CHRIST AND THE EPIPHANY

Transcription

1 CHRIST AND THE EPIPHANY VOLUME 21 FEBRUARY 2017 MISSIONAL MEANDERINGS FROM THE MISSIONAL PRIEST Rev. Andrew G. Osmun.we fool ourselves whenever we strive through power and partisan politics to make the culture at large a little less racist, a little less promiscuous, a little less violent, a little less unequal and unwelcoming when we ourselves do not practice these things. What we so easily forget is that the church, being the body of Christ, should look like Jesus. - Charles E. Moore in PLOUGH quarterly. Pg. 40. It is tempting to fall into one camp or another. It is also a deception to think that the victory of one camp or another is the arrival of a messiah to save us or the end of the world as we know it damning us to hell. We, as Christians have one task that guides us ever forward, day by day, hour by hour. It is to look like Jesus. How are we doing? How are you doing? How am I doing? 2016 CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICE I write this on January 20 th, the day when the Presidentelect becomes the President. When I was at the gym yesterday, the video screens had almost nothing but this event and all the swirl of opinion and opposition going on. Today is the mountain top of striving through power and partisan politics. February brings us the season of Lent, when we as the body of Christ are called to consider the log in our own eye before we spend our energy on the speck in our neighbors. We will never attract anyone if we just look like a spiritual version of the culture in which we live. We must look like Jesus. Tom Shultz and Debra Levi 1

2 Feast, Festivities & Fundraising Carol Link-Ude We re holding a Mardi Gras brunch on Sunday, February 26. The community is invited to join us for the 10:00 a.m. service and stay for a pancake and ham brunch. And, of course, the festivities will include the very popular Pancake Flipping Contest. Free will offering will be collected to help defray costs. Save the dates: February 4 th - Good Shepherd Thrift Store Valentine s Day ½ price sale on everything red or pink items in the store. March 4 th - Good Shepherd Thrift Store ½ price sale Spring sale on all items. May 21 st - Annual Good Shepherd Store Fashion Show at 3 p.m. June 18 th - Church Picnic September 9 th - Harvest Fair December 2 nd - Christmas Fair Coffee Hour Thank you to everyone who has hosted coffee hour over the past year. Your help has been greatly appreciated, but help will still be needed to continue to have a coffee hour following the 10am service each week. The coffee, cheese, pepperoni, crackers, and milk will be provided each Sunday, and will usually be provided by volunteers. Coffee hour is an important part of our Christ and The Epiphany family gatherings and with your help we can continue to enjoy it every week. Sign-up sheets are on the Feast & Festivities board in the great hall. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer contact Carol at coffee hour. Or call the church office. Communications Did you know the newsletter is available on our website? From our home page, ChristandTheEpiphany.org, click on About Us and then the Monthly Newsletter page. In the event of worship services being cancelled due to weather conditions, a notice will be posted on Fox 61, News 8 and MYTV9 TV stations and can also be viewed at and as well as on our website at ChristandTheEpiphany.org 2 Altar Guild Ministry Carol Link-Ude Donations for Altar Flowers and/or Sanctuary Candles can be given as memorials, thanksgivings, births, birthdays, anniversaries. There is a sign-up sheet in the Narthex or you can call the church office. During Lent and Advent, flowers are not on the altar, but the Sanctuary Candle burns continually as a sign of the continued presence of Jesus Christ in the Reserved Sacrament of bread & wine in the tabernacle. The cost is $35 for flowers and $10 for the Sanctuary candle. Flowers and Sanctuary candles should be paid for on the date they are on the altar. Please specify on your check whether the money is for flowers or for a candle. This will insure that the money is deposited in the correct category and will enable us to continue to beautify our altar.

3 Rev. Andrew G. Osmun blesses the hand-embroidered stole Wendy Bellmore brought back from her Mission to Madagascar Rev. Austin Phiri, Rev. Andrew G. Osmun, Barbara Coulombe and Barbara Parsons Outreach Barbara Parsons Good Shepherd Thrift Store Margaret needs plastic storage bins preferable with lids to store the off season clothing. She has a great deal of clothing to store and the containers work really well. They can be dropped off at the thrift store on Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays when the store is open. Thank you in advance. Global Mission Fund Rev. Austin Phiri, chaplain at CT Hospice and Yale-New Haven Hospital St. Raphael Campus is from the Chikwawa District in the southern region of Malawi in southeast Africa. He introduced us to the Malawi Farmers project, which raising funds to dig deep water wells, during coffee hour on January 15 th. Sometime after the Annual Meeting we will be presenting him with a check for $255. There is a brochure that is available for anyone that was not at coffee hour and wants to know more about this project. We will also be presenting a $255 check to SAMS. If anyone has any questions about either of these donations, please see Barbara Parsons. Midnight Run After a meeting with most of the serving team we decided to do our usual run to New Haven in January. We will meet again before the end of February to discuss any changes. I will attend the next meeting of the EHU to see what other churches are doing. East Haven United East Haven United met Thursday, January 5, with ten attendees (three from Christ and The Epiphany). In lieu of a town hall Christmas party in 2016, the town of East Haven donated $1,000 to the EH Community Kitchen. A thank you letter to Mayor Joseph Maturo was signed by all present. The possibility was raised of having an ecumenical Lenten prayer service series as was held last year. Representatives from each church are expected to contact their respective clergy for available dates. 3

4 Services will be Thursday evenings at 7:00. Plans for a community garden have been scaled back due to an inability to locate appropriate space. As an alternative prospect, Wendy Bellmore discussed creating a kitchen garden on the grounds of Christ and The Epiphany to grow vegetables and herbs for the EH Community Kitchen with any excess produce to benefit the East Haven Food Pantry. The EH Community Kitchen is anticipating holding a fundraiser event in the spring. On the wish list are commercial-grade mixers and other kitchen equipment. They were informed our Fashion Show is scheduled for April 30 and will avoid scheduling their event during that weekend. (Details to follow) Guest speakers at future meetings may include a representative from Social Services to inform the EHU of the greatest needs in our area. Another potential speaker is the organizer of the Midnight Run program to provide clarification regarding the collection and distribution of blankets. Currently EHU churches are following different protocols. ECCT The Episcopal Church in Connecticut s ECCT Cycle of Prayer is available on their website at hhp:// and lists specific parishes for every Sunday from the first week of Advent, November 27, 2016 through December 26, Christ and The Epiphany s assigned day is February 5 th together with the parishes of All Saint s, East Hartford; St. John s, East Hartford, and St. John s in East Windsor. The associated wider witness and ministry is the Haitian Ministry Network. February and March: ECCT s Annual Spring Training, April 1, 2017, will be held at Lincoln Middle School, 164 Centennial Ave. in Meriden, from 9:00-4:00. More than thirty workshops are available in ten categories: Christian Formation, Communication, Connecting and Collaborating, Essential Parish Operations, Leadership, Passion and Call, 4 Pastoral Care, Social Justice and Advocacy, Stewardship and Worship. Some workshops that sound intriguing are What s working, what s not and what have we dared to try, Parish Buildings: Better Serving You and Your Community, One Day the Rector Will Leave: Parish Planning for Clergy Succession, Organic Community Gardening, and The Needs and Stressors of Caregivers. Full workshop descriptions are available on the ECCT website at and a printed copy is posted in the Great Hall. The regular registration cost by March 5 th for three workshops is $ Late registration after March 5 th is $25.00 and registration at the door is $ Register on ECCT s website or contact the C&E office at A sign-up sheet for ride sharing will be posted on the main bulletin board in the Great Hall. February Birthdays Feb 1 - Tom Beck Feb 9 Fred Bowden Feb 18 Tony Lamberti Feb 20 Mary Lou Clark

5 Intercessory Prayers B.J. Beverly W. Bradley D. Bruce Langlan Bunny W. Carol Carol C. Cassandra Cheryl Link Chester Chappuis David Dennis Family Devin K. Diane Eleanor N. Eric S. Faith and Family Father Eddie - Ferrara Family Gale Gina Greg T. Harry Bruneau, Jr. Helen Jay Jim C. John D. Joseph - Judy DeFeo June W. Karl Kasch T. Katrina R. Ken Wortz Lage Family Lucas Sundwall Sister Madonna D. Mark Conti Marty Matt Melissa D. Michele Olivia and Family Rachael Robert J. Sean Thomas M. Vidar H. Vivian S. To submit names for the Intercession Prayer list please call or the church office. Names will be kept on the list for 3 months unless longer time is requested. If a person you have placed on the list recovers in less than 3 months or passes away, please update the church office. Annual Meeting 2017 Elections First Warden- Barbara Parsons Second Warden- Jan Cianelli Clerk- Kris Langlan Treasurer- Susan Shultz Vestry 3 year terms- Margaret Lifton Wendy Bellmore Vestry 2 years remaining- Joyce Aurelius George Coulombe (replacing Barbara Parsons) Vestry 1 year remaining- Ron Blevins ECCT Annual Convention- Delegate- Delegate- Wendy Bellmore Alternate- Barbara Coulombe Weren t able to make the Annual Meeting? Want a copy of the 2016 Annual Report? Please contact Diane Rowley at the office to request a copy be mailed. christandtheepiphany@gmail.com or The deadline for the March issue of the newsletter is Friday, February 17, If you have any contributions for the newsletter, or an update to the Birthday or Anniversary list, please call the church office at Kathy Alison, Editor Christian Anecdote Author- Moishe Rosen A person born in a Christian home isn t necessarily a Christian any more than a person born in a bakery is a bagel. 5