Welcome to Christ Church

Stewardship Dinner this Sunday eve

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:36 +0000

Coming this week: Stewardship Dinner

Sunday, November 15th, 5:00 p.m.

Sign up to join a host at his or her table: the sign up poster is in the parish hall. Call later in week if you can't make it to the church to sign up. Each table has a food theme (Italian, vegetarian, etc).

If you are unable to bring a contribution to the meal, please still come and join a table.

image by jules:stone-soup

Notice of a Special Meeting of the Christ Church Parish

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:43:47 +0000

There will be a parish meeting in the dining hall after the 10:00 A.M. service on November 22nd to discuss and vote on the following question:

Shall the Vestry be authorized to obtain consent of the Bishop and the Standing Committee to sell the rectory?

Background:

As discussed in detail at the September 13th special parish meeting, preventive maintenance has not been done on the rectory since it was purchased twenty years ago. There are a number of major problems including heating system deficiencies, obsolete wiring, peeling paint and rotted clapboards. It is not financially feasible for the parish to rehabilitate it to a livable environment. The Vestry has had the water shut off, the leaky oil tank drained, and the water and heating pipes drained to prevent damage from the winter. The Vestry wishes to obtain written consent from the Bishop and the Standing Committee to sell the building.

National Register Nomination

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:01:11 +0000

One of the components of the Sacred Spaces project is to look at our building and its relationship to the community. Not only are we doing a self-assessment of the facilities and starting to work on some repair/improvement plans but we also hope to get professional help in advising us on the structures. In preparation for seeking some historic preservation assistance, we contacted the state regarding the official historic status of Christ Church. We were nominated as a significant building in a historic district to the national register in 1978. This is an important part of seeking any historic renovation funding in the years ahead.

The property description in the nomination is very interesting -- and taught me a few things I hadn't known:

Random ashlar, gabled roof sheathed in slate. This Gothic Revival church, built in 1868, from granite from Barre and Berlin, Vermont, was designed by Rutland architect, J.J.R. Randall and constructed by the local builder P. Trow. In 1903, the interior was destroyed by fire. A sympathetic parish house wing of granite was added to the left in 1938. The tower spire, left front corner, was removed in 1973 because of structural weakness. The tower itself remains and is of three stages; the first stage contains a single leaf door recessed in a pointed Gothic arch; the second stage contains two glazed and leaded Gothic arch windows; the third stage contains three Gothic arch louvered belfry windows and is surmounted by a crenelated parapet. The crenelations are not original but were added when the stone spire was removed. The tower is square and buttressed. At the center of the building is a double leaf door, also in a recessed Gothic arch, with rich moldings and paneling. Above this structure is a large rosette window in the gable peak. The peak of the roof is surmounted by a cross. To the right of this is a small corner tower with a steeply pitched polygonal stone roof. The church has Gothic massing with a clerestory roof.

We are meeting in a few weeks with someone from the Preservation Trust of Vermont to discuss next steps.

350 Rings of the Church Bell

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:25:42 +0000

On 24 October, Christ Church joined other churches in Montpelier, and across the globe, in ringing the church bell 350 times to call attention to the 350 movement.

Scientists say that 350 parts per million CO2 in the atmosphere is the safe limit for humanity. Learn more about 350 – what it means, where it came from, and how to get there. Read More »

People in 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis.

Shown here are Sr. Laurian Seeber & Danielle O'Hallisey ringing the bell 350 times.

photo credit Sara Baker

Education for Ministry

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:44:13 +0000

Faith in Action

Do you want to actively live your faith, but aren't quite sure how? Are you curious about your Christian heritage and what that actually means in today's world?

Education for Ministry (EFM) is a program specifically designed for lay people who want to explore their roots, deepen their faith, and develop the confidence and knowledge to exercise their gifts for ministry in a variety of ways.

I am currently particpating in this program which meets at the Barre Episcopal Church on Sunday afternoons from 1:00 - 4:00, and have found it to be a wonderful experience. We will be starting a new cycle in March and welcome new members! Participants commit to one year at a time for up to 4 years. Through study, prayer and theological reflection, we are a community working together to explore our faith and apply our gifts. If you'd like to learn more about EFM, please let me know. Bonnie Smoren - 802-371-7345 email: bonniesmoren@yahoo.com.

Sign up for Stewardship Dinner

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:20:26 +0000

Mark your calendars: Annual Stewardship Dinner

Sunday, November 15th, 5:00 p.m.

Sign up to join a host at his or her table: sign up poster is in the parish hall.

We also still need several willing people to host tables: this just means choosing a menu and organizing meal contributions.

If you are unable to bring a contribution to the meal, please still come and join a table. Ann Bushey

fried chicken image by thebittenword

Many Hands Make Light Work

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 11:36:20 +0000

On last Saturday morning ( 17th), eleven people took a few hours to walk, climb, crawl, peer into the nooks and crannies of the Parish House and church to gather information on uses of the building and physical repair/improvement work needed. We found a lot of cast-off items stored in the attic, undercroft, auditorium and other places and will be working with the vestry on a game plan to get some items into the hands of people who can use them, sell others for cash flow, and dispose of much of the rest. We also plan to work to stop the culture of "let's put it downstairs in case someone might need it."

The physical repairs will be broken into short-range (next six months) and longer range. Volunteers are already planning a few Saturday morning work sessions to tackle some of the "button-up" for winter problems.

Participants: Laura Buell, Sarah Blair, Ruth Beard, Dave Simpson, Ron Krauth, Anita Krauth, Dick Mansfield, Mary Mansfield, Brian Loftus, George Matowski, Danielle O'Hallisey.

There will be many opportunities to support and participate in this overall effort as it moves ahead -- Many Hands Make Light Work.

A word from the Vestry about the temporary H1N1 (Swine Flu) precautions

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 11:59:34 +0000

This past Thursday, the Vestry met and heard a presentation from Sr. Laurian regarding some guidelines the Diocese had issued relating to the H1N1 (Swine Flu) Virus, and how individual parishes might deal with the various threat levels in their communities. From that meeting, three resolutions emerged.

Hand Sanitizer would be placed at appropriate locations throughout the Church.
We would temporarily discontinue the practice of intinction (dipping the bread into the wine) at the altar rail.
We would recommend that, temporarily, people not shake hands to exchange the peace.

Some confusion surrounds the last resolution, the exchanging of the peace. As many of you know, it was announced at the services this past Sunday that shaking hands at the peace would be discontinued, which is not correct. After much discussion, the Vestry agreed that we would RECOMMEND that people consider not shaking hands, but not formally discontinue it. Understanding that H1N1 spreads easily through hand-to-hand contact, members of the congregation are free to exchange the peace in the most appropriate way for them, be it shaking hands, rubbing elbows, fist-bumping, hugging, bowing, etc. The flipside of that is that we should be respectful of each other’s choices, and be gracious to each other when some awkwardness arises resulting from someone bowing to your outstretched hand.

There are other parishes within the Diocese, including the Cathedral in Burlington, who have discontinued intinction and made recommendations about other ways of exchanging the peace, and the Vestry agreed that a conservative application of these guidelines would strike the necessary balance between the safety of the congregation and the deep connections we all share to the traditions of our community.

Below is the full list of Diocesan guidelines for your collective reference. The Vestry will revisit these guidelines periodically as the H1N1 threat lessens or increases, and we welcome your feedback! Please do not hesitate to contact one of your Vestry members should you want to discuss the resolutions further.

In Peace

Dave Simpson

Secretary of the Vestry

Diocese of Vermont Response to H1N1 (Swine) Flu
September 19, 2009

The return of H1N1 (Swine) flu raises questions about what we can do to minimize risk of transmitting the flu within our community. Bishop Ely established a committee that included clergy and health professionals to make recommendations. The Bishop wants to reduce risk and lower levels of anxiety while preserving our liturgical traditions.

It is not possible to predict how serious or even lethal H1N1 or any type of flu will be and therefore we need to be ready to adjust our response as needed. We expect a long and busy flu season. We encourage vestries to have conversation and communicate policies and practices to help limit risk. Among the topics we encourage you to address are:

1. Use common sense: If you feel ill and display influenza-like symptoms stay at home. Do not come to church services until you have had a normal temperature for 24 hours without medicine that reduces your temperature. The symptoms to be aware of include fever, cough, sore throat, muscle pains and possibly gastrointestinal symptoms.

2. Exchanging the Peace: As with a normal greeting, exchanging the Peace at the Eucharist, involves some risks. The spreading of the virus by hand to hand contact is an important risk factor. However, spread is, first and foremost by respiratory means. It is possible to continue to exchange the Peace as long as proper hand and good general hygiene is observed. The same observation applies to all other physical contact including the shaking of hands in greeting. There may be times when you may want to strongly discourage shaking hands at the Peace and recommend other forms of greeting. Hand sanitizers should be made available at the church entry.

3. The canonical elements in Holy Communion are bread and wine. Communicants may, if they wish, choose to avoid the Common Cup and receive bread only. This is acceptable and may be advisable if we see a significant rise in the rates of infection in our community. During the flu season you are encouraged to use wafers. All liturgical ministers should wash their hands before the service and use hand sanitizers before administering communion (sanitizers should contain no less than 62% alcohol). There may be times when you may want to suspend the use of the Cup.

4. The practice of intinction is discouraged especially during the flu season. This practice takes the form of a communicant dipping the Bread of the Eucharist in the Cup.

5. Children & youth are expected to be the most vulnerable. Parents should be encouraged not to bring children to church or church school if they are sick or have been exposed. You should discuss, decide and communicate any policies related to when church school teachers and child care providers will ask parents to take a child home if they have symptoms.

6. Cancellation of Church services: There may be times when you may need to cancel services. You will need to continuously assess the situation including State Health Department recommendations regarding community activities.

7. Prayer. It is an obligation on the Church at all times to pray for people in their need. The outbreak of H1N1 may create a great deal of fear as well as significant sickness among the community. Church members are urged to remember these matters in their prayers as well as those in the caring professions.

Other Resources
There are many good resources for the most up to date and accurate information. The Center for Disease Control website has information about the flu, including prevention measures and symptoms. The Episcopal Church website has good information on the flu in general and how various parishes are dealing with outbreak prevention/management.

Questions?
Peter Galbraith, a member of the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Burlington, and former Vermont State Epidemiologist, participated in the task force that developed these recommendations and is available to answer questions at carloway@aol.com. Or contact Canon Lynn Bates at 800-246-3437 or lbates@dioceseofvermont.org.

Chuckwagon Dinner Photos

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:07:10 +0000

The latest in the monthly series of fund-raisers to close our budget gap was the Chuckwagon dinner, held last Saturday. It was well-attended and successful. Not only was the food excellent, there was a wonderful sense of community as people stayed and talked with one another. Thanks go to Bill Koucky and his NECI helpers, the Stewardship committee led by Ida Lange and Angela Simpson, and a host of volunteer workers and pie makers.

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ERD to Launch NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund Campaign

dickm@pshift.com (Administrator) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Malaria is a common, yet deadly tropical disease transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitoes.

It kills nearly one million people every year—the vast majority children under age five.

The 2009 Convention of the Episcopal Church resolved that part of the MDG request will support a NetsforLife® Inspiration Fund campaign, administered and led by Episcopal Relief & Development with a goal of $5 million.

We'll be hearing more about this initiative after Diocesan Convention but you can certainly support it now through a secure donation below.

Sara Baker is our parish representative and will be leading Christ Church's effort in this important outreach project.

For a flyer (pdf) on the Inspiration Fund effort, please click here.

Image is from Nets For Life website

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