Keeping Connected July 26, 2024

Bulletins


Saturday

July 27, 2024


5:00 PM - Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Women’s

Ordination to the Priesthood

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Sunday

July 28, 2024



9:00 AM - Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of Women’s

Ordination to the Priesthood

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

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Connect Virtually


We will continue using our new live streaming equipment. You may access our Sunday morning worship service via our YouTube Channel and our Facebook page.

Web        Facebook        YouTube

Summer Sunday Worship Schedule Changes 

Starting June 23, Christ Church will transition to our summer worship schedule. We warmly invite you to join us for our Saturday service of Holy Eucharist at 5pm or Sunday service of Holy Eucharist at 9am.


Following the Sunday 9am service, we will be gathering for a delightful tradition: Lemonade on the Lawn. This is more than just refreshments; it's an opportunity to mingle, connect, and bask in the sunshine together. We'd love to see you there!


Summer Office Hours

In July and August, our church office will be closed on Fridays. We will resume our normal Monday through Friday office schedule in September.


Rev. Melissa: On Retreat for Summer Thursdays

Episcopal priests have an agreed-upon amount of annual retreat and continuing education days (in addition to vacation days) in their covenants with their congregations. Rev. Melissa has elected to take seven of her 19 retreat and continuing ed days on Thursdays this summer, starting July 11th and ending August 22nd, to focus on spacious time for prayer, reading, and planning for adult formation in our coming program year. She will update her out of office email auto-response and will post a sign near her study door about her summer hours. 

Rector's Reflection

Dear Ones of Christ Church,

 

This weekend in our worship services we will commemorate the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. I invite you to scroll down in this newsletter to read more from our diocese about this anniversary and the history behind it. Our gospel reading for the occasion will be Luke’s telling of the women at the tomb, the first witnesses of the Resurrection (Luke 24:1-11). The poem below from Jan Richardson imagines and honors the unnamed women of the manger, the “wise women” who must have come to be present with Mary at the birth of Jesus. I was ordained priest on the Feast of the Epiphany in 2021, and so this poem’s Epiphany theme holds a special place for me as we prepare to commemorate the ordination of the Philadelphia Eleven. I look forward to remembering, worshiping, and celebrating together, as we honor God’s continuing call to us to seek and serve Christ in one another more fully.

 

With peace,

Melissa+

 

 

Wise Women Also Came, by Jan Richardson

 

Wise women also came.

The fire burned in their wombs long before

they saw

the flaming star in the sky.

 

They walked in shadows, trusting the path

would open under the light of the moon.

 

Wise women also came,

seeking no directions,

no permission from any king.

 

They came by their own authority,

their own desire,

their own longing.

 

They came in quiet, spreading no rumors,

sparking no fears to lead to innocents’ slaughter,

to their sister Rachel’s inconsolable lamentations.

 

Wise women also came,

and they brought useful gifts:

water for labor’s washing,

fire for warm illumination,

a blanket for swaddling.

 

Wise women also came,

at least three of them,

holding Mary in the labor,

crying out with her in the birth pangs,

breathing ancient blessings into her ear.

 

Wise women also came,

and they went,

as wise women always do,

home a different way.

 

Source: Jan Richardson, Night Visions: Searching the Shadows of Advent and Christmas, Wanton Gospeller Press, 2010.

Finances



Last week we received in over $3109. 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.

Christ Church Online Giving


You can make donations, pay your pledge, donate to the food pantry etc. easily by using our online giving tools.

Go to christchurchplymouth.org and click on the Donate button or go to onrealm.org/ChristEpiscopalChurch/Give.


You can also text CCP to 73256


When you get to the page, enter how much you would like to give what fund (Flowers, food Pantry, general Offering, Pledge, etc). You can even choose if you want this to be a one-time gift or multiple times – for example paying your pledge weekly or monthly. 

Click Continue and on the next page enter your information to use a credit card or a bank account.

Your giving statement from Christ Church will reflect all the amounts given.


Your continued giving to Christ Church even during the summer is important to support our ministries and our mission!


If you have questions talk with Donna Lawrence or Ray Rogers.

Bishops call congregations to mark 50th year of women's ordained ministry as priests in The Episcopal Church


In our worship at Christ Church on July 27th and 28th, we will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the ordination of women to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. Read more from our bishops below about this anniversary and commemoration, and scroll all the way to the bottom to find more resources for learning and prayer, including this link to purchase tickets to stream the documentary The Philadelphia Eleven.

June 26, 2024


Dear People of the Diocese of Massachusetts,


On July 29, 1974, at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, 11 women were ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests–the first women to be ordained priests in The Episcopal Church. This summer the church is giving thanks for the 50th anniversary of that historic event.


It may be difficult now for some to imagine our church without the blessing of women serving as priests. It was a singular moment of transformation in our life together in the Body of Christ.


The women, who became known as the “Philadelphia 11,” were the Reverends Merrill Bittner, Alla Bozarth-Campbell, Alison Cheek, Emily Hewitt, Carter Heyward, Suzanne Hiatt, Marie Moorefield, Jeannette Piccard, Betty Bone Schiess, Katrina Swanson and Nancy Wittig. They were as varied in background, style and gifts as any 11 people might be, but they shared a determination and faithfulness that gave them the courage to face into the challenges, roadblocks and hostility with which their call was greeted.


Several of the Philadelphia 11 had connections to our diocese. The crucifer that day was the parish’s senior warden, Barbara C. Harris–14 years later to be elected by our own diocese as the first woman bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion. 


The ordination took place on the Feast of Mary and Martha. This pointed, of course, to the fact that women had been among Jesus’ earliest and most devoted followers. At another level it highlighted the wholeness which had been missing from the church’s priesthood. Mary and Martha individually represent a difference of style and focus too often set up in binary opposition to one another. In fact, it is the completeness created by both together that is their collective gift. Just so, the ordination of women made us more whole. 


We call upon the congregations and worshiping communities of our diocese to commemorate the 50th anniversary of women’s ordination in The Episcopal Church on Sunday, July 28–or on any nearby Sunday that is best in your local context. Below you will find a new litany composed by Bishop Gallagher for this occasion, as well as other resources and suggestions for your individual and congregational observance. We commend them to you with gratitude and Gospel hope.


Faithfully, in Christ,


The Rt. Rev. Alan M. Gates, Bishop Diocesan

The Rt. Rev. Carol J.W.T. Gallagher, Assistant Bishop

A Litany for the 50th Anniversary of the Ordination of Women 

Additional resources for commemoration and learning

(also posted at www.diomass.org/liturgy-and-music-resources)


  • The documentary "The Philadelphia Eleven" by local filmmakers Margo Guernsey and Nikki Bramley, available for viewing on demand via Kinema, here, July 26-30.



  • June 2024 issue of the journal Anglican and Episcopal History, from the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church, focused on the Philadelphia 11 and women's ordination (details for ordering, digital or print, here).


  • Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music commemoration, with suggested prayers and lessons, available via the Diocese of Los Angeles in English and Spanish


  • Women’s Uncommon Prayers: Our Lives Revealed, Nurtured, Celebrated (Morehouse Publishing, 2000) available for order via Church Publishing, Inc., here, including in particular "Litany of Thanksgiving" by the Rev. Linda D. Anderson-Little (p. 342); "For Leaders" by Dr. Pamela P. Chinnis (p. 363); and "Priest's Song" by the Rev. Lyn G. Brakeman (p. 253). [Permission to reproduce pending.]

Evening Women's Group


Evening Women will be held on August 7 at Donna Lawrence‘s home 21 Pine Ridge Way, Carver. Please RSVP to 508-243-2293 or donnamL21@comcast.net. We will begin at five.

Plymouth Taskforce to End Homelessness Annual Golf Tournament


The Taskforce will be holding its annual golf tournament on Monday, August 26th a Southers Marsh beginning at 1 PM. Our goal is to raise $50,000. We are looking for new golfers and sponsors. Go to our website – http://Plymouth-taskforce-homeless.org to download the registration form. Christ Church is one of three churches to host the Overnights of Hospitality, a winter sheltering program for unhoused individuals.

Notes from the Vestry meeting of July 10, 2024

 

Please note that ALL vestry meeting minutes are posted on the bulletin board outside our parish office following their approval at the subsequent vestry meeting.

 

  • Vestry welcomed Ellen McTighe to fill the vacant position (to January 2025).
  • Rector’s report:
  • Accompanist/Organist Search: a job posting draft was reviewed and approved. 
  • Rev Melissa announced that Donna Eby will be stepping down from her duties as church school coordinator. Su D’Ambrosio will be taking over that role.
  • Rev Melissa and several parishioners attended the Plymouth Pride event on Sunday, June 30 at Nelson Park.  Our presence was well received and very much appreciated.
  • Vestry has identified two goals to focus on as we compile our spiritual strategic plan:  worship and spiritual development and development and formation. We discuss how our existing strategic plan might guide us in these endeavors. 
  • Senior Warden’s report:
  • Vestry was provided an outline for compilation of a brief bio. Drafts were requested by the end of August. These will be posted with pictures on the vestry bulletin board.
  • Junior Warden’s report:
  • A contractor has been scheduled to inspect the inside church walls to determine the extent of damage incurred over time. 
  • Installation of a filtered water system in the parish hall is under discussion.
  • Treasurer’s report: 
  • Pledges are about $17k above budget year to date, although slightly below budget in Jun. We have begun withdrawing additional funds from our endowment to accommodate our projected budgetary shortfall.
  • Kat LiBretto, in her new role as website coordinator, compiled comments and changes from her first website review. These will be forwarded to David in the office.
  • Thrift Shoppe: Outreach finds have been approved by the vestry as follows:
  • $3500 to the First Church of Kingston to support their fundraising for repairs from the recent vandalism to their church property.  (Note: Rev Melissa will add $1000 from her discretionary account as well.)
  • $2500 to Plymouth Pride: CCP support as a sponsor.
  • $1400 to Plymouth Recovery Center, Inc., a non-profit group that supports the recovery of substance abuse for individuals and families.
  • A preliminary schedule for hosting the homeless this winter was presented and discussed.
  • Food Pantry: With the great need in our community, and despite the generosity of our faithful contributors, our Food Pantry anticipates challenges in the near future. Various types of fundraising are under consideration. 

 

The next regular vestry meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 14th at 6:30pm in the Hospitality room.  

Accompanist Job Posting 


Christ Church Parish in Plymouth, MA seeks a collaborative, creative, and community-oriented accompanist to join us in making a joyful noise at our worship services, choir rehearsals, and other special services.


Click here for more information. And please feel free to share this posting with others!

Christ Church Thrift Shoppe

Sales have been steady and the shop is running low on non-clothing items. Before attending services on Saturday or Sunday, please help us restock by donating items that you no longer need into the green collection bin located in the Narthex. Gently used, clean items from smoke-free homes such as kitchenware, fiction books, jewelry, and home decor would be greatly appreciated. 


Larger donations are welcome during store hours. Please do not drop items on the porches or in the driveway when the shop is closed.


Summer discounts continue with all clothing just $2.00 with exception of boutique items now priced at 50% off. 


Summer Shoppe Hours

Thursday and Friday 10-4

Saturday 10-1

Christ Church Food Pantry

This week we are low on:

Chicken noodle soup

Kidney beans

Pork and beans

Cereal/breakfast bars

Small bottles of dish soap

All are welcome to the Christ Church Food Pantry! 


We are open by appointment: 

Tuesday 4:00-5:15

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

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.

The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts Click Here for the July FYI


The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts Diocesan News

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.

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