Saint Nicholas Sunday

On Sunday, 5 December 2010, Saint Nicholas will return to Christ Church after a long absence. He will bring small gifts in thanksgiving for the mite boxes we will give him. Come, bring your mite boxes and welcome St Nicholas back.

The 2010 Turkey dinner

The dessert table was popular.

Turkey dinner, 6 pm, Friday, 19 November 2010

Christ Church's annual turkey dinner will be held Friday, 19 November at 6:00 pm. Turkey will be provided. Bring your favorite potluck item such as sweet potatoes, veggies, salad, dessert, stuffing, whatever you "need" at a Thanksgiving dinner. There should be 30 or more people. We will gather downstairs. See you there.

Evensong 4:00 pm Sunday, 31 October 2010

The choirs of Christ Church and First Presbyterian Church will present Evensong in the tradition of the 1662 Prayer Book on Halloween afternoon.

Healing Service 24 October 2010

A service of healing will be held after the 10:00 am Eucharist on Sunday, 24 October 2010. All are welcome at Christ Church. Come!

Welcome, Father Richard!

The Rev. Dr. Richard Elberfeld will be our priest at least until 2011 and perhaps beyond. The people who were in attendance this morning were enthusiastic. Another new era begins.

Organ and brass concert

On a hopeful note...

Christ Church will have a priest-in-charge beginning 1 October 2010 at least through the end of the year. The Rev Dr Richard Elberfeld has agreed to be with us two days a week. The Rev Kathleen Ziegenhine has agreed to supply at least the last two Sundays in September.

Now if only we could find a bi-vocational Episcopal priest who would relocate to beautiful Northwestern Pennsylvania!

Stay tuned...

On a sad note...

The formal announcement of Father Larry Donahue's resignation as Priest-in-Charge at Christ Church was made this morning by our senior warden. We are sad to say Goodbye but we are even sadder knowing that further health concerns are causing the separation. We pray for Father Larry and his wife Pat as both have physical issues that complicate their lives and are difficult to deal with.

After the Apple Tree Mural dedication.

The Right Reverend Sean Rowe, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania, blessed us with his presence on his day off to dedicate the Apple Tree Mural Friday night, 3 September.

The designer and painter of the four year project Jeri Hogan gave many personal tours.

A friend created a feast for the festivities

which many of us enjoyed.

There are more photos here.

If you would like to see Jeri's artwork, you are invited come to church on Sunday mornings for the 10 am service. Or you may find the church open on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 11 am and 2 pm. You may make an appointment at other times by leaving a message on the answering machine. Just be aware that it may take several days to get back to you however. You may also send an email to the address on this blog.

Apple Tree Mural Dedication

Jeri Hogan's four year project to paint the history of Christ Church, Meadville and Crawford County on the parish hall walls is coming to a close. The mural will be dedicated 3 September 2010 at 6:00 pm by the Right Riverend Sean Rowe, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. There will be an art show/sale, organ demonstration and church open house as part of the festivities.

Schedule:
Thu, 2 Sep, 5 - 9 pm and all day Friday - Church open for artists
Fri, 3 Sep, 5 - 9 pm Open House
Fri. 3 Sep, 6 pm Dedication by Bishop Sean
Sat. 4 Sep, 10 am - 5 am Open House
Sat. 4 Sep, 2 pm - Organ Demonstration

Munchies are needed. Leave a message on the church phone explaining how you will help or sign up on the easel by the office. Wine, Cheese and crackers are needed for Friday evening. Sandwich, fruit and veggie trays, chips, dips, punch (pineapple juice, Hawaiian punch, ginger ale) and ice for Friday.

The public is invited to attend, share the festivities and see the inside of this historic church.

The 40th Anniversary of Bill Witherup's service as organist/choirmaster

The 40th Anniversary of Father Larry Donahue's Ordination

June Chronicle

The June Christ Church Chronicle is available here. You will need a .pfd reader such as Adobe Acrobat to open it. If you use Firefox on a Mac you can install this add-on to open .pdf files in Firefox.

Auction photos

The event was catered by the Market Grille in the Market House in Meadville. The food was wonderful!!!

The auction is here

The tables are covered and set. The treasures are being cataloged. Both an auctioneer and a Chinese auction will be available. The food will be prepared soon. You can buy tickets at the door. What a bargain! $14 each, $25 for two. Dinner included.

Christ Episcopal Church, Meadville, PA. The church is between the library and the armory on Diamond Park - across from the Court House. 6:30 pm. See you there.

Beating the bounds, 2010

On Rogation Sunday, postponed a week this year, Christ Church people "beat the bounds". For us it means walking to the four corners of the church property, singing hymns, reading scripture and praying for the earth.

Auction!

There are some great bargains available for bid at Christ Church's auction Saturday night, 22 May 2010 at 6:30. How about a condo in Florida for a week? Minimum bid is $400. Do you need a bicycle? How about a silver and turquoise cross? Plenty of smaller items as well including a Chinese auction.

A delicious dinner is included in the ticket price. The auctioneer makes the process fun.

Proceeds will be shared with the Tamarack Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center.

Buy a ticket. Donate something. Come join the fun!

Leave a message on the church telephone to reserve your ticket - 814.724.7389. See you Saturday!

New lights

There are new brighter bulbs in the lanterns which have made the nave much lighter. Some people haven't noticed.

Rewarding

Our organist/choirmaster prepares and serves a Chinese dinner to the choir and friends every year after Easter. The food is always wonderful. He's an excellent cook. Some photos...

Holy Week Schedule

Holy Week Schedule

28 March, 10:00 am - Passion Sunday Eucharist
1 April, 7:30 pm - Maundy Thursday Eucharist and Agape Feast
2 April, Noon - Stations of the Cross
2 April, 7:30 pm - Good Friday Liturgy
3 April, 7:30 pm - Easter Vigil
4 April, 10:00 am - The Resurrection of our Lord

PB Katharine Jefferts Schori's Easter Message

Easter 2010

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. (Isa 9:2; Matt 4:16)

The Diocese of Haiti has observed Lent in a very different way this year. When Bishop Duracin and I spoke just before Ash Wednesday, we talked about how this year would be different. He noted that the people of Haiti would need to practice saying Alleluia, so that when Easter came they could enter in with joy. In the midst of grief and darkness, it can be exceedingly difficult to believe that resurrection is a possibility.

Nora Gallagher makes a similar point in her book, Practicing Resurrection.

We are not born with the ability to insist on resurrection everywhere we turn. It takes the discipline and repetition that forms an athlete – in this case, a spiritually fit Christian. We practice our faith because we must – it withers and atrophies unless it’s stretched. We must continue to give evidence of the faith that is within us.

Easter prods and provokes us with an immense stretching exercise. God has renewed a life given to the evil of this world on behalf of those with no other helper. That earth-shattering and tomb-shattering rebirth has planted the seeds of hope in each one of us. Yet those seeds do not produce fruit without struggle.

The people of Haiti are finding new life in the midst of death and struggle. As a nation and a people they have repeatedly practiced resurrection through centuries of slavery, oppression, invasion, corruption, and privation. The joy of their art forms – music and painting in particular – gives evidence of the hope that is within them as a people. They know, deep in their cultural DNA, that God is continually bringing new life out of death. Yet each person must discover and nurture that hope. It is made far easier in community.

The shared hope of a community is essential. Most human beings cannot long survive the evil and death of solitary confinement or a concentration camp. It is the shared sense of suffering and the shared nurture of even tiny embers of hope that offers life. The greatest cruelty of places like Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib is the removal and destruction of such hope. The absence or disconnection from other people as sources of hope leads to suicide and even that mysterious ailment in young children called “failure to thrive.”

The Christian community is about shared hope in resurrection. The citation at the top first buoyed hope among a people exiled in a foreign land, without the support of familiar leaders or places of worship. That people developed a community that could practice its faith in a strange land, insisting that God was present among them even in exile. Jesus insists that that light is present even in the midst of Roman oppression, and that he will gather a community to remember that light and practice seeing and discovering it.

The Christian community is meant to be a mutual hope society, with each one offering courage to another whose hope has waned, insisting that even in the darkest of night, new life is being prepared. That work is constant – it will not end until the end of all things. And still the community persists, year in and year out, in time of earthquake and war and flood, in time of joy and new birth and discovery. Together we can shout, “Alleluia, he is risen! Indeed, he is risen, Alleluia!” even when some among us are not quite so confident as others. For indeed, the body of Christ is rising and risen when even a small part of it can rejoice and insist that God is renewing the face of the earth and light has dawned upon us.

Alleluia! Keep practicing that joyful shout. Someone needs to hear its truth. Alleluia!

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church

Scaffolding for lights

Christ Church needs to find someone who can get up to the top of the nave to replace the lights that have long been dark. Several people have been contacted without success. If you have any ideas, please contact the church - 814.724.7389

PS the scaffolding needn't be quite this large...

Ed Ciesielski, RIP

Ed Cielsielski passed on at Rolling Fields this afternoon. The viewing and funeral will be combined at the Tedesco Funeral Home, Wednesday, 17 March 2010, from 1 pm to 3 pm.

Set the clocks!

Daylight time begins tonight. Be sure to set your clocks ahead one hour before going to bed.

Red Lobster

For many years, a group of people associated with Christ Church has been meeting for supper at Meadville's Red Lobster on Thursday nights usually at 6 pm tho occasionally earlier. Some people seem to believe this is exclusive. Not. Anyone is welcome to join the crew. Bronnie Bond makes the reservations if she's in town. Otherwise it is Randal Miller. Let Bronnie know you would like to join us and she'll check with you around noon on Thursdays.

More good news

Cheryl Nagurney is now able to drive herself for treatment. Apparently all that limited her life expectancy is now gone. Prayers of thanksgiving issuing!!! As well as continuing prayers...