The Beacon
Weekly News from Christ Church, Sausalito
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Hello!
Welcome to the latest newsletter from Christ Church!
In this issue:
- Worship this Sunday
- A Word from Fr. Chip
- Introducing Fr. Richard Schaper
- Reopening survey
- And more!
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JOIN US FOR WORSHIP THIS SUNDAY!
11 April 2021
Second Sunday in Easter
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You are warmly invited to join us at any of our three services this Sunday! Please see the service schedule and Zoom links below!
In this second Sunday of the Easter season, our Gospel reading focuses on Jesus's appearances to his disciples following the resurrection, including his infamous encounter with his disciple Thomas - often called "Doubting Thomas" because of his desire for physical proof of the resurrection. This moment is depicted in the artwork above, which is entitled Incredulity of Thomas, and was painted by Benjamin West sometime in the last decade of the 1790's. Father Malcolm will ponder the insights of our Gospel and other Scriptures in his sermon this Sunday - please join us! And note that all our services have returned to their normal schedule.
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8:00 am
This is a quiet, contemplative, service using the traditional, Rite I "traditional" language and order of service. As usual, this will be a Zoom call, so everyone will be able to see one another and have the opportunity to interact at various points in the service. This prayerful, reflective service is a great way to start off your Sunday! An online coffee hour will follow immediately after this service.
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9:00 am
Families with younger children are welcome to join us. Father Chip will lead us in song, we'll watch a fun video, and one of our Sunday School volunteers will offer a five-minute reflection and instruction time for kids. We'll gather together our prayers for the week and a casual "Coffee Hour" for parents will follow on the same Zoom call.
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10:30 am
This service uses Rite II "contemporary" language and includes music. This will be a Zoom webinar that will also be live-streamed on our Facebook page. A recording of the service will be available on our website later in the day. Music director Dr. Michael Gilbertson and soloist Tom Hart will provide music, with hymns 205 and 490, as well as 206 from Lift Every Voice and Sing,
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Everyone is welcome to join us for an all-parish Coffee Hour at approximately 11:30 am on Zoom. This is an open Zoom call with plenty of opportunities for socializing and interaction. Grab a favorite beverage on Sunday morning and join Zoom Coffee Hour by clicking here. |
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So, here we are on the Friday after Easter. And I have to wonder, what have you carried with you this week that you received on Easter Sunday?
It’s an important question to ask. Because ultimately Easter is only an invitation. Like all invitations this one too can be accepted or ignored, opened or tossed aside, received with great appreciation or profound apathy.
The invitation of Easter is literally an invitation to new life. This new life paradoxically looks and feels a lot like our old one. This new life still insists that we experience death first-hand, not vicariously, but with intentional engagement. It not only doesn't shield us from suffering but opens our eyes to see it everywhere around us. It gives us everything while allowing us to own nothing. It confers total freedom by making us servants of all.
Without Easter, without the news that God has eliminated all that separates us from the holy and the sacred, then we are left only with the worldly things in life. The world has always been riddled with violence and chaos, greed and betrayal; our own day tragically is no different. Fueled by fear, individuals, tribes, nations, all of us try to stake our claim to security and order. In so doing, we actually exacerbate the problems in the world, making the world more unstable and contentious.
What Easter does is it forces us to see Jesus from the other side of Good Friday. Up to the point of embracing death on the Cross, Jesus' teaching, miracles, exorcisms, and healings ranked him right at the top of the list of great women and men who have ever lived. There he would have stayed -- top of his class -- a role model par excellence. But Easter changes that perception forever, instead translating faith in Jesus and what his life, death, and resurrection means into a new way of being.
Now we look at Jesus and see not just what is possible but what actually already is from God’s perspective. We are already loved. Life is already sacred. Goodness and love already pervade life if only we will see it. Perhaps this is part of what Jesus means when he says that we, his followers, will do greater things than he has done. God invites us, a lump of clay riddled with contradiction and feelings of incompleteness, and forms us into the image of the Living God. The claim is so preposterous, is it any wonder that the invitation of Easter is ignored by so many?
Jesus lived and died in the "real" world and, as his disciples, so must we. So, what makes us different having accepted the invitation to new life contained in Easter? The simplest answer is the three-letter word JOY. Unlike happiness that ebbs and flows like the tides of the sea, joy is a state of being. It not only doesn't preclude sadness, it plunges us into our own and the sadness of others, but with a conviction that the sadness too is passing away. Joy invites us to enjoy the material things of this world without clinging to them and thus being controlled by them. Joy opens our eyes to delights that are all around us but we continually miss -- the gift that children freely bring to us. This is what I meant on Easter Sunday by an Easter Heart. An Easter Heart is a heart filled with JOY.
I pray that the joy of Easter has stayed with you this week . . . and will continue to do so.
Easter blessings,
Chip +
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Introducing Rev. Richard Schaper |
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As many of you know, Fr. Chip will be going on sabbatical this year from 10 May (just after Mother's Day) through 6 September (Labor Day). During that time, the Christ Church staff and Vestry will continue to provide leadership for the church.
We are also very excited that the Rev. Richard Schaper will be filling in for Chip while he is away. Many of you have already met Fr. Richard; he has attended a few of our Zoom services and was the person holding the Paschal candle at the beginning of our Easter service last Sunday.
Richard brings a wealth of gifts and experiences to his sojourn with us this summer, and we have much to look forward to from his leadership. Over the next few weeks, you'll see and hear more from Fr. Richard; in the meantime, he would like to share these words with everyone:
My introduction to Christ Church came when I accepted an invitation from Fr. Mark Stanley to preach as a “financial theologian” on the stewardship of God’s gifts. From the first I was taken by the warmth and charm of your worship space and the welcoming character of the congregation. So-- I am delighted now to revisit the “Mother Church” of St. Stephen’s, Belvedere, where my family and I have been members since we moved to Marin from the City in 1999.
Jesus calling of his first disciples out of their fishing boats on the Sea of Galilee has always has special meaning for me because I come from a family of commercial fishermen on the Atlantic coast. In fact my Dutch surname “Schaper” (pronounced “Skopper”) derives from “skipper” and I do continue to enjoy sailing my Catalina sloop that is berthed at the head of Richardson Bay.
My wife, Anita Ostrom, and I met when we were both hospital chaplains in Atlanta. Anita’s psychotherapy practice has given way to pottery and Covid-inspired vegetable gardening. Our daughter, Ava, a professional event planner, also lives in Mill Valley.
I love the characterization of the Episcopal Church as “the roomiest church in Christendom” and I see the signs of this breadth and radical welcome in Christ Church. I am grateful for you welcoming me into your congregation to serve as your priest while Fr. Chip enjoys a well-deserved sabbatical and I look forward to getting better acquainted.
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Given plans to re-open the State of California in June, your Vestry is beginning the process of considering how and when to re-open to in-person worship. In doing so, our primary concern is the safety and feeling of comfort of those who attend worship at CEC.
To guide us in this process, we have created a survey that should take you no more than 5 minutes to fill out. It would be a great help if everyone from Christ Church could fill out this survey as soon as possible. It is entirely anonymous, so please tell us what is on your mind and what you really think. The number of considerations for the Vestry and Staff to consider in preparing for re-opening is considerable, so if you have not done so already, please fill out the survey today. The survey will only stay active for a short time longer.
Thank you!!!
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Volunteers Needed for New Campbell Hall Committee |
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Good news!
We’ve been receiving renewed interest in weddings and other events at Campbell Hall, and expect more as the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues.
Space rental at Campbell Hall is one of CEC's primary sources of income outside of pledges from the congregation, so we have decided to form a new Campbell Hall Events Committee to prepare for a new, exciting post-pandemic chapter.
We need 3 dedicated volunteers to help with marketing as well as event support. A lot of this work can be done from home and you will have the full support of our CEC Vestry.
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Prayer Shawls and Blankets are available for anyone in need of some extra love and comfort. We have oversized ziploc bags to use for a period of quarantine before distributing, and can arrange for contactless delivery as needed.
Please contact Kathryn Lee if you would like to arrange for a prayer shawl or blanket to be delivered to you or someone you know in need of one.
All are welcome to join the Prayer Shawl ministry one Saturday a month, whether you knit or crochet or not! We will have a chance to share the projects we are working on, catch up with each other, and join together in a short time of prayer. Click here to join us. The link will also be available on the church’s website. The prayer shawl group meets once a month (usually the fourth Saturday of the month) from 10:30 - 11:30 am.
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Morning Prayer, a simple service of Scripture readings, canticles, and prayers, is offered every morning via Zoom and Facebook, Monday through Friday.
You can login to the service to pray with us live each morning at 7:30 am, or watch the recording to pray later in the day.
The login for the live prayer service is available by clicking here; you can also find it on our website in the calendar of events and under the "Livestream Services" tab at the top. Recordings are available under the "Recorded Services" tab. If you prefer to pray with us via Facebook, you can view the service on our Facebook page.
You can follow along in your own Book of Common Prayer if you have one. If you do not have a copy, you can view or print Morning Prayer from the BCP for free HERE. On the site, click on the link for "The Daily Office," then click on the link for "Daily Morning Prayer: Rite Two."
You are warmly invited to join us for this simple yet profound spiritual practice!
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Weekly Lectionary Preview |
You are most welcome to join us on Wednesdays at 12:00 on Zoom to discuss the readings that will be used in the liturgy for the upcoming Sunday. Our study guide, updated weekly, can be found HERE. To join us, simply visit our website and click on the Lectionary Preview link in the calendar for that day. |
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Everyone is welcome to join us Fridays at noon for open conversation and check-in. No agenda, no expectations. Feel free simply to show up on Zoom to see everyone and enjoy some fellowship. It's the next best thing to meeting in person! Click HERE Fridays at noon to join us, or use the link on our website calendar. |
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Birthdays & Anniversaries |
If you have a birthday or anniversary to celebrate this week, please CLICK HERE to send an e-mail to the parish office so we can send you a special link to invite you to join the Sunday service online as a participant. We look forward to celebrating with all upcoming birthdays and anniversaries!
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If you have a prayer request, please e-mail the Christ Church Prayer Group with your name, the name of the person for whom you are requesting prayer, the reason for the request, and whether your request should be kept confidential and shared only with members of the CEC Prayer Group or may be shared in the Sunday prayers and weekly prayers in the Beacon.
This week, we pray for the following parishioners, family members, friends, and neighbors:
- Sarah
- Charlie
- Sara
- Dorothy
- Dave
- Pirie
- Drew
- Melissa
- Elaine
- Carol
- Matt
- Carol Ann
- Doe
- Tyson
- Alec
- Thomas
- Roberta
- Kathy
- Susan
- Bobby
- Ryan
- Tish
- John
- Sue
- Barbara
- As we work toward a more just and inclusive community in Southern Marin, may we be freed from intolerance and fear
- For all the front-line medical workers and service workers
- For the repose of the soul of Jeanie Sauers
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Vestry Contacts
If you would like to contact a Vestry member, click on their name to send an email. Every year, the 9 members of the Vestry volunteer to serve as "liaisons" for the areas of congregational life that we have targeted as priorities in our corporate life together. Please click on a name to contact the appropriate vestry member if you have any ideas or questions about their respective areas.
Your Vestry is here for you. If you have concerns that you would like to bring to the attention of the Vestry, or ideas for our community life, please contact the appropriate Vestry liaison.
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Clergy Contacts
Facing a pastoral crisis for yourself or a loved one can be difficult. If you are in need of a member of the clergy for counsel or support, please email one of us by clicking on a name.
If your need is urgent, please reach out to Fr. Chip by calling his cell phone at 650-766-2852.
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