Update on Rob & Elaine McIntyre
Happy Anniversary, Altar Guild
Thought the Elections Were Over?
Financial Report from the Vestry
Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols
A
Report on Diocesan Convention
The 211th Annual Convention of
the Episcopal Church in Vermont and the
169th Convention of the Diocese of Vermont
were held at the Cathedral Church of St.
Paul November 15 & 16. Our Lay Delegates
were Stephanie Keitel, Peter Olsen and
Claude Stone. Along with Sr. Laurian, I
served as a Clergy Delegate. Convention
is charged with doing the work of the Diocese
much as the Annual Meeting does in a Parish.
The budget is presented and passed, resolutions
are voted on, people are elected to positions
of leadership (Stephanie Keitel was elected
to the Rock Point Board) and we celebrate
our life as the People of God. Our Bishop
has helped organize Convention in such
a way that we get more work done in a shorter
period of time and yet we do not seem rushed.
With a little more practice, I might even
learn to enjoy it.
Friday night
at the Convention Dinner, Jan Armstrong
and Christ Church were awarded the top
prize for excellence for our Webb Site.
If you have not clicked on to christchurch@christchurchvt.org
yet you may want to try it. Jan has done
a wonderful job with this ministry.
Two important
resolutions were passed that need your
attention. The first one is a resolution
that urges all congregations and individuals
to pray for peace and pursue ways of building
peace in the world, examining the conditions
that foster war and oppression. The entire
text of the resolution is available in
the Narthex. Please pray for peace in our
world and let us overcome evil with good.
The second
resolution you should know about is the
one that urges us to dismantle racism in
our lives, church and community. I have
spent a great deal of my ministry working
on the sin of racism. It is so pervasive
and clings so closely that it seems to
be part of our very flesh. The resolution
passed overwhelmingly and the Bishop in
his address strongly urged each member
of this diocese to examine racism in our
lives, the life of our Church, and in our
community. One way to get a glimpse of
the how racism is pervasive in our society
is to read the Vermont Advisory Committee
to the United States Commission on Civil
Rights publication, Racial Harassment
in Vermont Public Schools. It will
frighten you and enlighten you to the problems
in Vermont
In 1999,
the House of Bishops published a Pastoral
Letter entitled The Sin of Racism.
The bishops spoke clearly and forcefully
about racism in our Church and society:
The essence of racism is prejudice coupled with power. It is rooted in the sin of pride and exclusivity which assumes that I and my kind are superior to others and therefore deserve special privileges. Racism perpetuates a basic untruth which claims the superiority of one group of people over others because of the color of their skin, their cultural history, their tribal affiliation, or ethnic identity. This lie distorts the biblical understanding of God's action in creation, wherein all human beings are made in God's image.
The full
text of the Diocesan Resolution is available
in the Narthex and I ask you to pick up
a copy and read it.
In the next
few weeks Cheryl Day-Dick and I will be
planning a program that we hope we begin
a parish discussion on racism. A time of
Healing, Listening and Understanding. More
information will be available soon.
Another
place to start would be to attend the Cully
Lectures and Workshop at St. Paul's Cathedral
Friday, January 17 and Saturday, January
18 featuring Dr. Harold Lewis. The program
for 2003 is focusing on “working
toward racial justice.”
Both of the
resolutions, on war and dismantling racism,
are challenging issues facing our church
and our world. As we prepare for the Christ
this Advent may God give us the grace and
power to faithfully reflect and pray on
them.
Peace,
David+
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Invitation
By the grace of God, and with the people
consenting, The Right Reverend Thomas Clark
Ely, Bishop of Vermont, will ordain Paul
Joseph Carling to the Sacred Order of Priests
in Christ's one, holy, catholic and apostolic
Church. Saturday, the 21st of December,
2002, at 11 in the morning. St. Michael's
Episcopal Church, 16 Bradley Ave., Brattleboro,
Vermont.
You are also
invited to the Holy Eucharist, Sunday,
the 22nd of December at 10 in the morning,
at which Paul will preside for the first
time.
Your prayers
and presence are requested. Clergy are
invited to process, wearing red stoles.
Reception to follow.
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Update
on Rob and Elaine McIntyre
Rob and Elaine are living in Colton, California,
where Rob is receiving proton radiation
treatments for prostate cancer. He has
completed 15 treatments and has 25 more
to go to complete his program. Their notes
and email say they are doing well, with
lots of support.
To send them
a card or letter:
Rob and Elaine McIntyre, 1401 Santa Antonio
Dr. #233, Colton, CA 92324.
Email to:
robmcin77@hotmail.com
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Happy
Anniversary, Altar Guild
In Commemoration of its 95th anniversary,
the Altar Guild will present the Christ
Church parish with twelve new liquid fuel
candles to replace the beeswax now in use.
The candles are intended to aid in our
Altar Guild Mission of ministry at the
altar to the clergy, the congregation,
each other, and the world
The Christ
Church Altar Guild was founded on the Feast
of St. Michael and All Angels, September
29, 1907, and is Christ Church's oldest
parish organization, other than the vestry.
Eunice
Crosby, Director
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Thought
the Elections Were Over?
The Nominating Committee is soliciting
names for Vestry and Diocesan Convention
Delegates and Alternates. Contact the Parish
Office for more information.
Elections take
place at the Annual Meeting of the Parish,
January 18, 2003.
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It's
not too late ...
to sign up your child for the Christmas
Pageant. Call Elizabeth Wilcox for more
information.
Rehearsals
are after the Sunday service until December
21st. The Pageant will be presented on
December 22nd at the 10 AM service.
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Financial
Report from the Vestry
Our final budget for 2002 called for $190,493
total income. At the end of October, 83%
of the year, we have taken in 77% of the
total revenue needed for the year, making
us $11,429 behind in budget revenue. Our
Regular Giving income, which is our pledged
income, is at 81% of the amount budgeted
for the year, only $2000 behind. Our weekly
loose plate offering is only at 56% of
budget. The investment income will be $1500
above the budget for the year. The areas
we have really fallen short are rental
income on the parish hall (28%) and our
projected fund-raising (57%).
On the expense
side, we budgeted for total disbursements
of $190,493 in 2002. As of the end of October,
we have spent or owe 86% of that, so we
are $5700 over budget. $3600 of that was
deficit from 2001 that we paid with 2002
revenue. At the end of October we had $9,620
in unpaid bills, none over a month overdue.
In addition, we owe $14,529 on our Diocesan
assessment for the year, and $5000 from
the 2001 assessment.
The Bare Facts
• We are $11,429 behind in revenue—but
only $2000 behind in pledged income
• We are $5700 over budget—but
$3600 of that is 2001 deficit.
• We owe the Diocese a lot of money—and
we intend to pay it.
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Festival
of Nine Lessons and Carols
Join the Adult and Junior Choirs for our
yearly Festival of Nine Lessons and
Carols, Monday, December 23,
7 PM.
Many years
ago, Archbishop Edward Benson, when at
Truro Cathedral in England, instituted
this beautiful service based on the medieval
vigil service. It was modified at a later
date by the Very Reverend E. M. Milner-White,
at that time Dean of the King's College
Chapel, Cambridge, England. Since then,
it has been sung annually in King's College
Chapel on Christmas Eve. The service consists
of a procession, bidding prayer with the
Lord's Prayer, Invitatory, nine lessons,
with the appropriate carols and hymns,
closing prayer, a blessing and closing
hymn. Over the years, at Christ Church,
we have changed the order of the readers,
having a child from the parish read the
first lesson, followed by a guest from
the community and then members of the Parish.
Brian and
the Choir not only see this service as
a celebration of Christ's birth but as
a major offering for the Church and the
community. Please join us for a wonderful
celebration, which will be followed by
reception in the Parish Hall.
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