equips lay and ordained Christians for imaginative and catalytic discipleship. TI2016: Listen for a Change - Sacred Conversations for Racial Justice- is being webcasted live at Christ Church Cranbrook on Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23. Participants from all faith perspectives are welcomed. Tickets for the events and lunch are $15 per day and more information is available HERE.
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| Sunday School Outreach | |  Pennies for Piggies
In November and December we will collect a special offering during Sunday School for the Episcopal Relief and Development organization to help impoverished families make a living by raising pigs. Go "Hog Wild" and help the Sunday School with your spare change.
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| High School Hang Out | | An opportunity for High Schoolers to hang out and connect with their peers and make a connection. If you are in 9th - 12th grade come check it out, come to the parlor immediately following church service. Youth Leaders will be there to greet you: Pastor Manisha, Jill Bednas, David & Joan Jensen,or Michael & Maryilyn Roche. This is sort of High School coffee hour with guided conversation.
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| Women's Spirituality Group | | A new year, a new season. During the season of Music, Arts and Sciences, we will explore the differing visions of creationism, evolution and intelligent design. Come for one or all of the five weeks in the season (January 8 - February 5) being led by Susan Santoro. Next season: Internal Spiritual Life, where will explore writing a rule of life. WSG meets 12-1 PM on Fridays in Room 201-202, with a brown bag lunch at 11:30 AM.
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| Healing Ministry | |  Are you interested in joining our Healing Ministry? Members of Christ Church Cranbrook Healing Ministry are embarking on a new study for induction into the Order of St. Luke. The International Order of St. Luke the Physician is made up of clergy, health professionals, and lay people who feel called to make Jesus' ministry of healing a ministry they will engage in at their respective churches. Our brown bag studies will take place on Sunday from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM on January 17, January 24, and February 7. We welcome those from other Christian churches who want to discern their call to healing ministry. Please contact the Reverend Joyce Matthews if you are interested at jmatthews@christchurchcranbrook.org or 248.644.5210, Ext. 15. |
| Fact and Fiction Fun | |  The next meeting of FFF is Monday, January 25, 2016 in the Conference Room of Christ Church Cranbrook from 7:30 to 9:00 PM. The selection for January is Huck Finn's America: Mark Twain and the Era That Shaped His Masterpiece, by Andrew Levy. Everyone is welcome.
A provocative, exuberant, and deeply researched investigation into Mark Twain's writing of Huckleberry Finn, which turns on its head everything we thought we knew about America's favorite icon of childhood. In Huck Finn's America, award-winning biographer Andrew Levy shows how modern readers have been misunderstanding Huckleberry Finn for decades. Levy argues convincingly that Huck Finn was written at a time when Americans were nervous about youth violence and "uncivilized" bad boys, and a debate was raging about education, popular culture, and responsible parenting - casting Huck's now-celebrated "freedom" in a very different and very modern light. An eye-opening, groundbreaking exploration of the character and psyche of Mark Twain as he was writing his most famous novel, Huck Finn's America brings the past to vivid, surprising life, and offers a persuasive-and controversial-argument for why this American classic deserves to be understood anew. |
| Saint Francis Children's Choir | | St. Francis Choir meets on Sundays following the 10 AM Service! All children, 4 years old to second grade, are welcome and encouraged to join the St. Francis Choir and experience the joy of choral singing. Kate Bublitz will direct the choir again this year. Rehearsals are held in the Choir Room immediately following Sunday's 10:00 AM service. For more information contact Kate at kate.bublitz@hotmail.com.
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| Member Directory Advertising | | Cathedral Directories is publishing our annual member directory and is looking for advertisers in support of this publication. If you would be interested in advertising this year or would like more information please contact Cathy Hunley at Cathedral Directories, 248.545.1415, Ext. 110. The deadline for ads is February 15, 2016.
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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. |
| Cub Scouts / Boy Scouts / Venturers | | A religious education program is being offered at Christ Church Cranbrook to encourage the spiritual growth of youth. This Religious Emblem Program is recognized by the Boy Scouts of America and Girl Scouts of the USA. The programs offered are: God & Me (grades 1 - 3), God & Family (grades 4 - 5), God & Church (grades 6 - 8) and God & Life (grades 9 - 12). Upon completing the program, a scout is awarded the religious emblem medal suitable for uniform wear. For registration and additional information, contact Scott Bednas at 313.686.1020, or email: sbednas@umich.edu
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| Old Rectory Resale Shop at All Saints', Pontiac | |
The Old Rectory Resale Shop at All Saints' Pontiac has new hours and all new stock. Fridays & Saturdays 10-2. All new, but gently used, fall and winter clothes, kitchen and decorating items, plus a huge stock of Christmas decorating items, at fabulous prices. The Produce Market is right next door, open Saturdays 10-2, with fresh fruits and vegetables at near wholesale prices. Our Book Nook has thousands of gently read titles for adults and children, Saturdays 10-12. Come by to shop or to volunteer. New help is always welcome for these major ministries of All Saints'. Pike & Exchange Sts., west of Woodward, between Orchard Lake and M-59. Check out our new website www.allsaintspontiac.org or Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/oldrectoryresaleshop.
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| Interfaith Question of the Week |
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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. |
| 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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