The Courier

June 2003

Volume 56, Issue 6

Looking Back; Looking Ahead

 

What a month we had! The month of May was busy, hectic, exhausting, but utterly satisfying in so many ways. We began with an absolutely spectacular Parish Reunion to mark the 115th anniversary of our building. Special guests and former rectors John Kater and David Toomey make the vent extra special. However, so many helped out behind and in front of the scenes, especially outstanding choir and their leaders Laura and John, secretary Michele, Wardens Peggy and John, our Vestry, and servers who were the youth catechumens and friends: Jason, Christopher, James, Gracie, and Caroline, dishwashers Johanna and Elizabeth, and of course our speakers, David and Jean. The photographs are back and an album is being constructed. Thanks to all who helped. The Reunion will be remembered for years to come.

 

Other May events included another visit from the American Boychoir. Thanks to all those who housed and fed the boys and to Laura Russel and Diana Sherer who made most of the arrangements. I was serious when I told the director that anytime they have a cancellation, please consider singing at Christ Church. Our door is always open.

 

The Youth Catechumens and their sponsors participated in a discernment retreat in preparation for the Bishop’s visit on May 25. Each candidate worked to personalize the baptismal covenant so that he or she would have a sense of what exactly they would be confirming when they came before the bishop. Each pair made a scrapbook of their spiritual gifts and spiritual biography. In addition to the eight confirmations, the Bishop also received ten members into the Episcopal Church. Congratulations to all.

 

Finally, our community center named “Center of the Square” officially opened with its press conference May 28. The opening was held symbolically on the north lawn between Clinton School and Christ Church, showing the partnership between parish and neighborhood. The Center’s Board has received the green light to submit a grant to the Dyson Foundation to help with programming and administrative organization.

 

As we look ahead to the summer months, we see first and foremost a little bit of rest and relaxation. Our hectic pace needs to be balanced by time of renewal and refreshment.

 

Nevertheless, we will be holding our 38th consecutive neighborhood summer camp, so the counselors and committee will not find their full rest until mid-August. Tory Walley returns as director, and our Committee has been working diligently under the able leadership of co-chairs Margaret Dietsche and Sally Taylor.

 

Our summer worship schedule will be easy to remember. Starting July and continuing through August, Sunday worship will be at 9 AM. In July we will worship at Christ Church. In August we will be joining our fellow Episcopalians at St. Paul’s. Just remember: July-here; August-there. The reason for joining St. Paul’s in August is that I will be taking a vacation during August, and it gives us a chance to get to know our friends at St. Paul’s better.

 

Michael

 

 

 

A NOTE FROM GOD

June 1

Psalm 68:1-20

Acts 1:15-26

1 John 5:9-15

John 17:11b-19

June 8

Psalm 33:12-22

Genesis 11:1-9

Acts 2:1-11

John 7:37-39a

June 15

Psalm 93

Exodus 3:1-6

Romans 8:12-17

John 3:1-16

June 22

Psalm 107:1-32

Job 38:1-11, 16-18

2 Corinthians 5:14-21

Mark 4:35-41 (5:1-20)

June 29

Psalm 112

Deuteronomy 15:7-11

2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 13-15   

Mark 5:22-24, 35b-43

 

 

FROM THE WARDENS

 

What a month we have had at Christ Church! It was a cooler than usual day outside, but our church was bursting with like! From the beautiful choir spring concert on May 3, 2003 to our joyous Parish Reunion on May 10, 2003, the surprise visit from the American Boychoir on May 18, 2003, and the confirmation of our catechumens on Sunday, May 25, 2003 by Bishop Mark Sisk, we have laughed, listened, received, and given a-plenty.

 

Thanks to each and everyone of you who has contributed to the fullness of our communal, spiritual life.

 

Peggy Kraft, Senior Warden

 

CAN YOU DIG THE GROOVY, PSYCHADELIC ELECTRONIC CHRIST CHURCH COURIER?

 

Now that email is fairy common and widespread, we are able to send the monthly “Courier” to your email address instead of your postal address. All you need to do is return the form below to the parish office or phone (or email) the same information to Michele, parish secretary. Carol Lundergan and Michael Wood, computer geniuses, will be doing all the technical work. The advantages of doing are as follows:

 

  1. It will save paper, ink, postage, and photocopy expenses.
  2. It will save hours of staff time, folding and collating
  3. If you do not live in the “12601” zip code, you will receive your “Courier” well before the post office could deliver it.
  4. If you want a “hard copy” you can print it out at home.
  5. You can forward it electronically to your friends.

 

ELECTRONIC COURIER REGISTRATION FORM

 

____ Yes, Carol and Michael, please send me my monthly “Courier” to my email account below:

 

            E mail address:_______________________________________________________

 

            Your name:_____________________________________________________

 

DEACON’S BENCH

 

“Everyone can be great, because anyone can serve.”      The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

There are many “great” a people at Christ Church. Many, many people who serve God in their community, bringing joy, relief, compassion, tools for change and caring support to a wide variety of world outside our doors. Some of the great people work through the Community Ministry Episkopos, others of these great people are supported in their work by our supporting Prison Ministry or Habitat for Humanity, or volunteering at the Homeless Shelter or sending money to Doctors with Borders for medicines, CME stays involved and attentive to the needs of others. And the Community Ministry Episkopos could use your helping hands in the many places we offer service. We have other “great” people who see to have a chance to search and learn, to say nothing of the fun times we have at parish outings, suppers, special services and let us not forget reunions. These events, these programs, this fun that draws us together in community, these are all planned and executed through the Parish Life Episkopos. And the Parish Life Episkopos could use your helping hands in the many places we offer service.

 

Then there are the unsung heroes of the Property Episkopos! They see to the snow, the grass, the leaves. These folks deal with the trauma of a neighborhood teen falling through one of our skylights, with touchy furnaces and even touchier air conditioning. They haggle over fuel prices, roof repairs, to say nothing of one hundred year old electrical and plumbing systems. You could say those on property get all the work and none of the glory. The truth is, if our physical plant fails us, we in Community Ministry and Parish Life have no place to plan for these great gatherings I’ve listed. And the Property Episkopos could use your helping hands in the many places we offer service.

 

If you would like to offer your hands in service see either: Community Ministry, Alice Bunnell or Deacon Mary Gregorius; Parish Life Jennifer Hammond-King or James Monteith; or Property, Louise Im.

 

 “Everyone can be great, because anyone can serve.”      The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

NEWS FROM ECVC

 

The Episcopal Church at Vassar College is alive and well. A strong group of 8-12 students meet weekly for Eucharist, Bible Study, refreshments, and time together with the Rev. Suzanne Guthrie, our Vassar Episcopal Chaplain. Suzanne works with Vassar’s Office of Religious Life and the Board of Campus Ministry of the Diocese of New York. Students plan and carry out events on campus each semester and attend retreats and travel to programs and services near Vassar. Unfortunately as of this writing, Suzanne has resigned to become full-time Episcopal Chaplain at Cornell—her dream job. We are faced with the job of finding her replacement. Anyone want to help?

 

Students who are in the 2003 graduation class include two who have been very active in ECVC. Melissa Langdell has attended Christ Church very often. She has been active as co-chair of Amnesty International, and active in A Capella, Vassar Greens, etc. A Political Science major, Melissa recently was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and will work in our National Church’s Intern program in Los Angeles next year.

 

Julie Tozer has not attended Christ Church but has been a faithful and resolute member of our volunteers at the Homeless Shelter. She has been very active in ECVC, a member of Vassar Activists, Animal Rescue, and other student organizations. An Art History major with correlate in French.

 

Other Episcopal students who are departing are seniors Carolyn Chabot, Heather Cohn, Katherine Maas, and Peter Snodgrass. Bowie Snodgrass, an active ECVC member a few years ago, will be graduated from Union Seminary in New York City this spring.

 

Evie Fortna

 

 

 

PLANT, BAKE, BOUTIQUE SALE A SUCCESS!!!!

 

A huge thank you to all who donated plants, baked goodies, and found boutiques items to give to our sale. Some of you did all three! Those is you who pitched in, especially the Climb the Beanstalk Board members, Made it all work well. This particular Community Ministry fund raiser was greatly assisted also by absolutely perfect weather and the high spirits generated by our church reunion. We raised a bit over $900.00 which is nearly triple of last year. This means that Climb the Beanstalk is fully supported until it closes with the traditional party for our children’s families at Clinton School which was held on May 21st. It also gives the Summer Camp a nice field trip or whatever staff decides. Sandy and George Goloway and Alice Bunnell are grateful for all those generous customers who bought things and said keep the change. May your plants thrive.

 

ACOLYTES

 

MAY SCHEDULE

 

June 1             Nick Currie, Steven Battaglia, Alice Friedle

June 8             Michael Shepherd, Derek Easton, Jennifer Coons

June15            Chris Morgan, Robin Angstrom, William Herrero

June 22           Gracie Phillips, Tiffany Shepherd, Steven Battaglia

June 29           Derek Easton, Michael Shepherd, Alice Friedle

 

PARENTS: It is a bit awkward to have a procession and conduct a service with fewer than three acolytes. You help to get substitutes when your child is scheduled, and to get them to church early when scheduled is appreciated.

                                                                                                                        Michael

 

PLEASE POST ON YOUR REFRIGERATOR

 

 

 

It takes a Community to raise a Child

Reflections on the Second Year of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at Christ Church

 

“Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He knows his sheep and he loves them.” This is the refrain of a simple hymn that we love to sing each Sunday in our Atrium. For the past two years, the youngest members of our congregation, their parents, and teachers Cynthia Lee and Jennifer Hammond-King, have been gathering each Sunday morning on the second floor of the Parish House. In the Atrium, we sing and play, work and learn together about Jesus’ life and his teaching. We explore the essential elements of our life together as Christians, including the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ, the parables, the sacrament of Baptism, and components of the Episcopal liturgy. All of our teaching is done through demonstration, modeling, and the use of materials that the children can hold, explore, and work with.

 

At our Parish Reunion Weekend, we hosted an open in the Atrium, which gave many parishioners and visitors a chance to view our program for the first time. We have recently reorganized our space to reflect the liturgical seasons of the church year. There is an area which contains our models of the Good Shepherd and his sheep. There is a section for learning about the geography of the Land of Israel and the location of important cities in the story of Jesus’ life. Our Advent/Christmas area contains beautiful diorama boxes which allow children to act out the story of the Annunciation and the birth of Jesus. Our beautiful prayer corner reflects the current liturgical color and celebrates the gift of light (with candles) and the gift of word (with our Bible and prayer cards). There is a “practical life” area, where children practice pouring, preparing the chalice, arranging flowers, and polishing brass and silver. In the corner dedicated to Lent and Easter, we have models of the Cenacle (Upper Room) and the Walls of Jerusalem, as well as beautiful artwork depicting the resurrection. There is a small altar with accompanying articles of the mass (chalice, paten, candles, etc.) so that children may become familiar with these objects and their uses. Finally, we celebrate special sacrament of Baptism with our own small font, where children may practice “baptizing” their baby dolls and enjoy the lighting of the Pascal candle.

 

There are so many people to thank for their help in our journey toward development of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program. Sister Lucy Sabatini had been our teacher and spiritual guide as we have taken the training (a 90 hour course) to become Catechists. Gather Michael Phillips and the members of the Vestry and Parish Life Episkopos have been enthusiastic supporters. Marge and Jim Bliss were our patron saints in getting the upstairs of the Parish House ready for all the Sunday School classes. Marge has also been a tireless supporter of the program and has helped us find financial resources to purchase materials and pursue training. We have had the talents of numerous woodworkers and craftsmen in our congregation who have created beautiful materials for the children to work with. Other parishioners whose talents were in artwork and sewing have also created beautiful pieces to further enhance our classroom. Our thanks also go to the parents of all the children who have participated in our program this year. Parental support and encouragement has helped us lay the foundation for spiritual development. For our youngest three year-old members, it has been very helpful to have parents stay with the group and share the learning experience with their child.

 

As we look forward to another year with the Good Shepherd, we are already making plans to improve and enhance the program. Thanks to the terrific fundraising efforts of the Parish Life Episkopos (thank you James Monteith, Jackie Vierno, and Marge Bliss), we now have money available for another person to take the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd Level I Training. We are in the process of recruiting a church member who would be interested in taking the training and joining our teaching team. We are also planning to upgrade some of our classroom furniture to provide better storage and access for our materials. As the children in our current group grow older, we hope to be able to create more materials that can be used with the second level of the program (for children ages 7-11). Most importantly, we are looking to have more children join us each Sunday morning. If you know a family who is searching for a church/spiritual home, please make sure that you let them know about our Sunday School programs.

 

Wonderful things are happening for children and adults at Christ Church! Our “village” is embracing the work of raising our children to a life in Christ. Thank you everyone!

 

                                                                        Jennifer Hammond-King & Cynthia Lee, Sunday School

 

SUPPORT FOR OUR SUMMER PROGRAM

 

Dear Friends:

 

Summer is just around the corner, and once again it’s time to get ready to have children filling our wonderful space. As you know, starting in July our day camp will begin six weeks of fun and learning—crafts, games, stories, meals, field trips and more—to some fifty-five neighborhood children. You have given generously in the past, in such a variety of ways to the Summer Camp Program, along with others of the parish you have supported in fund raising efforts, worked at plant sales and auctions, flipped burgers and turned hot dogs at the big barbecue. The Camp committee and the fifty-five children appreciate all your contributions and want to give you the opportunity to support this years program as well. Contributions of any size are welcome! Please, make your donation check payable to Christ Church, but don’t forget to write Summer Camp on the memo line. We will again be presented with the unique opportunity of supplying and/or making lunches for our campers during the first week (June 30 to July 3) and the last week (August 5 to August 8) of camp. I say opportunity, because there are only a few ways that most of us can have hands on involvement with the campers. If you are interested in taking advantage of the opportunity, please see me to sign up. We welcome you as an important part of this years exciting program. Thank you again for supporting this vital outreach ministry in our community.

 

                                                                                                            Yours in Christ, Deacon Mary   

 

ARE YOU READY FOR EFT?

 

Several Christ Church parishioners are—and they’re saving themselves time and money and saving the time of our volunteers and our bookkeeper. EFT is electronic fund transfer. You are probably already involved in EFT some way another if you have automatic deposit to your checking account for your paycheck, or if you pay your utilities through automatic deduction.

 

Paying your pledge by EFT has several advantages for you:

  • You don’t need to remember to write out a check each week, insert it in your pledge envelope and bring it to church.
  • You save the cost of checks.
  • Your contribution is reflected on your monthly bank statement.

 

The Parish benefits from EFT in several ways.

  • The Sunday counters would not have to open your pledge envelope;
  • They would not have to record your contribution;
  • they would not have to photocopy your check;
  • they would not have to take it to the bank.
  • We would avoid the cost of the envelopes.
  • Our bookkeeper would not have to go over the records of the counters to credit your pledge as paid, as the Diocese sends information about your contribution directly to us.
  • The Diocese administers EFT for parishes and electronically transfer it to the Parish checking account.
  • The Parish treasury would have a more stable and predictable cash flow since EFT contributions are automatically.

 

If you are interested, contact me in person or by phone at 691-8062 or e-mail at leel@newpaltz.edu. You can choose to have your pledges paid twice a month or once a month. And, of course, you can cancel your participation at any time.

 

                                                                                                                                    Loyd Lee, Christ Church Treasurer

 

FROM THE BATON OF LAURA RUSSEL, MUSIC DIRECTOR

 

Sunday June 15th will be the Choir’s last official Sunday before the summer recess. It has been a busy, exciting year for us all! Several new members have joined our ranks, and we have sung lots of beautiful music to the glory of God. Many thanks to all the choir members for their devotion, hard work, and enthusiasm.

 

Choir members to participate in summer BachFest

During the summer Iw ill once again be the choral conductor for the annual Hudson Valley BachFest. This year singers from all over the area, including many from our choir will be performing Bach’s Magnificat.

Festival dates:

Friday, August 8th at 7:30pm at the 1st Presbyterian Church in Cornwall, NY

Bach Keyboard Marathon- works for piano, organ, and harpsichord

 

Saturday, August 9th at 3:30pm at Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, NY

Choral and instrumental works, including Cantata #4 Christ Lag in Todesbanden, and the BachFest Children’s Choir.

 

Saturday August 9th at 7:30pm at Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, NY

Bach’s Magnificat sung by the BachFest Choir

 

Sunday August 10th at 3:30pm at the 1st Presbyterian Church in Cornwall, NY

Instrumental works, including one of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti

 

For more information, email Laura Russell at Lrussell@netstep.net or got to the BachFest website: www.hudsonvalleysocietyformusic.org and click on “BackFest”.

 

DIRECTORY/E-MAIL UPDTAES

 

New Address: Elizabeth Frost                                  Ella Schoonmaker

                       c/o Lutheran Care Center                  135 Kingwood Park

                       975 Dutchess Turnpike                     Pough., NY 12601

                       Pough., NY 12603

 

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