The Chimes
The Newsletter of
January 2006
From the Priest-in-Charge
What a wonderful Christmas we
celebrated at
As we continue in the season of
Epiphany, our weekly readings from Scripture reflect the ways in which this
wonderful gift was – and continues to be – made known to the whole world. We hear of the baptism of Jesus. We hear his call to his disciples, and their
desire as well as their struggles
to truly follow him. We see Jesus’ public
and compassionate ministry, as he casts out unclean spirits, heals the sick,
embraces the outcast, and gives new life to those who are stuck. And finally we see his transfiguration, as
the truth of who he is comes home to some of his disciples.
And as we reflect on the ways Jesus
was make known, we cannot help but reflect on how he is made known today. As it happened in the Scriptures, Christ
comes to us in the midst of our lives, in good times and in times of
struggle. And as we realize how he is
with us, we turn to the question of how we can make him known to others.
That, of course, is the purpose
of the Church. To rejoice in the fact that
Jesus Christ is alive and active in our lives, and to make him known to
others. As Jesus followed his own sense
of call in his healing his preaching,
His teaching, and his compassion, his disciples also heard him speak the words,
“follow me,” and do their won work to discern what that meant for them.
And it is our call, as well. As we see Jesus make known this Epiphany, and
as we hear his call to follow him, how do we answer this call? Might it be to think and pray about how we at
Please know of my prayers for
each of you as we continue to discern this call together
Faithfully,
Beth+
Outreach Thanks
We received a grateful thank you
from Episcopal Relief and Development for our gift of $335 for hurricane relief
for the Gulf coast. And this is in
addition to the many individual gifts you made.
You are a truly generous people! More
proof of this came in the form of a thank you note from our Bishop Tom Shaw, in
response to a collection we took up for his sabbatical. Tom writes:
Dear Beth and Members of
What a wonderful, thoughtful thing for you to do! I will
be going
to
would very much like to give your gift to the orphans
feeding program as a way of Thanking the people of
Maseno North Diocese for their hospitality. I hope this is
alright for you.
Please know of my prayers and gratitude.
Faithfully,
Tom
The feeding program Tom mentions
is one of the many programs established by the church in
Our gift to Tom will truly make a
difference in the lives of our brothers and sisters in
Christ in
Outreach Review 2005
Your Outreach Committee has been very busy this year.
25-30 trips were made to the Ascension Church Soup Kitchen
and/or
Approximately 130 Prayer Shawls have been presented to
those who were in need of a hug from God.
Our Punta Gorda family has received many gifts from the
combined efforts of the Church of the Ascension and Christ Church Swansea.
Twelve year old Joshua received a 2 week campership to the Florida Episcopal
Diocese Camp. A gift card was sent to six year old Samantha for a shopping
trip. In August we sent gift cards for the children's school clothing as well
as family gift cards for dining out. A Christmas package was mailed containing
many spiritual gifts for the entire family. We have received many letters of
thanks from Grandma Carolyn, Samantha and Joshua which were posted on the
church bulletin board.
A Sojourn Teddy Bear Stuffing Party was held in June.
Seventeen people attended and 40 bears were stuffed and named to be presented
to those living with cancer.
Cards were sent by our congregation to our homebound
parishioners at Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are so important to
those who are not able to attend church. It allows them to feel included in our
church family.
Forty "Tiny Blessing" shoe boxes were mailed to
the Feed the Children-Kids USA Program. These were filled by our congregation
and provide necessities to needy infants and toddlers in the
Harbingers for
In May we held a bake sale & raffle. It was a
tremendous success due to the support of our great parish. We raised
approximately $550 to finance our many missions.
The family shelter in
$100 was donated to the Food For the Poor, Inc.
$100 was donated to the Episcopal Relief & Development
Hurricane Fund.
After a heartwarming presentation by the Rev Susan Lee of
St Luke's Church,
A very successful
A lasagna supper was held in November where $400 was
raised for the Newman family who lost their home to a fire.
A Crop Walk was held on November 15th where $4,700 was
raised by the combined efforts of 7 area churches. Christ church raised $275.
$1,150 of this money was donated to the Annelle DeLorme Hagerman Food Bank at
the
Once again we participated in the Clothe A Child Salvation
Army Program. 30 children received coats/outfits from our congregation.
Many thanks to our dedicated members of the Outreach Group & generous congregation.
Respectfully,
Marsha Gauthier
Worship and Christian Formation:
Ash Wednesday
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is
Altar Flowers
We have been putting together our
Flower Schedule for 2006. Please
remember our custom has been that if you have reserved a specific Sunday in the
past for your donation of flowers, It will be carried over from year to year,
unless you let us know otherwise. If you
would like to make any changes for 2006, please call the parish office. We are happy to accommodate you in whatever
ways we can.
Please note that the following
dates are still available for altar flowers for 2006:
January 29
April 23
April 30
July 30
October 15
October 29
November 5
December
There are still many openings for
pulpit flowers, as well. Just let the
office know if you would like to give flowers at any time.
We will continue to have special
flower memorials at Christmas and Easter.
You will find the forms for these memorials in the April and the
December issue of the Chimes.
New weekday Bible Study
Beginning on Tuesday, February 28, we will be starting a
weekly Bible Study at
Fellowship
Stewardship Wine and Cheese
The Stewardship Committee will be
sponsoring a Wine and Cheese party
for the whole Parish on the evening of Friday,
January 27, in the Parish House.
This is to say “thank you” to each of you for your generosity during our
pledge drive for 2006. Please mark your
calendars and plan to make this a “night out!”
Social Committee Meeting
The Social Committee will meet in
the Parish House on Tuesday, February 7,
at
Shrove Tuesday
We are making plans for our
annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper,
which will be held on Tuesday, February
28 in the Parish House, beginning at
On the evening of Shrove Tuesday,
we will also be burning last year’s palms to make ashes for our Ash Wednesday
liturgy. If you have any palms that you
would like to donate, please bring them to church and leave them in the basket
in the entryway to the church.
Thanks to our new Newsletter Team!
The Chimes is now a group
effort! Carol Turner, Marsha Gautier and
Charlie Gauthier have volunteered to take on the most important ministry of
putting our newsletter together, and we are VERY grateful! If you would like to have something included
in the Chimes, please continue to email it to our office at christchurch4@verizon.net; or you
may leave a hard copy in the folder that will be at the bottom of the stairs in
the Parish House. As it has come to our
attention that bulk mail is slower than ever, we have to be doubly vigilant
about keeping to our deadlines. The deadline for getting information in for
the March 2006 issue of the Chimes is Sunday, February 12.
Vestry Notes
At our December Vestry Meeting,
the vestry discussed/acted on the following:
Christmas Bazaar
Our Christmas Bazaar was a big success, financially and otherwise. We made around $1,400 in aid of our Christian Education program, and we had a great time as well. An enormous thanks to Chris Munro for her organization of the event, and for each and every one of you who worked so hard to make this event successful and enjoyable. You know who you are! Many, many thanks!
Day School News
The children at the Day school
ended the year 2005 on a happy, proud note as they donated almost $100.00 for
toys for needy children in our annual “Coins for Kids” drive. In 2006 we will learn new songs and master
new skill. The four year olds continue
to enjoy our guest readers at the library [if anyone would like to be a guest
reader, please let us know!] We are
currently accepting students for the 2006-2007 school year. If you know of any children who would like to
attend our 3 year old or 4 year old classes please call us at 508-678-7788 or
come by to visit. We would love to have
you join the Day School family!
Three
Parishes Celebrate Mardi Gras!