Fr. Harrison's Letter for July 9, 2017

 Dear Hearts, 

You will want to route yourself through the Parish Hall to see it all "dressed-up" for Vacation Bible School's theme, "Barnyard Round-up:  Jesus Gathers Us Together."  V.B.S starts this Monday at 9 a.m.and continues until noon, daily through Friday.  Director Laurie Varley has prepared for the coming week's stories, crafts, and play time; adult and youth volunteers will assist, and Music Directord Mark Sullivan will lead the singing.

Our V.B.S. welcomes all children who will be entering Kindergarten through 6th grade in the fall.  So, even if you haven't spoken to Miss Laurie yet, my hunch is that there's still room for your child, grandchild or young friend.

With our parish leaders already making plans for the fall, it seemed a good idea to get ahead of any potential conflicts by scheduling a Calendar Planning Supper for Tuesday, July 11, 6 p.m. in the Rectory.  Program leaders will want to be sure that there is a voice-at-the-table for their events.  We will start with events for the fall, and get as far as we can into the spring of 2018.  In any case, we'll adjourn by 8 p.m.

In addition to Vacation Bible School, here are two other special events at Christ Church this July:

Sunday, July 16:  An Organ Recital by Jeremy Mead. He's a student of Walden Moore (Trinity Church, New Haven), and will enter the Julliard School of Music this fall. Come at 4 p.m. to enjoy this "thank-you" for his rehearsal time here.  Jeremy regularly practices on the Christ Church pipe organ; This spring, with windows open in the church and the rectory, I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Jeremy play from my perch across the driveway.

Sunday, July 23:  Sunday Mid-Morning Breakfast -- an opportunity to have breakfast with folks who attend the "other" Sunday morning service, and to meet the Rev. Rachel Field, the newly appointed Missionary for our South-Central Region of the Episcopal Church in Connecticut.  The breakfast is being organized by our In-Reach Committee; they were listening to your ideas about adding to our occasions for fellowship.

In last Sunday's sermon, I quoted from the Guilford Plantation Covenant of 1639, which was signed by our Town's "planters" while still at sea.  The local response to recent occasions of hateful vandalism, reminded me of Mrs. Roger's (Mr. Roger's mother) counsel that when bad things happen, "Look for the helpers."  Mr. Roger's continued, if you see the helpers, then you know there's hope.  When the vandalism happened in Guilford, helpers were quick to respond.  That's just what the Covenant expects of us:

...we do faithfully promise ..., that we will, the Lord assisting us,
sit down and join ourselves together ... and to be helpful to the other ....,
according to [our] ability and as need shall require, ...

You can read the entire text of the Covenant here.  The accompanying article notes that a Celebration of the Covenant helped dissuade the Ku Klux Klan from holding a rally in Guilford!  We may be at a time to again recall our Town's heritage of mutual helpfulness.  I was part of a group convened by the Guilford Foundation last Friday, to begin just such an exploration.  Look for an announcement of a Town "summit" sometime this fall.

May  God's love and power enfold us all,

Harrison+
YFNR

p.s.: Jayke -- a timid, quiet and gentle, medium-sized black lab mix -- joined me in the Rectory this week.  I'm afraid that Jayke was the victim of physical abuse before he was rescued:  He's easily startled, hesitant about approaching people, and, even the Rectory backyard, intimidates him. 

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