If the print is too small on your page, hold down the CTRL key while pushing the "+" key. Each time you push the "+" key, the font size will increase. To make it smaller use the CTRL key with the "-" sign. When you scroll down one line, this message will disappear


 Page updated March 13, 2010

Christ Church on Capitol Hill

Christ Church is on a pilgrimage to become a welcoming, diverse, thankful, and joyous Episcopal community of faith
committed to nurturing its members and neighbors through worship and service. Please join us.

620 G Street SE | Washington, DC  20003 | fax 202.547.5098 | 202.547.9300
just 2.5 blocks south of Eastern Market Metro

Search CommitteeVestryPrayer ListHistoryLinks
EducationStaffScheduleParish LifeOutreach
PublicationsStewardshipNewslettersLiturgySermons

 

The St. Patrick's Day Dinner and Auction
is on Saturday, March 20th.

Dinner: 7:00pm
Silent Auction Bidding opens 5:30pm
Adults: $25.00
Children (8 – 12): $10.00
Children under 8: free
[Child Care provided]

Mark your calendars, invite your friends, and volunteer to donate auction items or help with set-up and clean-up. Sign- up sheets and donation forms are on the bulletin board near the Church Office.

Thank You to everyone who has already donated an item or service. We have some truly wonderful things you won't want to miss bidding on. If you would still like to donate an item or service, please go to the donation form by clicking here to let us know about it by Monday, March 15 at 5pm in order to insure it is included in this year's catalog. That is a short extension.

Click here for the daily office calendar

Search Committee Update click here

The Parish Profile is online and ready for viewing

Click here to find us on the map

Click here for the weekly schedule and announcements

Sign up for Sunday ministries

2009 Ministries Handbook Now Online - Click Here

Click here for the latest update from the Search Committee

The new monthly calendar is here

Holy Week Schedule

March 28: Palm/Passion Sunday Procession from Eastern Market at 9:45 am; One Service at 10 am.

March 29-April 1 Mon- Thur 7:30 am Holy Eucharist (with healing prayers on Wednesday)

April 1: Maundy Thursday Eucharist/Supper 6:30 pm.

April 2: Good Friday Services at 7:30 am, 12:00 noon, 7:30 pm.

April 3: Holy Saturday Ecumenical Easter Vigil at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, 421 Seward Square SE 8:00 pm.

April 4: Easter Sunday Holy Eucharist at 8:15 am and 11:00 am.
Please contact a clergy member if you would like to schedule confession during Holy Week.

Recent Sermons

Bill's Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent 2010 ─ Click here

Martha's Sermon for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany, 2010 ─ Click here

Bill's Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany, 2010 ─ Click here

Bill's Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, 2010 ─ Click here

Bill's Sermon for the Feast of the Presentation 2010 ─ Click here

Martha's Sermon from January 17, 2010 Marriage Feast of Cana and Dr Martin Luther King
"not my time . . . not my place"  ─ Click here

Christ Church is on a pilgrimage to become a welcoming, diverse, thankful, and joyous Episcopal community of faith committed to nurturing its members and neighbors through worship and service. Please join us.


Watercolor courtesy M'el Abrecht
Click here for a panoramic view of the interior of Christ Church

Christ Church + Washington Parish
is part of Region 1 of
 The Episcopal Diocese of Washington (click here)
and The 2010 Diocesan Convention (click here)
The diocesan newspaper 'Windows' for Jan/Feb 2010 can be read (click here)
 Read the Diocesan Blog by clicking below

 
Staff

click on any of the names below to send an e-mail
 It will not generate a web based email like gmail or hotmail

The  Reverend Martha E. Wallace, Interim Rector
 The Reverend Doctor Bill Doggett, Associate Rector
 Richard Thibadeau, Director of Music Ministries
Charlotte Cantrell Doran, Coordinator for Sunday School and Nursery Programs
Gerry Connolly, WebMaster

Elizabeth Eby and Vera Phillips, Nursery Workers
 The Kevin Lindsay Family, Sextons

Christ Church Vestry Information

The Final Version of the Vestry's five year strategic plan for Christ Church is now available.  The plan's purpose is to provide a vision for what we hope Christ Church will be and become by the end of 2012 - and to set out a road map for realizing that vision.   The plan is available in two formats: MSWord or Adobe pdf.

 Click here for 2008 Vestry minutes
 Click here for 2009 Vestry minutes
  Click here for the "Norms of Vestry Membership"
Vestry liaison  assignments to activities and committees
Click here for Vestry responsibility for Parish events.

The St. Patrick's Day Dinner and Auction is coming up on Saturday, March 20th. Mark your calendars, invite your friends, and volunteer to donate auction items or help with set-up and clean-up. Sign- up sheets and donation forms are on the bulletin board near the Church Office. Dinner: 7:00pm Silent Auction Bidding opens 5:30pm Adults: $25.00 Children (8 – 12): $10.00 Children under 8: free
[Child Care provided]

The Monday Night Class meets at 7 pm in the Sanctuary for a discussion of theology and faith. This week, Associate Rector Bill Doggett will discuss the origins, theology and construction of the Eucharistic Prayer. On March 22, Interim Rector Martha Wallace will lead an instructed Eucharist based on the work of the group. All are welcome.

Holy Week Schedule:
March 28: Palm/Passion Sunday Procession from Eastern Market at 9:45 am; One Service at 10 am.
March 29-April 1 M- Th 7:30 am Holy Eucharist (with healing prayers on Wednesday)
April 1: Maundy Thursday Eucharist/Supper 6:30 pm.
April 2: Good Friday Services at 7:30 am, 12:00 noon, 7:30 pm.
April 3: Holy Saturday Ecumenical Easter Vigil at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, 421 Seward Square SE 8:00 pm.
April 4: Easter Sunday Holy Eucharist at 8:15 am and 11:00 am.
 Please contact a clergy member if you would like to schedule confession during Holy Week.

The Great Vigil of Easter is the primary day for baptisms. If you are considering baptism for yourself or a child, please talk to Martha or Bill about celebrating the baptism at this glorious service, observed this year on Saturday, April 3.

Search Committee News: The Search Committee has completed interviews with all of the candidates, and has made its recommendation of three finalists to the Vestry. Please keep the Vestry in your prayers as they interview the finalists, deliberate, and make a decision about who to call as our next Rector.
 

The Christ Church Men's Spirituality Group meets every Saturday morning at 9:00 am in the Christ Church kitchen. Calling all men: come and meet around the kitchen table for fellowship, coffee (or beverage of choice), and light breakfast. A great way to start the day and share your experience,

Second Annual Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Service and Film Series:  The Capitol Hill Faith Forum will hold an Interfaith Holocaust Remembrance Service on Sunday, April 11, 2010, at 4 PM at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. The theme is "The Choice of Courage" in honor of those who rescued victims of the Nazi Holocaust. A free four-part Lenten Film Series will feature four full-length films that depict courage in the face of genocidal violence. All are invited to attend and participate in the interfaith service and the film series.


March 7 - The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (PG-13)
at Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church
March 14 - The Nasty Girl (Das Schreckliche Mädchen) (PG-13)
at St. Marks Episcopal Church
March 21  The Last King of Scotland (R)
at Capitol Hill United Methodist Church
March 28 - Weapons of the Spirit (NR)
at Lutheran Church of the Reformation.
Al films begin at 6:30 pm and discussion will follow each screening.

 Birthdays--We give thanks for the following people who celebrate their birthdays in March: Sis Allen, Renato Beghè, Robbie Curry, Shelby Denton, Farleigh Earhart, Jonas Howard, Lucas Johnson, Allison Miedema, Virgil Miedema, Bill Niskanen, Adam Román, Jean Turkiewicz, Kate Werwie, and Carol Yekovich We may not have your birthday on file. Please let the office know.

MONEY MATTERS
$1,600 is the cost per day to operate Christ Church.
Dollars & Cents (Plate & Pledge Offerings YTD):
Budgeted YTD: $49,038 Received YTD: $55,156 Received 3/7: $6,278
Heritage Fund Update
Pledges & Gifts to date $154,050
Received to date $102,774
Net Heritage Weekend $ 16,359
Total Fund $170,409
Goal $200,000
Balance to go $ 29,591
Quilting every Monday night at 7:30 pm in the Nursery.   All are welcome.  Contact Linda Mellgren or Andrea Harles through the Church office.

Capitol Hill Village offers discounted memberships to those with incomes less than $40,000 a year.

Capitol Hill Group Ministry's Social Service Office has been consolidated with the Potomac Garden Office. Their address is 1227 G Street SE and their new phone is 202.548.0548

Lunches for the Homeless: Volunteers are needed to purchase the lunch supplies for the first Sunday of the month.  Click here for more information.  Lunches usually contain a meat and cheese sandwich, chips, fruit, soda and cookies. The cost for 100 lunches is about $130. Reimbursement for up to $100 is available from Christ Church, or you can take a charitable deduction for the entire amount. If you have any questions, please contact Linda Mellgren or John Payne.

"Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org"
 The Gospel for the
Fourth Sunday in Lent

Fourth Sunday in Lent

Year C
RCL

Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

So Jesus told them this parable:

"There was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.

"Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.' Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!' Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

 

FLYING INTO YESTERDAY

Perhaps it's getting to the airport that makes travel tiring. Certainly sitting on a plane while someone else flies it isn't taxing -- at least, it shouldn't be. But flying halfway across the country wears me out. And so does flying for an hour or less. No reason for it, but there it is.

I am wondering it it is the unnaturalness of such speedy traversing of the earth's surface that does this. Maybe we're just not supposed to move so fast. Travel somewhere by sea, and the time zones yield to one another gradually -- you don't arrive somewhere at an earlier hour than the one at which you left home. But you can travel far and fast enough enough from certain places to certain other places to arrive at your destination the day before you set out for it. Maybe that's just not meant to be.

Or maybe it is. I believe that time is an earthly thing. God doesn't have it -- or, rather, God holds time, but is not held by it, as we are. For us, its grip is iron. None of us escape its passing, and the passing of time feels sad to us more often than it feels glad. We mark the passing time time by the things it has taken from us: "Oh, that must have been before my mother died," we say, and we accumulate a wistful string of such markers, more and more of them as life goes on.

It is not so with God. All moments are now in the kingdom of heaven, where all are in Christ and Christ is all in all. All, as in everything: everyone, every time, every place. Everything. You and me: all we are and ever were and ever shall be.

It always surprises me that more people don't grasp what good news this is for us. It's more than an interesting mathematical puzzle: it's eternal life. We're not trapped here, bleakly and endlessly counting our mounting losses. We -- and they-- are folded into God's now, and this is true right now. That moment you wish you could have again still exists. And so does the one you haven't had yet, the hidden one for which you wait. So do all our yesterdays, and all our tomorrows.

Our current experience is otherwise, of course, except in the odd dream, the mystical moment, the times we spend in "the zone," when we look at the clock in disbelief at how quickly an hour has passed. Mostly what we feel is our bondage to time, not our freedom from it.

But it is the freedom that will last. Not our captivity.
 

Copyright © 2010 Barbara Crafton

The Almost-Daily eMo from the Geranium Farm Copyright © 2001-2010 Barbara Crafton - all rights reserved
If you would like to receive e-mail communications from Christ Church + Washington Parish mailing list, please enter your email address below. We look forward to keeping you informed of the activities and interests most important to you. You may change your subscription or unsubscribe at any time by following the link found at the bottom of every e-mail communication.

Please enter your email address below to sign up for our mailing list.
Your Email Address:

                                        

 

 

Christ Church Prayer List (click here)

Click here to go to the
Prayer List

 Click here to send an email to request your intercessions be added to or deleted from the Prayer List.   The auto generation only works if you are using a program like Outlook, Windows Live Mail, or Windows Mail If you are using a web based email like gmail or hotmail you need to add the following to your address line CCWPoffice@gmail.com and add this to your subject line "Prayer List: Addition or Deletion." 

Prayer requests will be deleted after 4 weeks unless a request is made to continue on the list longer.

A prayer of Thomas Merton - My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.   I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know my self, and the fact that I think I am following you does not mean that I am actually doing so.   I believe the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing.  I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.  And I know that if I do this, you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. " Amen
Thoughts in Solitude, New York: Farrar, Straus & Cudahy, 1958, p. 83

 

ye olde web guy, Gerry Connolly,
click here to send him an email

Page updated March 13, 2010