22nd Sunday after Pentecost: Youth-led Worship at 10a.m., DR Mission Report, Consecration Sunday is Coming!

November 9, 2019
Dear Hearts,

During Sunday's 10a.m. service, there will be a younger crew than usual at the door, the lectern, the offertory and the intercessions; there will also be a report about last summer's youth mission in the Dominican Republic during Coffee Hour.  Our adult team of Lectors, Intercessors and Ushers for the 10a.m. service will yield their places, or assist, middle and high school youth.  The Sunday School children will be with us as usual for the Eucharistic celebration and be leading us in "their" settings of the Sanctus and Agnus Dei.

At the end of June this year, our own Keelyn Ervin and chaperone Page Pelphrey were again part of the Connecticut Mission to the Dominican Republic.  Together they led morning and afternoon Vacation Bible Schools for Episcopal parishes in the Dominican Diocese.  I think we'll all be interested in how they led the program in Spanish, about the circumstances of the children in their care, and how this program is organized.

You should know that Keelyn and Page's participation in this Mission was funded in part by parish budgeted funds and by youth fundraisers.

As a further enticement to linger for this report, our Sunday School families will be hosting the Coffee Hour.  

On this Sunday closest to Veteran's Day, our ECW's "Carnations for Heroes" program will help us honor and give thanks for the sacrifices of Veterans and First-Responders.  Prayers and a Hymn of Praise at 10a.m. will further lead our thanks for those "who in the day of decision ventured much for freedom [and security] we now enjoy." {BCP, p.8390

A further note on Christ Church Youth activities:  On Election Day, our new Youth Confirmation Group took advantage of a day off from school, to make a mini-pilgrimage to New York City. We visited the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Riverside Church, the Cloisters, and Columbia University and its Chapel -- making the connection between the University's Anglican origins and Guilford.  A highlight for all of us, including fellow chaperone Jennifer Huebner, was the terrific pizza at V&T's Italian Kitchen near the Cathedral.

Our Youth Confirmation Group will have its first Monday evening gathering on Monday, November 11, 7-8p.m. in the Rectory.  All high school-age youth, approaching or over 16 years of age, are welcome to join the discussion.

Consecration Sunday is coming on November 17!  This spiritually-focused stewardship education program asks us to prayerfully consider what portion of our income God is calling us to give for God's mission through Christ Church in 2020.  Our guest leader next Sunday will be the Rev. Mary Anne Osborn; she will be our preacher for both the 8 and 10a.m. services, providing us with further insights in God's stewardship call to us, and setting the devotional context for us to confidentially offer our Estimate-of-Giving cards on the altar.  Those cards will be made available on the 17th.

On Consecration Sunday, all worshipers at the 10a.m. service, and those returning from the 8a.m. service, will then be invited to move into the Parish Hall for our Celebration lunch.  Part of our celebration this year will be Christ Church's 275 years of worship and witness to the love of God in Guilford.  Pat Daunic is preparing a history timeline, with help from Kathryn Frydenborg and Bob Donahue, to help us honor the parish's own heritage.

Thanks so much to the great group who responded so heartily to Junior Warden Alicia Bacon's idea of a post-Coffee Hour Fall Garden Clean-up on All Saints' Sunday.  Lots of gardening clothes were evident during the 10a.m. service, and, as promised, the hearty refreshment energized the Garden (Work) Party.  With both power and manual tools in hand, short work was made of all sorts of seasonal weeding, pruning, raking, tidying and hauling,  Thanks to Alicia, and her predecessor Sue Shackford for hosting the Coffee Hour.

Thanks also to our Evening ECW for hosting last Thursday's showing of Traces of the Trade: A Story from the Deep North.  We watched the 56-minute version of the documentary, and had time for a wide-ranging conversation that followed.  There may have been as many, or more, community members as parishioners participating.

For anyone who wants to continue the conversation about racial justice, healing and reconciliation this week, the folks who brought us last summer's Sacred Healing film series, has another evening on offer this Wednesday, November 13, 6-9 p.m., again at St. Paul's Church in Wallingford.  After Dwelling in the Word, the agenda is to watch and discuss a powerful video talk by academic and scholar Catherine Meeks, director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Reconciliation; she provides her insights on the state of racial relations in American today and her thoughts on a way forward. More information and registration is available here.  Another option may be to go see the movie "Harriet," about Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman.  A former colleague of mine took her young children to see it, and writes about her young daughter's devotion to Harriet Tubman in an article you can find here.  You might be interested to know that both the mother and daughter are whlte.
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I look forward to worshiping with you and our Youth and Sunday School youngsters, as they take their places in leading our worship..  
In faith, hope, and love,
Harrison+
YFNR.