January 2011

christchurchguilford.org

A Tale of Two City Parishes

After writing my weekly e-letter to you on the Friday before Christmas, I took the rest of my day off off and caught the train to Manhattan. I had two goals -- to see the Edward Hopper exhibit at the Whitney Museum and to attend the sold-out Prairie Home Companion dress rehearsal at the Town Hall. I got sidetracked at a favorite bookstores going-out-of-business sale, and failed to get as far as the Whitney. This one-time art-history major will have to schedule a return trip! Garrison Keillors stories about the Norwegians in Lake Woebegone, Minnesota -- where the women are strong, the men are good-looking and the children are all above average -- could be stories about my mothers Norwegian family. For this program, his musical guests included Pink Martini, a small band from Portland, Oregon, whose music you hear in all the high-end shops. Their Latin-fusion versions of Christmas standards were a treat. While I was walking around, gawking at Christmas decorations, I visited two city parishes that have long intrigued me and where acquaintances have served. They are only blocks apart -- St. Bartholomews Church is on 51st and Park Avenue, and St. Thomass Church is on 53rd and Fifth Avenue. A wedding rehearsal was about to begin at St. Barts while a Christmas Market held forth on the sidewalk and terrace outside; but I was just in time for Evening Prayer and Eucharist at the much more subdued St. Thomass. While both parishes are known for their outstanding music programs, they reflect very different traditions. St. Thomass keeps to venerable Anglican traditions of High-Church theology and liturgy, along with a Men & Boys Choir supported by St. Thomass Choir School. St. Barts presents an equally venerable Anglican Broad-Church tradition to engage the present day with a variety of contemporary-language worship services, co-ed choirs and outreach ministries, including the shelter in its five-story Community (Parish) House. Given the mystery and transcendent beauty-of-holiness in the life and witness of St. Thomass, one might think that they never talk about something as common as money at that church. And, given St. Barts historic engagement with the needs and issues of the city, one might think that talk about money came easily at St. Barts Church. In fact, the historic facts are quite the opposite. Beginning in the depths of the Great Depression, St. Thomass boldly began to build an endowment that at the end of World War II was valued at $3 million; and during the depths of our Great Recession the parish has raised $10.2 million in cash and pledges. By contrast, the funds to build St. Barts Church on Park Avenue were raised without a parish-wide campaign, and the Rector at that time thanked the Parish for sparing him from having to ask for money. St. Barts
1

endowed funds were also raised quietly but never equaled those of St. Thomass. Then came the challenges to city parishes in general, and the very public battle at St. Barts over its Community House. St. Thomass Church became overly dependent on the income of its significant endowment to fund the annual operating budget; and St. Barts decided to invest the capital of its unrestricted endowment in a last-ditch effort, in the Rectors words, to Grow or Go. Today, both are lively and growing parishes true to their own traditions: St. Thomass Church continues to fund its annual budget from both endowment income and annual pledges, which are increasing in size and number. St. Barts must support its annual budget almost entirely on annual pledges, which are also increasing in size and number; the financial situation at St. Barts is very tight and the Rector talks about money a lot! I tell you this Tale of Two City Parishes, because I think we can see parallels in the history and current financial standing of our parish of Christ Church. Your Parish Profile identified Stewardship as first among four challenges (another name for opportunities) to be addressed by your next Rector; so I hope you are not surprised when I talk about money in addition to Christian Education, Service within and outside the parish, and our shared Spiritual Life. Given this parishs own challenges in past decades, your leadership decided to invest the capital of unrestricted endowment funds in staff to develop the Sunday School and music programs; it appears to me that this investment is paying off handsomely. At the same time, those unrestricted funds are now spent, and we must support our annual operating budget entirely from pledges and other annual gifts. Just as those who worship at St. Barts and St. Thomass are increasing their pledges in number and size, we need do the same to support the growing life and witness of Christ Church. Although their total dollars and number of pledges may be larger than ours by a factor of ten or more, the average size of individual pledges is not. Whether in New York or Guilford, proportional giving is the key on the individual level. While the tithe of 10% is the biblical proportion, Im just bright enough to realize that we are not there yet as a parish. Yet, if the average pledge at Christ Church were 3% of Guilfords average household income, our stewardship situation would be solid. (However, we are clearly "all above average" folk, just like the children of Lake Woebegone!) Your Vestry could craft an operating budget for worship, education, outreach, and staff,plus regular maintenance (like paint, utilities, and cleaning) and reserves for the things that wear out (like boilers, roofs, and appliances);in short,the Vestry would not have to make special appeals for expenses that can be expected in the life of any parish. If you have made your pledge -- your estimate of giving -- for 2011, thank you! If you have not, please help your Vestry plan for our collective witness and ministry. Whether your giving is a 1% or 10% portion, your support is important and it makes a difference in our life together. Additional stewardship packets are available; just ask! On Commitment Sunday, January 9th, we will give thanks for all the pledges received of every proportion: On that day, we will commit to God our very best efforts in support of Gods mission through Christ Church. I hope you -- and your pledge -- will be there, and that you will plan to return that evening for a Rectors Roast Beef Supper sponsored by the ECW to continue the celebration for a Happy New Year! In faith and hope, Harrison+

Stewardship includes how we respond to our various callings: How weuse our gifts and talents to carefor family, friends, colleagues, fellow community members, really all of Creation. At Christ Church we have a calling -- our sacred vocation -- toparticipate inthe gracious and generous hospitality ofJesus Christ himself. Your estimate of yournancial support of the parish's ministryduring 2011 willallow our Vestry to budget for how wecollectivelyshareChrist'shospitality next year.
Please make your estimate, commonly called a "pledge," joyfully, proportionally, sacrificially, thoughtfully, and as soon as you are able!
If you have not received your Stewardship packet, there are extras on the table at the back of the center aisle.

News From the Stewardship Chair

By now you all should have received the mailing that was sent out about the Stewardship Campaign for 2011. The mailing included a letter from our rector Harrison, a flyer about Stewardship and what it means to our church family, an attached pledge card and an envelope addressed to the church for the return of the pledge card. I know that this is a very busy time of the year, but, I hope that you can take the time to read the letter and review the flyer. Our Stewardship goal for this coming year is $174,000.00. This goal is achievable as long as we can come together as a congregation and make the commitment to share what we can of our treasure and continue to foster and fund our community of Christ Church Guilford. If you have any questions about this years campaign, need some more information or have misplaced your pledge mailing please contact me at any time. Our goal is to have all parishioners submit their pledge card on or before this years Commitment Sunday which is January 9, 2011. On this day we will formally celebrate all of our giving and offer a very special coffee hour celebration after our 10:00 a.m. service. This is a great, new and exciting year for us! I look forward to a healthy and prosperous Campaign! Thanks in advance for your commitment to the Stewardship of our church.
p.s. As of 12/28, we have received pledges for 2011 from 36 households totaling over $70,000! We are well on our way to reach our goals.

Bob Donahue Stewardship Chair Bobd343170@aol.com or 203-453-2500

Mark Your Calendar !

Thursday, January 6th Tuesday, January 11 9:30 a.m. Weekly Bible Study Resumes 7 p.m. Finance Committee Meeting 10:30 ECW Resumes Wednesday, January 12 Sunday, January 9th 7 p.m. Vestry Meeting Commitment Sunday Rectory Forum Returns Sunday School, & Rite 13/J2A Resumes 5 p.m. Rector's Roast Beef Dinner 3 Thursday, January 13 11 a.m. ECW Monthly Meeting & Program Monday, January 17 Ofce Closed - Martin Luther King Day

Sunday School News

To all of the sheep, donkeys, cows, shepherds, angels, the wise men and wise women, and Mary, Joseph, the Innkeeper, string ensemble, narrators, and the precious weeks-old baby Jesus, we say thank you for a beautiful and moving Christmas pageant. It was true joy to watch the faces of the Christ Church children as they proclaimed the beauty of the Nativity story in word and song. "Angels We Have Heard on High" will forevermore put a smile on my face, as I remember their voices soaring during the "Gloooooria"!! They raised the roof! Thank you to all of the parents who helped the kids prepare and were so supportive during the rehearsal process. We extend a special thank-you to Suky Bryan and Melissa Perez for leading the children's string ensemble, Melissa Lamoreaux for helping the kids rehearse the hymns, and to Richard Marvin and his able team of stagehands for setting up the sanctuary. We welcome the return of our Sunday School students in the new year on Sunday, January 9. Planning is under way for new winter and spring programming, including an early spring outreach initiative, as well as early communion classes combined with a family Eucharist workshop. You will hear more about these and other activities in the coming month. If you have ideas or suggestions for programming, please feel free to contact me. We will continue to meet for Children's Chapel at 9:30 a.m. in the parish hall and then for Sunday School classes at 10. Our continued thanks go to our dedicated group of Sunday School teachers: John Mayo, Rebecca Ervin, Marybeth Clarke, Meg Formica, Melissa Perez, and Linda Reich. Every Sunday they create a warm and welcoming environment for our children. We thank them for their ongoing gift of time and talents and the positive impact they make on our children's faith formation. Lisa Ste. Marie, Director of Sunday School

2011 Sunday School Calendar

Jan. 2 No Sunday School (New Year) Feb. 20 No Sunday School (Winter Break) April 17 No Sunday School (Spring Break)
4

April 24 No Sunday School (Easter) May 29 No Sunday School (Memorial Day) June 12 Last day of Sunday School

ECW News
The ECW would like to thank all those who participated in the juice box and snack drive for the Guilford Food Bank in November. The response was generous and the Food Bank was very grateful for all your donations. The annual Cookie Sale held on December 3 in conjunction with the Tree Lighting, Chili Supper, and Jazz Christmas concert was very successful. A warm thank-you goes not only to all those who donated cookies and other goodies for this event, but also to the volunteers who set up the tables and sold our cookies, jam, cheese spread, and sugared nuts. Early estimates indicate that we took in over $500 at this sale. Our friendly neighborhood Rector, Harrison West, enlivened the occasion with his headgear of reindeer antlers. The annual ECW Christmas luncheon was held on December 9 at La Luna Restaurant in Branford. A delicious lunch and grab bag was enjoyed by the 27 members present. The wonderful fellowship added to everyones holiday spirit. Thank you to all who joined us in the festivities. DONT FORGET: The public is invited to A Twelfth Night Celebration on January 9, 2011, featuring Harrisons Famous Roast Beef Dinner, accompanied by punch, appetizers, vegetables, beverage, and dessert. All proceeds will go to ECW charitable contributions in 2011. Please sign up on the parish bulletin board. Diane Link & Diane Barker

Youngsters Invest in KIVA Program

Three members of the J2A youth program, Olivia Maxwell, Evelyn Ferrall, and Natalia Provolo, huddled around the computer in Pats office and invested money from their fund-raising projects to help poor people from all over the world. The program they used was KIVA, loans that change lives, a concept of micro-lending that was founded about 10 years ago by Bangladeshi economist Professor Muhammad Yunus. In 1996 Professor Yunus received the Nobel Prize for Peace for this idea designed to help the poor of the world have access to financial resources. KIVA is an organization formed on the micro-lending concept, and this is where our investment became micro credit invested in those impoverished people around the world who seek a loan to start up a business, continue or expand a business, or to buy farm equipment to help in the growing of crops that enable them to feed their
5

family, neighbors, or to sell at the market. What makes the program very unique is that they get the loans for no collateral, and they must pay it back. As investors, we will receive a letter from the people whom the group invested in and will be kept up to date on their progress, all via the internet. Of the original $1,000 that was invested by the first members of Rite 13/J2A in 2007, $992 was repaid. We were given the option of donating those funds to help run the program; have the funds returned; or, the option that we used, to invest in the needy people themselves. The group scrolled through about 2,000 applicants, read about their families, learned about their needs, and what the recipients wanted to do with the funds. They had to decide whom they wanted to help and how much, by donating in increments of $25, $75, $100, or they could donate the whole amount. Our youngsters invested money in about in 11 families, but learned far more. They learned that Fredy wanted a loan to buy a bike so that he did not have to walk an hour each way, each day, in order to reach his field, and which would help him get his harvest to the market. It was inconceivable to our kids that he had to walk all that distance. By the end of two hours, they had read stories about the poor from all over the world and learned that people in places like Mexico, Peru, Kenya, Afghanistan, and many more countries were in need of money for the simplest of things in order to meet their most basic needs. This was time well spent, with the realization that ones desire for the latest iPod pales in the light of those who can barely sustain their lives and that with a little help it can be improved. Sue Shackford

Search Committee Reunion Dinner

On December 6, the Search Committee, Diocesan consultant Jane Inrig, and our Rector Harrison West gathered for dinner at the Rectory. It was not just another Monday night, like all those Monday nights the committee met during the previous 20 months. It also turned out to be one year to the day after Harrison accepted our invitation to join in mutual discernment concerning the Rector position at our church!

At Harrisons request, this dinner also included the committee members spouses. During the committees work, spouses had been second-hand witnesses to the joys and challenges of the long process. In an introduction to dinner, Harrison informed us we were the guinea pigs for future 20-person dinners to be hosted in the Rectory. Members brought Rector Harrison West, Search Committee Chair appetizers, side dishes, and desserts, and Harrison cooked a wonderful David Jones, Diocesan Consultant Jane Inrig tip roast. A wonderful time was had by all. We had grown to know each other, the members of our church, and the responsibilities of calling a Rector so well through the sometimes arduous process. We celebrated the power of the Holy Spirit that had joined us with this available candidate. The committee feels Harrison has been a great match for Christ Church in our 266th year as a parish. We look forward to his formal induction as our Rector by Bishop James Curry this coming May.
6

News from the Choir.

Can you imagine for a moment what the Advent and Christmas season might be like at Christ Church without the beautiful greens hanging in the sanctuary, no mitten tree, no angels under the balcony, or no nativity scene at the Childrens Altar? What if there were no songs pouring out of the balcony, no organ to lead and inspire, no children to sing their hearts out? I think it is a combination of the visible and the audible that particularly speak to us during the Christmas season. I hope the music this December has expressed the awaiting of Christ and the celebration of his birth in a way that has moved you and helped you reconsider the great gift of God among usEmmanuel. Advent Lessons and Carols was a beautiful service, made extra special by a combined anthem with the Adult Choir and the Choristers. Special thanks to Danielle Oester, Kate Hadley, Henry Park, and Michael Blaakman, guest singers from the Yale community, who joined the adult choir for the evening. All four were impressed with the friendliness of everyone at Christ Church! At the 5 oclock Christmas Eve service the Choristers sang Il est n le devin Enfant, which translates to He is born the divine Infant. Who knew that singing in French would be met with such excitement from the children? The choristers will resume their rehearsals on January 6th. We will need volunteers to provide the childrens dinner each Thursday night at 5:45. Please consider helping. Thank you to countless mothers as well as Bob and Hope Sperry who donated their time and yummy cooking this past fall. The Adult Choir stayed awake and sang several anthems for the 10 oclock Festal Christmas service. After two weeks of much deserved vacation on December 26th and January 2nd, the choir will rejoin the Sunday Eucharist service on January 9th, refreshed and ready for a new year. On this Sunday the choir will be singing a special anthem featuring Suky Bryan on violin. Thank you to everyone for a delightful Christmas! Frank Dodd Organist/Choirmaster

Annual Parish Meeting February 6, 2011

The 267th Annual Parish Meeting of Christ Episcopal Church will be held on Sunday, February 6, 2011. The Nominating Committee has begun its work. The Committee is charged with presenting nominees for Senior and Junior Wardens, Parish Clerk, and Treasurer for one-year terms, and three Vestry Members for three-year terms by January 6th. If you have a name to suggest, check with the individual rst, and share the name or names with committee members Ed Seibert, David Kish, John Mayo, David Moore, and Rhoda Whitman.

Call to the 267th Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting of the Parish of Christ Episcopal Church Will be Held on Sunday, February 6, 2010
Following the 10 a.m. Holy Eucharist

_____________________
Pat Daunic, Parish Clerk
7

Christ Episcopal Church P O Box 574 Guilford, CT 06437

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Guilford, CT 06437 Permit Number 1

Change Service Requested

GLAD TIDINGS

January, 2011

Christ Episcopal Church 11 Park Street Guilford, Connecticut

Glad Tidings

The Rev. Harrison West Rector harrisoncec@snet.net 203-453-2279 Edward Seibert Senior Warden seiberte@ix.netcom.com 203-458-6516 Pat Wakefield Parish Administrator cecsec@snet.net 203-453-2279 Diane Barker Managing Editor RunSlo@aol.com 203-457-9484 Pat Daunic Graphic Design

COMMITMENT SUNDAY January 9th NEW! Twelfth Night Celebration! Harrisons Roast Beef Dinner
Sunday, January 9, at 5 p.m. in the Parish Hall - Please Come!!
Rectory Forum Returns 9 a.m., January 9,
to look at Part II of Marcus Borgs The Heart of Christianity, beginning with Chapter 8, Thin Places -Opening the Heart.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sunday Services:
8 a.m., Rite I 10 a.m., Rite II with Choir 9 a.m., Rectors Forum 9:30 a.m., Childrens Gospel Rite 13/J2A after 10 a.m. service Mark your Calendar!

ANNUAL MEETING
February 6, 2011 after the 10 a.m. Eucharist Service