Tree-Lighting Events: Chili Supper, Cookie & Wreath Sales, 5-7p.m.; Advent Begins on Sunday11/30/2018  November 30, 2018
Dear Hearts, No matter the weather, the Town of Guilford gathers today on, and around, the Green to celebrate light in the midst of darkness. While the centerpiece may be the Tree-Lighting on the Green, together with our neighbors of other faith traditions, and none, Christ Church will add to the evening's brightness with our hospitality and events: Chili-Supper -- Please remember to invite friends and neighbors to warm themselves -- along with you and yours -- against the evening chill and damp with delicious chili prepared to preferred degrees of hotness – con carne and vegetarian. There are also hotdogs for those who prefer. And it's such a deal: $8 asked for adult appetites and $4 for children. Please remember your promised cornbread and help with the evening's tasks. Much to the delight of chief honcho Jennifer Huebner, another three round tables arrived -- thanks to the Evening ECW and their Tag Sale. The Parish Hall looks particularly lovely and hospitable with mostly round tables! Cookie Sale – Chili Supper patrons may purchase dessert from the bounty of cookies and other holiday treats at the ECW’s sale table; and you'll also be able to purchase favorites to take home for holiday entertaining. The ECW would remind you that the Cookie Sale helps fund their scholarships to graduating seniors. Please remember to drop off your homemade favorites when you can today.. Wreath Sale – as of this writing, the wreaths have all been spoken for. Pre-sold wreaths have turned the rectory garage into a beautiful "wreath-hanger.". Check it out! I understand our Youth will have hot chocolate to keep you warm while you admire their handiwork! Proceeds from the Chili Supper will support Guilford Interfaith Volunteers’ Meals-on-Wheels program, making sure our neighbors have a hot daily meal. Reminds me of a line from the Gospel according to Matthew, "...I was hungry and you fed me ..." Even as the hours of daylight shorten, the Church has a whole season dedicated to proclaiming light in the midst of increasing darkness: It's called Advent. As the hours of daylight diminish, and as the world may seem increasingly bleak, Advent proclaims the Christian hope that God's love has, and will yet again, overcome this world's darkness. So, on Sunday, you'll see the Advent hangings of indigo blue -- the color of the night sky just before dawn, and the return of Angels-Under-the-Balcony and the MItten Tree. We decorate the Mitten Tree with mittens, caps, gloves, and warm coats, plus toiletries and candy, for our neighbors served by New Haven's Chapel-on-the-Green -- to help keep warm folks who live on the margins of plenty in New Haven. Reminds me of another line from last Sunday's Gospel, "...I was naked [against the cold} and you gave me clothing." "Angels" will again hang under-the-Balcony this year, as visible reminders of Christ Church's historic ministry to help keep our neighbors warm by helping with their heating expenses through the Town's Heating Assistance Program. And yes, this program, started by Christ Church folks, reminds me of a line that could've also come from the Gospel according to Matthew, "...I was out of fuel, but you kept my house warm." Our Sunday School will begin Advent by making Advent wreaths for use at home; please bring greens from home, Miss Laurie has forms and candles for you. While enjoying cider and donuts, Sunday Schoolers will also be thinking about their roles in this year's Nativity Pageant as they begin to prepare this much-loved annual tradition. In the meantime, I look forward to sharing in the Tree-LIghting events later today! In faith and hope, Harrison+ YFNR p.s. On a somber note, our beloved sister-in-Christ, Sheila Bruce, died this morning; death coming gently as a friend. Arrangements to give thanks for her life will be forthcoming next week.
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 24 November 2018
Dear Hearts, The Prayer Book purists among you will notice that the Book of Common Prayer calls this Sunday, the Last Sunday after Pentecost, and so it is. This is our last Sunday in Year B, during which most of our Gospel readings have come from St. Mark's account. Be that as it may, the Collect and the readings point squarely to this Sunday's subtitles -- "The Reign of Christ" or "Christ the King" -- in the New Revised Common Lectionary which we share with most of English-speaking Christianity. Our readings and prayers also provide us with favorite "kingly" hymns: "... crown [Jesus] Lord of all," "... his the scepter, his the throne," "King of kings, yet born of Mary," and "Christ the Lord returns to reign." From first to last, this Sunday concludes a year in the life of the Church by proclaiming that the reign of Christ has begun. For us at Christ Church, after we've sung our hymns and prayed our prayers, our attention will turn to gearing up for our events in support of the Tree-lighting on the Green. There are cookies to bake for the Cookie Sale, corn bread to prepare for the Chili Supper, our young people have wreaths to decorate on Thursday and to sell on Friday, and then there's helping with the Chili Supper itself -- setting up, serving and cleaning up. Chair Jennifer Huebner would love to hear from you about how you'd like to help! Be sure that your friends and neighbors know about the Chili Supper as a great way to come in from the cold, enjoy a hot and hearty meal, and have a chance to rest (and warm!) their feet between 5 and 7p.m., on Friday, November 30. As the Sunday after Thanksgiving Day, Christ the King Sunday also concludes our fall in-gathering for the United Thank Offering (UTO). The Offertory at both services will include the UTO prayer, "... keep each of us ever thankful for all the blessings of joy and challenge that come our way." Begunby the Episcopal Church's "Women's Auxiliary," in the days before the Episcopal Church Women (ECW), the UTO has long-funded the Church's cutting-edge ministries. And all this by encouraging a discipline of depositing a coin into a "blue box" in thanksgivings for each day's blessings, St. Luke's School & Church in Matel, Haiti -- the recent recipient of our Sunday School's "Helping Hands for Haiti" projects, has also received a construction grant from the United Thank Offering. As the parishes and institutions of the Church in California seek to care for those whose lives are now routinely threatened by wildfires, I am sure we will see the United Thank Offering coming along side local efforts to assist with funding. In the meantime, Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) has been assisting with "emergency housing and shelter, food, masks, gasoline, and other basic supplies for those in need." The Episcopal Relief & Development press releases about the wildfires are available here. If you would like to make a gift directly to ERD's US Disaster Fund, you may do so here, Thanks so much to all of you, for your very generous response to our Thanksgiving Food Drive. The bounty you provided around the Children's Altar, and down the window sills, was impressive indeed. Many thanks to Rebecca Evans & Sheward Hagerty who volunteered to deliver this bounty to the Guilford Food Bank's staging area in the Bishops' Orchard Farm Market Red Barn. I hope this finds you all safe and warm, and send traveling mercies to those who were and are away for the Thanksgiving holiday!. In faith, hope and love, Harrison+ YFNR p.s. During her Episcopal Visitation last month, Bishop Laura Ahrens mentioned an upcoming Holy Land Pilgrimage, June 9-19. The Pilgrimage will focus on the Palestine of Jesus with both Bishop Ahrens and Bishop Ian Douglas under the professional guidance of Canon Iyad Qumri -- a Palestinian Anglican. Information and forms are all now available on the ECCT website. I recommend the video to everyone -- even if you aren't interested in the Pilgrimage! I'm planning to participate, have been involved in the planning, and would be happy to respond to questions.  17 November 2018
Dear Hearts, Thanksgiving Day comes relatively early in November this year; so, please remember your contributions fo the Offering of Thanksgiving Foods! Your gift of non-perishable foods -- whether canned or boxed, or dry root vegetables, will extend Thanksgiving bounty to more of our neighbors served by the Guilford Food Bank. Please feel free to place your gifts in a convenient window sill. Our Sunday School families have already covered the Children's altar; let's see if we can match their generosity. Later on Sunday, this year's Interfaith Thanks+Giving Service will draw us together with our Shoreline neighbors around the theme "Common Ground: Coming Together to Give Thanks. First Congregational Church of Guilfford will host the 4p.m. service. (Yes, 1st Church Is the big white building on Broad Street at the north end of the Green). Choirs drawn from Houses of Worship in Guilford and Madison will combine forces in shared anthems, as well as offering works that reflect particular musical traditions. Meghan Scanlon will offer words of thanks and encouragement from her perspective as executive director of the Women & Family Life Center. Although this Interfaith service offers another opportunity to provide non-perishable foods for the Food Bank, after hearing from Meghan, you may want to consider a monetary gift for the Center. Checks may be made out to First Church, with W&FL in the memo line. For Episcopalians, Thanksgiving Day is one of the two national holidays set as "Major Feast" days by the Prayer Book -- the other being Independence Day. So, we will gather together at 10a.m. to "ask the Lord's blessing, " to "raise the song of harvest home," and to acknowledge "all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above," as "now thank we all our God." (Points to those who can identify the traditional Thanksgiving hymn-sources for these lines.) As has become my custom, in place of a sermon I will share an historic Thanksgiving Proclamation which seems particularly noteworthy. Washington National Cathedral's Veterans' Day bulletin included a brief portion of President Woodrow Wilson's 1918 Proclamation, issued five days after the end of World War I's hostilities. I was able to track down the entire text, and will share that on Thursday. But I also commend it to those of you who will be unable to attend our service here. Although the most frequently quoted lines are in the first paragraph, I found Wilson's humble words in the second paragraph both moving, and applicable to our nation's current situation. We would all do well to "take [them] seriously to heart." You can find the whole proclamation here. Thursday's weather moved the 2nd Annual Witness Stones Ceremony into the gymnasium of Adams Middle School, and it was great to see familiar faces on their home turf -- as well as other non-parents who wanted to support this undertaking. Besides learning about this year's honorees, Jouachim, Montros and Pompey, from the research of 8th grade historians, we also learned about a family descended from Montros and last year's honoree Phillis. Patricia Wilson Pheanious is a member of their sixth generation, You may recognize Mrs. Wilson Pheanious from the news: On November 6, she was elected to represent the 53rd House District in the Connecticut State Legislature; her election was called all the more remarkable given her district's rural character and white majority. The Witness Stones for Montros and Phillis are installed next to each other in the walkway to the Savings Bank from the corner of Boston and Park Streets. However, their service predates the Redfield family homes that became the bank and the rectory. Montros and Phillis were held as slaves by Ruth & David Naughty whose property included the entire corner along Park Street from Boston Street to the Town Hall lot. My hunch is that the only structure remaining from the Naughtys' tenure is the 18th century one-room-with-loft-cottage which became part of the rectory when the latter was built in 1820. One wonders, who used the cottage in the 1700's? During her Episcopal Visitation last month, Bishop Laura Ahrens mentioned an upcoming Holy Land Pilgrimage, June 9-19. The Pilgrimage will focus on the Palestine of Jesus with both Bishop Ahrens and Bishop Ian Douglas under the professional guidance of Canon Iyad Qumri -- a Palestinian Anglican. Information and forms are all now available on the ECCT website. I recommend the video to everyone -- even if you aren't interested in the Pilgrimage. I'm planning to participate, have been involved in the planning, and would be happy to respond to questions. In the meantime, I hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving!. In faith, hope and love, Harrison+ YFNR The 11th Hour of the 11th Day of the 11th Month; Honoring the Fallen, Dominican Mission Report11/10/2018  10 November 2018
Dear Hearts, At the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we will join a worldwide community in marking the 100th anniversary of the Armistice which ended the hostilities of World War I. Specifically, we will stop whatever we are doing in worship, to toll the Tower bell twenty-one times; in doing this, we will join the other churches on the Green, and civic organizations and houses of worship across the country. Our Choir will take the lead in tolling the Tower bell; if you -- or young family members -- would like to participate, please make your way to the Tower. Additionally, the "Bells of Peace" initiative will include, all United States Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard installations, as well as Naval and Coast Guard ships at port and at sea; all will toll their bells at the Eleventh Hour of this day to honor those who wore the uniform one hundred years ago. Our ECW's Carnations for Heroes -- program to honor veterans and first-responders -- embraces heroes of this and every generation. Sadly, this program took on special poignancy Wednesday when a first-responder, Ventura County Sheriff Sergeant Ron Helus, was among those killed by the gunman in Thousand Oaks, California. As we honor all these heroes with red and white carnations, we pray that today's first-responders and veterans, all get to go home safely following their season of duty. Many thanks to our ECW for organizing the "Carnations for Heroes" program: special thanks to go to chief organizer, Diane Lilnk. Thanks to the significant group who sent in their Estimate-of-Giving cards this week! In a parish where every household's participation is important, your help in completing our Consecration Sunday program cannot be overstated. About a quarter of our households have yet to respond. Estimate-of-Giving cards are available on the Ushers' Table, and in the Parish Office. Please respond at your earliest convenience! Youth Mentor Page Pelphrey and three of her "missionaries" will provide a photo report during Coffee Hour on their mission to the Dominican Republic last summer. They'll give us the straight scoop on the challenges of leading a Vacation Bible School in Spanish. Also, on the rewards! I understand that they'll have special treats to share; so please make your way to the Parish Hall following the 10a.m. service. Earlier on Sunday, our InReach Team will offer a Round Table breakfast conversation between the services, beginning about 9-ish. Have a sit-down, get-acquainted conversation over light refreshments in the Parish Hall. So as not to compete, the Rectory Forum will not meet this Sunday. Sounds like Wednesday's Fall Book Discussion of Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering Mercy got off to a good start this past week. The conversation will continue in the Rectory living room this Wednesday, November 14, 5-6:30p.m. with the Rev. Lynda Tyson as guide. Thursday morning's Bible Study will not meet this week because of the Witness Stones dedication program that morning at 9:30a.m. on the Green. Again this year, Adams School eighth graders used primary and secondary sources to research the lives of three honorees -- Montros, Jouachim, and Pompey. They will share what they learned about these enslaved residents of Guilford, and then lead in the installation of individual Witness Stones -- noting their participation in households on and near the Green. Of special note this year is a keynote address by Patricia Wilson Pheanious, who can trace her family to her 6th great grandparents, Montros and Philis. History will come alive in Guilford this week! I look forward to sharing it with you. In faith, hope and love, Harrison+ YFNR  3 November 2018
Dear Hearts, Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! Among life's many pleasures, setting one's clocks back to gain an additional hour of sleep, has got to among those at the top of the list! Yes, before you go to bed today, please remember to cause your clocks to "Fall Back"! Yes, Eastern Standard Time adds an hour of daylight to the morning, but it takes it away from the evening. I'm going to miss it! As it happens, this change in how we keep track of the hours of daylight and darkness, coincides with our celebration of the Saints in Light: That fellowship of the Saints who rejoice with us in a brighter light, and on a different shore. The Feast of All Saints is one of the great celebrations in the Church's calendar, reflecting our baptismal faith in "the communion of the saints"-- our abiding fellowship with those we love but see no longer. So, I hope you will join our celebration of All the Saints, as we give thanks for the light they have brought, and continue to bring, to our lives. Our annual "Recollection of the Faithful Departed" will be this Wednesday, November 7, at 6p.m. This is a time for story-telling, prayer, silence and remembering those who have died -- especially those who died within the past year. We'll gather under our stained-glass images of Jesus, and Saints Paul and Peter. On Tuesday, October 30, we gathered with our neighbors of the wider faith community -- and with those of no faith -- at Temple Beth Tikvah in response to last Saturday's horrific shootings in Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue. I was grateful to see so many of you there. Rabbi Offner began the service by teaching us to take time to mourn -- to name who we have lost and to sit with our sorrow. Then we could move on to protest, to feel the strength of shared community, and to pray for the repairing of the world -- tikkun olam.in Hebrew. Rabbi Offner's lovely invitation, also included an intention to "celebrate our common values as Americans." Somehow I got a nudge to say something about our fundamental American value of religious liberty and mutual respect. Remember the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden? Someone had entered a latter-day garden, and sought to cut down that tree. I remembered a powerful visit to the Touro Synagogue in Newport, RI, and one of George Washington's favorite lines from Holy Scripture, “Everyone shall situnder their own vine and fig tree; And no one shall make them afraid.” The result was a statement which you'll be able to find on the Ushers' Table and here.. Thanks to so many of you for participating in Consecration Sunday, on October 28! We enjoyed terrific participation in worship, and had best-ever participation in the Celebration Lunch. The initial returns of the Estimate-of-Giving cards were very promising. Letters with cards went out this week to those who couldn’t join us. And there were likely some who weren’t prepared to offer an estimate last week. Please respond at your earliest convenience. Consecration Sunday requires behind-the-scenes efforts of many in addition to those from whom we hear. So, special thanks to Chief Organizer Rose Robinson, to mailings organizer Carol Iovanna and her helpers, and to luncheon chair Diana Stovall and her helpers Kay Claiborn and Elena Phillips – who set-up the Parish Hall so beautifully. Thanks also to speakers Susan Leonard, Peter Marks and Chris Robinson. Our Guest Leader, the Rev. Scott Lee, sends his greetings from Sewanee -- along with his gratitude and encouragement as we complete this year’s program. Was great fun to see many of you at the Rectory front door for last Sunday's "Spooktacular Trunk-or-Treat," event. Sunday School Director Laurie Varley, and helpers, had prepared small snack bags of candy and an invitation to our Sunday School program. The demand was fierce and every last one was taken. Thanks to the ECW for their help with the candy for those bags. I re-stocked for Halloween itself, was grateful for the help of Rebecca Evansand Keelyn Ervin; and ran out before dark! . Don't forget to "Fall Back" this evening! I look forward to celebrating All Saints' Sunday with you! In faith, hope and love, Harrison+ YFNR Statement for Tree-of-Life Vigil at Temple Beth Tikvah, Madison, CT
Tuesday, October 30, 2018 Rabbi Offner’s beautiful invitation to this evening’s gathering included a second intention : “to celebrate our common values as Americans.” In all candor, I must tell you, that made me really nervous. In my experience, too often such “common values,” are not those that are held in Common, but are the ones which secure the pride and place of the privileged. That might even be said of our nation’s founders, but then I remembered how George Washington advocated and campaigned for religious liberty. Now there’s a fine American value! It’s one dimension of a larger value about which Washington often spoke. That larger value is actually a verse from the Hebrew Scriptures. In Micah 4.4, we read, “…they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lordof hosts hath spoken it.” Some of you are saying, Hold on buster, that’s from Hamilton! And you’re right! Lin-Manuel Miranda uses it to set-up George Washington’s decision to teach the people “how to say goodbye,” and to inform them that he will not be a candidate for a third term. Washington asks Alexander Hamilton’s help in writing what became his famous “farewell address.” Miranda has George Washington say to Hamilton, that he needs to say goodbye, so that the country may survive, and as Scripture says, “Everyone shall situnder their own vine and fig tree; And no one shall make them afraid.” That was near the end of his second term, and Washington was speaking of his personal hopes. As it happened, this was a go-to quotation for Washington, often found in his writings and speeches. And so it was, that quite early in his first administration Washington, along with Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, and others, campaigned for the adoption of what we call the Bill of Rights on his second trip through New England. During a public meeting in Newport, RI, {on August 17, 1790) the president of the Hebrew Congregation of Newport, Moises Seixas, was one of the speakers to thank Washington for his efforts to secure religious liberty in the new American republic. That letter of goodwill prompted a letter in response from George Washington; this brief letter came to be known as Washington’s presidential declaration of liberty. If you want fine American values, here they are: To the Hebrew Congregation of Newport Rhode Island, August 21, 1790 Gentlemen: [While I received with much satisfaction your address replete with expressions of esteem, I rejoice in the opportunity of assuring you that I shall always retain grateful remembrance of the cordial welcome I experienced on my visit to Newport from all classes of citizens. The reflection on the days of difficulty and danger which are past is rendered the more sweet from a consciousness that they are succeeded by days of uncommon prosperity and security. If we have wisdom to make the best use of the advantages with which we are now favored, we cannot fail, under the just administration of a good government, to become a great and happy people.] The citizens of the United States of America have a right to applaud themselves for having given to mankind examples of an enlarged and liberal policy—a policy worthy of imitation. All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship. It is now no more that toleration is spoken of as if it were the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights, for, happily, the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving it on all occasions their effectual support. [It would be inconsistent with the frankness of my character not to avow that I am pleased with your favorable opinion of my administration and fervent wishes for my felicity.] May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants—while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy. G. Washington  Hello! InReach is a committee of Christ Episcopal Church dedicated
to serving the needs of the parishioners, thus strengthening us to do Christ’s work in the world. We meet on the first Sunday of every month in the Guild Room during coffee hour after the 10 o’clock service. Please feel free to join us at any time. The following groups represent some of our projects this year. Round Table Talk Breakfasts Quarterly breakfasts are held between services to encourage attendees at both services to meet and mingle. We will use our new round tables to encourage small group conversation about topics of the day. The next breakfast will be 9-10 a.m., November 11, Veterans’ Day. Disciples’ Dinners: Friendly monthly dinners, October through May, are a great way to get to know your fellow CEC members in an informal setting. The next dinner on November 9 has room for you. Dates of subsequent dinners depend on the schedules of host and guests. If you would like to attend a dinner or host one later in the year, please contact Annie Rae or Susan Leonard at church, or call 203-689-5766 or email[email protected]. October — Jim and Annie Rae November — Tony and Susan Leonard December — Ed and Winnie Siebert January — Peter and Gabrielle Johnson February—Chris and Rose Robinson March—Sue Shackford and Jean Valentine April—Open May—Open CEC Men’s Group: A men’s group is forming. The first meeting will be at the Shoreline Diner on the Post Road in Guilford Saturday, October 27, at 9:00. Further information is available from Tony Leonard, [email protected]or 505-610-6123. Book Group: Lynda Tyson has proposed that the new Fall Book Discussion Group read Anne Lamott’s Hallelujah Anyway, Rediscovering Mercy.The first meeting is Wednesday, November 7, 5 - 6:30 p.m. Please contact Lynda at [email protected]if you plan to attend so that she can determine the best meeting place. Travelers Together: As Harrison reminds us often, we don’t have too much time to gladden the hearts of those who travel with us. Let’s get started! A small group will meet for six weeks only, beginning in January, to share life stories and spiritual journeys. Those who decide to travel together will determine meeting time and place. Again, contact Susan Leonard at [email protected]for more information. |
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