Dear Hearts,

I have just arrived home from Convention, and given the weather and traffic, I'm particularly grateful to have arrived safe and sound.  So, giving thanks is top of the agenda:

Although I don't need to remind you that we celebrate the Great Thanksgiving every Sunday, our National Day of Thanksgiving approaches this week. I invite you to consider participating in local celebrations:

This year's Interfaith Thanks + Giving Service will be Sunday, November 19 at 4 p.m., hosted by St. George Church (the brick church across the Green), and led by the Choirs of the participating houses of worship in Guilford and Madison -- including our own!  This year's theme -- Giving Thanks for Hope in Uncertain Times, grew out of our clergy fellowship's reflections on where we find ourselves -- people of hope, praying and seeking ways to meaningfully respond to the unceasing scourge of gun violence.  We have signed a statement that you can find on page 17 of this week's Guilford Courier, and here.  And, we invited the head of Newtown's Resiliency Center, Stephanie Cinque to introduce us to the Center's encouraging work in troubled times.

Our own celebration of Thanksgiving Day, on Thursday, November 23 at 10 a.m., will include the great hymns of the day, and invite us to participate in the Episcopal Church's lovely Thanksgiving Day prayers.  As has become my practice, instead of preaching a Thanksgiving Day sermon, I will remind us all of an historic presidential Thanksgiving Day proclamation.  I hope the 10 a.m. time allows you to take a break from your meal preparations, to join in an hour of worship, and stop in the Rectory for a bit of refreshment.

As noted above, the 233rd Annual Convention of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut concluded in Greenwich mid-afternoon today.  Please join me in thanking our delegates Caroline Herrick and George Kral, and our Alternate Susan Pogue in representing Christ Church among the 300+ lay folks and clergy who took counsel for the well-being of the Church.  Although I doubt we did anything that will garner attention in the secular news media, we did the necessary business of adopting a budget, and electing officers, while considering resolutions that will effect our common diocesan life and perhaps the considerations of the Church's upcoming General Convention.  All this work was accomplished on time and according to a schedule framed in prayer.  In addition to prayers, a sermon, an address, and the Holy Eucharist offered by Bishop Laura Ahrens and Bishop Ian Douglas, our time together was enriched by the reflections and guided meditations of spiritual guides from The House of Bethany based in Arlington, Mass.   Although our delegates will be sharing their own reports,  you can find out what the Convention did Friday afternoon into the early evening, and beginning at 8:30 this morning, here.

As a creative response to last summer's racist graffiti-vandalism in Guilford, the Guilford Foundation acted as a catalyst for a community conversation called "Building a Community of Compassion."  Sixty-five folks who live and work in Guilford gathered in the Greene Community Center on Sunday afternoon, November 12, for a structured conversation facilitated by leaders from the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).  The participants represented a broad cross-section of the Town's leadership and residents, and some of what was said was painful to hear:  Not everyone has felt welcome in Guilford; indeed, some of our neighbors have experienced hostility and abuse.  Across Connecticut, incidents of Hate Speech and Violence have doubled within the last year.  Susan Leonard and I represented Christ Church; we will have more to share in the days to come about the "next steps" suggested in a concluding small group exercise.

In the meantime, I look forward to sharing all our occasions of Thanksgiving with you!
In faith and hope,
Harrison+
YFNR

p.s. Estimate of Giving Cards continue to come into the parish office; and there are some yet to be received.  If you have misplaced yours, or otherwise need a fresh one, please reply to this e-letter or leave a voice mail message at 203-453-2279.  Many thanks to the 3/4s of parish households who have responded to date!  In a parish like ours, the final quarter's Estimates of Giving are just as important.

​Dear Hearts,

Today is Veterans' Day.  The day when we give thanks for those, "... who in the day of decision, ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy."(BCP, p.839)  Guilford's homespun observance on the Green, by the World War I memorial, seems to bring out the sunshine.  I excused myself from our fall yard clean-up to attend this morning's 30 minute event, and was glad I did.  It was quite moving.  

This afternoon, members of our ECW are preparing the carnation bouquets for our own remembrance and honoring of veterans on Sunday. Thanks to all who participated in supporting this undertaking.  In our worship, we will offer prayers of thanksgiving, and together, we'll sing, "O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life!" (Hymn 719, v.2)  

Among the veterans I remember today (including parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and clergy colleagues) is one of my high school teachers.  Mr. M. was hospitalized in Portland's old V.A. Hospital (since replaced by a gleaming state-of-the-art facility), and with several classmates from my all-boys, all-city high school, I was part of a group from all of Portland's high schools, who went there together for a special event.  After the program, my classmates and l wanted to find Mr.M., and we were the ones he wanted to see.  As a teacher, Mr. M. did not tolerate any of our foolishness, and none of us were particularly close to him, but that day, we gained new respect for all he had been through.  And were proud when he told everyone within earshot, "these are my boys."

It saddens me that every veteran doesn't have the supportive care and community that Mr. M. had.  The perpetrator of last Sunday's mass shooting at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, was a veteran, and President Trump has stated, the shooter had, "major mental health issues."  Why then are there no announcements or public discussion about improving mental health care for our veterans? 

Our bishops usually take Mondays as their day off.  But again this past Monday, they were working on a response to yet another mass shooting.  Perhaps the setting -- a church, and the time -- Sunday morning, inspired the Bishops United Against Gun Violence to remind us about what prayer is and what prayer does.  Among the lines I'm committing to memory: "Prayer is not a dodge."  And, “One does not offer prayers in lieu of political courage, but in preparation (for such acts).”  You can find the letter from our Bishops Ian Douglas and Laura Ahrens here; they include the quoted message from the BUAGV.  Presiding Bishop Michael Curry recorded a video message in which he briefly applies the Lord's Prayer to the Texas shooting and invites us to pray with him; you can respond to his invitation here.

Although the ground was frozen when we began, today's gardeners did an amazing job clearing out the old shed, cleaning up leaves, twigs, walnut husks and tidying beds, and spreading mulch. Gene Bishop and Anthony LaFata each took away at least two dump truck loads of debris and yard waste.  Thanks to them, and to Austin and Donna LaFata, to Brayden Benben, Rebecca Evans and Keelyn Ervin, Sheward Hagerty, David Kish, Shana Moore, Rose Robinson, and to our organizer Laurie Varley.  Junior Warden Sue Shackford provided for snacks in absentia.  Thanks to all!

One thing we discovered in cleaning out the shed:  The shed's structure has sustained significant damage from rot.  We will need to ask some wise folk to put their heads together about our storage needs and the shed's future.

This Sunday, the Sunday School continues to follow the Israelites into the Promised Land.  The Middle School group and the High School group will each ponder a question about the three-ness and one-ness of God's trinitarian being.  How are they going to get this sorted in one Sunday morning?  It took the Church hundreds of years to sort out the Trinity!

I look forward to sharing Veterans' Sunday with you!
In faith and hope,

Harrison+
YFNR
p.s. Estimate of Giving Cards continue to come into the parish office; and there are some yet to be received.  If you have misplaced yours, or otherwise need a fresh one, please reply to this e-letter or leave a voice mail message at 203-453-2279.  Many thanks to all of you who have responded to date!  In a parish like ours, every Estimate of Giving is important.

Dear Hearts,

Please remember to set your clocks back one hour to Eastern Standard Time this Saturday evening!  As much as I'm going to miss that hour of daylight before 5:30 p.m., I will welcome getting up in the not-so-dark before 7 a.m.  Of course, the hours of daylight will continue to shrink until we reach the shortest day of the year on December 21.

Amidst this growing darkness, we will celebrate our abiding fellowship with the Saints in Light this Sunday, November 5.  We did observe All Saints' Day on November 1, with our Recollection of All the Faithful Departed.  Many thanks to all who participated in this quiet service of prayer and remembrance; I personally found the sharing quite moving. 

On All Saints' Sunday, our celebration moves into a more celebratory mode, as we sing the great festal hymns of the day at the later service.  During both services, we will name those who moved to the other end of the great messanic banquet table during the past year, and we will claim our table fellowship with them, "and all the company of heaven," in the Great Thanksgiving. 

It's not too late to add a name to our list of friends and family members who died within the past year (or so).  You can respond to this e-letter or leave a voice mail message; please be clear about the preferred pronunciation.

Although there was no mention of it, Thursday's Inaugural Dedication of the Witness Stones Project happened on All Souls' Day, November 2 -- which the Prayer Book now calls a Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.  I saw some familiar faces among the faculty and entire 8th grade student body , plus community leaders and members, who gathered on the Green to name, remember and honor the contributions of Moses, Phillis and Candace in building the town of Guilford.  The students had done primary research, and reported the circumstances of their enslavement, the services they performed, and what could be discovered about their family life and personal stories.

Instead of being remembered with plaques on homes and other buildings, Moses is honored with a brass-topped Witness Stone in front of the Town Hall, Phillis, in the corner walkway to the Savings Bank, and Candace, in the front walk to the Hyland House.  They are also among the Faithful Departed in whose fellowship we abide.

Of course, as a favorite hymn reminds us, "... the world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus' will."  This past summer, Derek & Katherine Stefanovsky met and served with the saints of God in Malawi.  When Derek & Katherine visited in August, shortly after their return, I heard that you wanted to hear more about their experience; so, they'll return this Sunday and speak during Coffee Hour.  Derek, a seminarian at Yale/Berkely, and Katherine, a medical student at Quinnipiac, have stories to tell about ministering God's healing love through the Anglican Church and a research hospital in Malawi.  Photos from their summer of service, will help illustrate their report. 

The Sunday School continues to follow Moses and the Israelites in their wilderness wanderings.  The Middle School group and the High School group will each ponder the question for their separate discussions -- Is God male?  Wonder if their answers will agree?  Wars have been fought over less weighty questions!

I look forward to sharing a fulsome celebration of All Salnts' Sunday with you!
In faith and hope,

Harrison+
YFNR

p.s. Estimate of Giving Cards continue to come into the parish office; and there are some yet to be received.  If you have misplaced yours, or otherwise need a fresh one, please reply to this e-letter or leave a voice mail message at 203-453-2279.  Many thanks to all of you who have responded to date!  In a parish like ours, every Estimate of Giving is important.