Keeping Connected October 3, 2025 | | |
Connect Virtually
We will continue using our live streaming equipment. You may access our Sunday morning worship service via our YouTube Channel.
| | The Niagara River, June 2025. Photo taken by Melissa Howell. | | |
Dear Ones of Christ Church,
Today is the last installment in a season of creation series in which I am reflecting on, learning from, and giving thanks for some of the fellow creatures who inhabit my neighborhood. This week I am giving thanks for rivers and their living waters. Alex and I live a few blocks from the watershed of the Acushnet river, where its fresh waters mix with the salty waters of Buzzards Bay. I love to walk down to the shore at different times of day to see where the tides are and observe the wildlife. Depending on the season, there are cormorants, ducks, egrets, osprey, geese, jumping fish, dragonflies, and the occasional rare visitors: belted kingfisher, bald eagle, river otter.
The watershed of the Acushnet tends to be a gentle threshold place of emptying and filling, but back in June Alex and I visited Niagara falls, and that was a very different river experience! We were astounded by the power of the Niagara river’s rapids, the falls, and the ways water and millions of years have carved and shaped the Niagara Escarpment.
We might not think of a river as a living being, as a creature, but many cultures, spiritual traditions, artists, poets, ecologists and activists have long considered rivers living beings. Verse 9 of Psalm 65 addresses God and says: “You visit the earth and water it abundantly; you make it very plenteous; the river of God is full of water.”
“The river of God is full of water.” This line of poetry and others like it in the psalms always pull me up short. “The river of God.” The rivers belong to God. The rivers are part of God’s creation. The rivers are God’s creatures. What does this psalm verse bring up for you?
A few weeks ago in my reflection about wrens I mentioned one of my favorite writers, Robert Macfarlane. He writes about nature, and the relationships of humans with nature. His book Is a River Alive? is described as “a joyful, mind-expanding exploration of an ancient, urgent idea: that rivers are living beings who should be recognized as such in imagination and law.” You can read an excerpt here. Macfarlane’s work and the work of other writers, artists, activists, scientists, and lawyers have meant that rivers around the world have been given legal rights. As beings. As creatures. As God’s beloved.
As this season of creation comes to a close, may we who are baptized into the wild waters of the river of God, to be united with Jesus and to be transformed by Christ’s living water to become more like him: May we be grounded in and empowered by Jesus’s call to love God and neighbor. May we be attentive advocates for and witnesses to the belovedness and care of all of our neighbors— humans, animals, plants, rivers, lands. And may we have the courage to be changed by our relationships with God, with one another, and with all of our neighbors.
Yours in Christ,
Melissa+
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Finances
Last week we received in over $3930. When giving online, be sure to change the 'Fund' to 'Pledges' so your contribution goes toward your pledge.
Thank you for your loving support of Christ Church.
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Register for Church School and Youth Group
Greetings, Church School and Youth Group families! If you have not had a chance to fill out a 2025-2026 registration form, please do so by clicking on the following link and filling out the Google form:
Click here to register for church school and/or youth group
If you need assistance completing the registration form, or would prefer to register over the phone or on a paper form, please contact David Tyler in the church office at 508-746-4959, Monday through Friday from 9:30a to 3p, or speak to your child's teacher in-person on Sunday.
| | Adult Sunday School resumes September 28th! Sundays, 9a to 9:45a, in Rev. Melissa's office | | |
Beginning Sunday 9/28, gather in Rev. Melissa's office for a time of wondering, discussion, listening, fellowship, prayer, and sharing about the Scripture readings we will hear in worship, the seasons of our liturgical year and life, and our relationships with God and one another. No sign up or registration is necessary. Come as you are. Come for one week or every week. Feel free to grab some coffee from the parish hall beforehand (or bring your own!).
For questions or more information, please contact Rev. Melissa.
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From September 6th through October 5th, we at Christ Church will join with parishes around our diocese and with Christians around the world to celebrate the Season of Creation, a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through prayer, worship, conversion, and commitment together.
Engage and pray with materials about the 2025 theme, "Peace with Creation," at this link, and with the Episcopal Church's Season of Creation resources at this link.
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Our worship and formation this season will be Creation-themed. We invite you to take note of these special services (stay tuned for more information as the dates approach):
Saturday, October 4th at 5p and Sunday, October 5th at 10a: Join us as we celebrate the Feast of St. Francis and Blessing of the Animals. Your leashed and crated critters are welcome at both services. (the 8am Sunday service will be humans-only)
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If you are seeking ways to participate in creation care locally, you can connect with:
Sustainable Plymouth - a group of eco-conscious local volunteers focusing on environmental sustainability
Our Diocesan Creation Care page - links and resources for parishes and individuals
If you are interested in creation care ministry at Christ Church, please contact Connie Melahoures.
| | Parishioner and Vestry member David Greene is looking for someone to help him with his work with the Salvation Army picking up, boxing, and moving food. Ability to lift 25+ lbs. and availability twice a month on Tuesdays for 3 hours are required. The volunteer would meet Dave at the Salvation Army at 10:30 AM and be done by 2 PM. Email Dave at: the4greenes@yahoo.com or phone him at 781-294-8486 with any questions or to volunteer. Thank you. | | |
From our (newly-forming!) social justice ministry
"...for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." - Jesus, Matthew 25:35-36
A Christ Church social justice ministry has been taking shape these last months and wishes to make the parish community aware of an opportunity to act in support of immigrants in Massachusetts:
In our Baptismal Covenant, we promise that with God's help, we will "respect the dignity of every human being." The ACLU of Massachusetts and other coalition partners are organizing to support the Dignity Not Deportations Act (H.1588/S.1122). The Dignity Not Deportations Act would prohibit immigration Massachusetts entities from donating time and resources to ICE by signing contracts that deputize local officials as ICE agents. It also prohibits Massachusetts entities, including sheriffs, from voluntarily renting beds to ICE. If you are interested in filling out a postcard in support of the Act, there will be cards available on the hallway table downstairs near the parish office. All you need to do is add the name of your State Rep on one card and your State Senator on the other and include your name, address and email and leave it in the box on the table. ACLU plans to deliver these cards to our Legislators.
If you have questions or would like to learn more about our social justice ministry, please contact Anne McManus or Connie Melahoures.
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Prayer Chain
Our prayer chain consists of devoted parishioners who, in confidence, pray daily for the needs of our parish family. Our mission is to life up to God the prayers of people in need, in joy, or in thanksgiving.
All prayer requests are said for a period of 2 weeks, and all requests are kept in strict confidence. If you would like a prayer said for yourself, a member of your family or friends, please reach out to Robyn Lench Whittles 781-291-9459 or email to betty02364@gmail.com
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Bedtime Chapel Podcast
Nightly Family Prayer & Weekly Bible Study
Deuteronomy 11:18,19
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Bedtime Chapel helps families draw nearer to Jesus by gathering for nightly prayer and deepening their understanding of the Gospel. The podcast includes:
- A 5-Min nightly prayer service
- Weekly companion episodes that explore the themes of the gospel readings of the upcoming week for family members with longer attention spans
Pray with Us Apple, Spotify, Amazon and most other Podcast Servers
| | Christ Church Thrift Shoppe | |
If the autumn crispness in the air has you thinking about something new for fall, why not stop by the Thrift Shoppe to take advantage of this week’s specials:
Ladies Boutique items, pants, and jeans are all “buy one, get the second half-off.” If you are more in the mood for a new read, our selection of books has expanded, and are also priced at “buy one, get the second half-off.” And our glassware sale continues — for each piece purchased, get a second free!
Thrift Shoppe Hours
Thursday and Friday 10-4
Saturday 10-1
| | Christ Church Food Pantry | | |
As we prepare for our annual Thanksgiving project to distribute food and gift cards to 100 families, we ask you consider donating:
Gravy, cranberry sauce, crackers, shelf-stable milk, instant mashed potatoes with "USE BY DATE OF 12/1/2025" or later.
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All are welcome to the Christ Church Food Pantry!
We are open by appointment:
Thursday 12:00-1:15 and 4:00-5:15
Saturday 10:00-11:15
Call the pantry message line: 508-746-4959, ext 6, BY 1 PM THE DAY BEFORE YOU WISH TO PICK UP YOUR ORDER. Our volunteers check messages and return your call from their homes to ask you what you need.
Leave a message if you wish to donate non-perishable food and household items, or you may leave your donations under the mailboxes outside the office or in the front entrance to the sanctuary. Squirrels like to get into any bags left on the porch of the food pantry!
If you wish to volunteer, contact Eileen Paris at eileenpca@aol.com
For more information, please contact Barbara Wojtklewicz at 617-291-4634, or by email at barbara.wojtklewicz@gmail.com
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Pastoral Care
For any pastoral care needs of Christ Church, please call Robin Nielsen (774-454-2776) or email robinmarianielsen@gmail.com ~ A home visit, a home visit with holy communion or a phone call can be arranged. Although a small group, our Pastoral Care Ministry team meets monthly in confidence.
For any pastoral emergencies, please call Rev. Melissa Howell 508-746-4959 ext 4, and follow the instructions in her voice message.
| | We want to keep you in the loop regarding the happenings at Christ Church. Please send your announcements for the weekly bulletin and Keeping Connected, to the office by 12 Noon on Wednesday. They should include date, time, place, description of event, contact information and should be written exactly the way you want them to appear. | | | | |
