 August 16, 2019
Dear Hearts, Please bring your car to the Youth Car Wash at Palumbo's on Saturday, August 24 between 9a.m. and noon. You'll find a large group of our young folk ready to wash your car. Your generous donation will help support their service and special activities. Judging by the forecast, the Committee on Weather will provide a perfect car-washing day. Note that the car wash will be at Palumbo's Automotive, on Route 1 between North River and Fair Streets. Many thanks to Sue Shackford, Donna LaFata, and all the parent volunteers, for doing the organizing and support for the car wash, and to Palumbo's for hosting it! This Sunday, August 25, marks the 400th anniversary of the first landing of enslaved African men and women in English North America; their captors "traded" them for provisions. Thus began the slave trade in what would become the United States of America. The National Park Service tells their story here. The Park Service is inviting individuals and communities to ring bells to recall the events of this day at 3p.m. Our Presiding Bishop Michael Curry invites and encourages The Episcopal Church to participate in the attached video. Parishes across Connecticut are responding; and thanks to the leadership of Mark Sullivan and the Rev. Mary Anne Osborn, Christ Church will respond, as well. They will lead a brief service of prayers and hymns beginning at 2:45p.m. in the church's nave that will include tolling our bell at 3p.m. The latest update from the local community group hosting a Mexican family seeking asylum will be available on the Ushers' Table. It includes contact information and specific needs.. Preparations for the all-parish Tag Sale continue! Donations arebeing received on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Gently-used housewares -- cookware, china, glassware, small kitchen items -- are all being welcomed -- along with sports equipment, children's toys and games, Christmas decorations, CDs and DVDs. Plans will be announced about furniture. Please remember, no computers or other electronic items, please. As you consider items you might donate, please also consider donating your time to this all-parish effort. You can sign-up on the Ushers' Table and on Sign-up Genius by clicking here. Otherwise, [email protected] is communications central! And the long wait for the installation of the new super-durablekitchen floor. may soon be over; installtation is now scheduled for Thursday, August 29. However, it turns out that there's been a delay in installing a new set of ceiling lenses. After the new surfaces are installed, Kay Claiborn and Diana Stovall will invite those who share their passion for clean and well-ordered cabinets to join them to install shelf-lining and to wash and restore the cabinet contents to their newly-repainted homes. All this work in the Parish Hall kitchen is funded by designated-donations from several individuals, the morning 12-Step group "Joy of Living," and our own ECW, Thanks to all of them! Thanks to Tony Leonard and Dirck Goss for cleaning out the garden shed and improvising a steady floor for the lawnmower. This is another step in Tony's effort to extend the life of the lawnmower. However, the shed is on borrowed time; replacing it -- perhaps in a better location -- will need attention sooner or later. I am on vacation in Oregon through Thursday, September 5. Parish Office emails and voice messages are being monitored. I look at my own email once a day. Please be in touch with Mark Sullivan for access to the building. The Rev. Mary Anne Osborn will preach and celebrate on Sundays August 25 and September 1; please join me in thanking her! Thanks Mary Anne! In faith, hope, and love, Harrison+ YFNR p.s. Long-time members will remember Eileen Hope Cordtz. In conversation with her family, I learned that services will be offered for her, on Tuesday, August 27 at 1p.m. in Trinity Episcopal Church in Branford, where she raised her children.
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 August 16, 2019
Dear Hearts, The primary task of the Men's Discussion Group, as the name suggests, include conversation on topics they have chosen, plus the consumption of beverages and snacks appropriate to the early evening. Nonetheless, some will gather at 9a.m. this Saturday, August 17, to clean-out the old shed in the church's backyard, and they would welcome your help -- especially if you have a means-of-carting debris to the dump! Our Evening ECW's August gathering will focus on fellowship, this coming Thursday, August 22. Rebecca Evans will host the gathering in her home on Peddlars' Lane at 7p.m. Even if you have never participated in an Evening ECW meeting or project, you are invited to this gathering. Please be in touch with Rebecca for details. Please don't wash your car this week! Instead, bring it to the Youth Car Wash at Palumbo's next Saturday, August 24 between 9a.m. and noon. Let the team of our young folk wash your car for you. Your generous donation will help support our young folk's service and special activities. Note that the car wash will be at Palumbo's, on Route 1 between North and Fair Streets. The local community group that came together to host a Mexican family seeking asylum welcomed them to their new home last week, following a two-and-a-half-day bus trip from the Texas border. They were welcomed into a supportive community in New Haven. They have one pressing medical issue; more details about that and other forms of assistance are in the latest update report available on the Ushers' Table. During the past three years, I was away for most or all of August. These were three months of sabbatical leave spread over the three summers of 2016-18. This August I have fielded some questions about my vacation that almost sounded as if the underlying question was "It's August: What are you doing here?" We all had a terrific break from my preaching last Sunday when Felix Rivera returned to our pulpit, and offered his own personal perspective on the fear of the disciples in Sunday's gospel reading. Don't worry, another break is coming: I will be on vacation in Oregon beginning Wednesday, August 21 and returning Thursday, September 5. Parish Office emails and voice messages will be monitored. Please be in touch with Mark Sullivan for access to the building. Preparations for the all-parish Tag Sale continue! Donations are now being received on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Gently-used housewares -- cookware, china, glassware, small kitchen items -- are all being welcomed -- along with sports equipment, children's toys and games, Christmas decorations, CDs and DVDs. Furniture is not being received at this time. Also, no computers or other electronic items, please. As you consider items you might donate, please also consider donating your time to this all-parish effort. You can sign-up on the Ushers' Table and on Sign-up Genius by clicking here. Otherwise, [email protected] is communications central! And the wait continues for the installation of the new super-durable kitchen floor. The supplier expects to receive them in Hartford as early as next Thursday. Our installer will then pick them up. In preparation for this installation, the stove's gas line has been disconnected to allow it to be moved about. A new set of ceiling panels has arrived and should be installed this coming week. After the new floor and ceiling surfaces are installed, Kay Claiborn and Diana Stovall will invite those who share their passion for clean and well-ordered cabinets to join them to install shelf-lining and to wash and restore the Coffee Hour supplies, carafes, service items, china and glassware to the newly-repainted cabinets. All this work in the Parish Hall kitchen is funded by designated-donations from several individuals, the morning 12-Step group "Joy of Living," and our own ECW, Thanks to all of them! I hope you can join me in welcoming Mark Rehnstrom this Sunday. Mark has chosen songs from Mendelssohn and Vaughn Williams that beautifully reflect the appointed readings. And Mark Sullivan will bracket the 10a.m. service with works by Bach and Pachelbel on a tune we'll sing for "All glory be to God on high." In faith, hope, and love, Harrison+ YFNR p.s. In case you didn't see it in the paper, The Shoreline Timeshad a fine report on Rhythms of Grace which is available here.  August 9, 2019
Dear Hearts, Deacon Felix Rivera will return to Christ Church this Sunday morning August 11 as our preacher; he'll also fulfill his other roles as a deacon in worship -- proclaiming the Gospel, leading the Prayers of the People, setting the table, helping with the administration of communion, and sending us into our lives of service in the world with the Dismissal. Later that afternoon, we'll gather for our August Rhythms of Grace service followed by a Potluck Supper. Our gathering activiites will begin under the big, new white tent at Jacob's Beach at 5p.m. Rhythms of Grace is for all ages and all levels of ability. It's also a great option for those with other commitments on a Sunday morning. The Shoreline Times had a fine report on Rhythms of Grace which you can find here. The "Sacred Healing: Summer Film Series" series will conclude this Tuesday, August 13, with "Traces of the Trade," a documentary about the family of Episcopalians who ran the nation's largest slave trading operation out of Bristol, Rhode Island. The film and dialogue will again be offered in the air-conditioned parish hall of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Wallingford from 5:30pm to 9p.m. Snacks and water will be available, but not supper. Registration is requested via Eventbrite here; there is no charge. As challenging as the first two films were, this one cuts the closest to home. Dennis Culliton's talks at the Guilford Library told our local version of the New England-based trade in human lives. This film series is part of a concerted effort within the Episcopal Church in Connecticut to attend to Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation as a gospel mandate. The ministry network overseeing this effort is organizing a trip to the Smithsonian Museum of African-American Culture & History, November 16-17. Details are available here. The local community group that organized to host a Mexican family seeking asylum welcomed them on Tuesday to their new home in New Haven! Additional financial support, clothing and other forms of hands-on assistance will be needed and welcomed in the days to come. The latest report, including the committee's contact information, will be available on the Ushers' Table. Last Sunday, many of us came together, reeling with horror at the mass shootings of the previous week -- over 50 dead and 60 injured! Our Bishops Ian Douglas and Laura Ahrens joined with their colleagues in Bishops United Against Gun Violence to issue a statement which you can find here. The Bishops denounced some of the hackneyed tropes around gun violence: They noted that the perpetrators of the shocking crimes In Gilroy, El Paso and Dayton, were all white, but most of their victims were people of color. Preparations for the all-parish Tag Sale continue! Donations are now being received on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Gently-used housewares -- cookware, china, glassware, small kitchen items -- are all being welcomed -- along with sports equipment, children's toys and games, Christmas decorations, CDs and DVDs. Furniture is not being received at this time. Also, no computers or other electronic items, please. As you consider items you might donate, please also consider donating your time to this all-parish effort. You can sign-up on the Ushers' Table and on Sign-up Genius by clicking here. Otherwise, [email protected] is communications central! We''re still waiting for the installation of the new super-durablekitchen floor. Turns out that the tile we chose is so new; it's coming from the factory, pushing installation into next week. After the floor is installed, Kay Claiborn and Diana Stovall will invite those who share their passion for clean and well-ordered cabinets to join them to install shelf-lining and to wash and restore the Coffee Hour supplies, carafes, service items, china and glassware to the newly-repainted cabinets. The kitchen repainting and new flooring are being funded by designated-donations from several individuals, the morning 12-Step group "Joy of Living," and our own ECW, Thanks to all of them! I'm looking forward to joining you in welcoming Deacon Felix Rivera back to Christ Church this Sunday! In faith, hope, and love, Harrison+ YFNR p.s. The Evening ECW is having a special August fellowship gathering -- instead of a meeting -- on Thursday, August 22; all are invited for a time of refreshment. p.s. #2 Note that the Youth Car Wash will return on Saturday, August 24, 9a.m.-Noon at Palumbo's!  August 2, 2019
Dear Hearts, Last Tuesday was a busy evening; so Diane Kyle and I were the only Christ Church folks to participate in the first evening of "Sacred Healing: A Summer Film Series. Diane was one of the organizers from the co-sponsoring South Central and the North Central Regions; they did a terrific job! As we arrived, there were friendly greetings, and an array of snacks and beverages. After an opening devotion, the evening program began with brief opportunities to get acquainted with other participants, a couple short videos to help "set the stage," and tips on what to do if the film triggered unwelcome physical responses. Then we watched the evening's film, "Blindspotting" co-written by and co-starring Daveed Diggs. I hadn't seen it before. I found it to be a compelling and troubling look at life in contemporary Oakland, California; it addresses themes of gentrification, guilt-for-being-black, and educational and economic inequality from the vantage of those who experience the negative consequences. The two lead characters are life-long friends, one white and one black. The conversation that followed the film was constructive and helpful. After closing prayers, we all left with much to consider. The series will continue this Tuesday, August 6, with Spike Lee's film, "Do the Right Thing," again in the air-conditioned parish hall of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Wallingford from 5:30pm to 9p.m. Snacks and water will be available, but not supper. Registration is requested via Eventbrite here; there is no charge. I'm happy to drive, and plan to leave the Rectory at 4:50p.m. This film series is part of a concerted effort within the Episcopal Church in Connecticut to attend to Racial Healing, Justice and Reconciliation as a gospel mandate. The ministry network overseeing this effort is organizing a trip to the Smithsonian Museum of African-American Culture & History, November 16-17. Details are available here. The local community group organizing to host a Mexican family seeking asylum plans to welcome them to their new home in New Haven next week! Working with IRIS and First Congregational Church for services and funding fiduciaries, the Sponsorship Support Team has secured a small apartment in New Haven close to the services this family of five will need. Volunteers are setting up the apartment this weekend. Additional financial support, clothing and other forms of assistance will be welcomed in the days to come. The committee's contact information is available on the Ushers' Table. Preparations for the all-parish Tag Sale continue! Donations are now being received on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Gently-used housewares -- cookware, china, glassware, small kitchen items -- are all being welcomed -- along with sports equipment, children's toys and games, Christmas decorations, CDs and DVDs. Furniture is not being received at this time. Also, no computers or other electronic items, please. As you consider items you might donate, please also consider donating your time to this all-parish effort. You can sign-up on the Ushers' Table and on Sign-up Genius by clicking here. Otherwise, [email protected] is communications central! The date for installing the new super-durable kitchen floor got bumped again this week. Turns out that the selected tile is no longer available and a new one had to be chosen. It's so new; it'll have to come from the factory, pushing installation beyond next week. After the floor is installed, Kay Claiborn and Diana Stovall will invite those who share their passion for clean and well-ordered cabinets to join them to install shelf-lining and to wash and restore the Coffee Hour supplies, carafes, service items, china and glassware to the newly-repainted cabinets. The kitchen repainting and new flooring are being funded by designated-donations from several individuals, the morning 12-Step group "Joy of Living," and our own ECW, Thanks to all of them! Wherever this week finds you, I hope you are keeping cool and having a fine summer. In faith, hope, and love, Harrison+ YFNR |
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