SUNDAY SERVICE INFORMATION 



Our current worship schedule is as follows:

8:00 AM Rite I Holy Eucharist Service

10:30 AM Rite II Holy Eucharist Service. This service will also be live streamed. 

Live Stream links can be found on our CEC Facebook Page and our CEC YouTube Page.

If you receive an email and/or text message from Fr. Richard or the Christ Episcopal Staff requesting money or gift cards please DO NOT RESPOND, instead, contact Fr. Richard or the staff directly. Thank you.

Senior Shepherds January Gathering – You’re Invited!

All Senior Shepherds are warmly invited to our monthly covered dish luncheon on Tuesday, January 21st at 12:00 noon in the church library. We’ll kick off the new year with food, fellowship, and a stroll down memory lane! Please bring along a few treasured photo memories from your younger days—those adorable, funny, or oh-so-sweet pictures we all love to see. In the spirit of love and service, we’ll also spend time preparing special Valentine treat bags for our children and neighbors, sharing joy beyond our own gathering.

Come hungry, come ready to laugh, and come prepared for a fun and meaningful afternoon together. We look forward to seeing you there!

PROJECT LINUS

Volunteer Opportunity

Project Linus is a nationwide non-profit that creates and distributes handmade blankets to children in crisis, through hospitals and first responders. CEC is a meeting place for the Austin chapter of PL and we need a volunteer to serve as the CEC liaison with the group. Responsibilities include being the contact for the group and being present at the monthly meetings, to unlock and secure the building and to be available for any assistance needed during the meetings. Meetings take place on the fourth Sunday of January through October, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. If you are interested in becoming the Linus contact for CEC, please contact Mary Wybenga at ejayw@msn.com.

Feed My Sheep Freezer



I have defrosted the freezer in the Outreach room. It is empty and ready to be refilled. There is a cupboard in the Outreach room where I placed all the containers you might need. There are containers for soups and chilis; aluminum and heavy cardboard containers for casseroles to go from freezer to oven; and plastic containers for fully cooked items to be heated in the microwave. All containers have lids. Please consider how you might contribute to this ministry. Homemade and store-bought items are both appreciated. Questions please contact Mary Wybenga at ejayw@msn.com.

I would very much like this ministry to continue but I haven’t had much participation in the past 6 months. I know life gets busy and interests change. We might consider continuing this ministry virtually meaning you can complete your prayer shawls and cancer caps at home. The completed prayer shawls can be brought to church to be blessed and provided to those in need of comfort in our church community. The cancer caps will be donated when we have completed a larger supply. We also could plan to meet in person less, such as quarterly, if that works better. Our next monthly face-to-face meeting will be on Sunday, January 18 from 4:00 – 6:00 in the library. If you are interested in this ministry, please plan to attend or provide me your thoughts before our meeting. At present we have 8 completed prayer shawls and 3 cancer caps to donate to Dell Children’s. If you are currently working on shawls or caps, let me know. I hope to hear from you soon.

Mary Wybenga (303) 587-2373

Intercessors will be at the back of the church in the narthex to pray with anyone who would like special prayers during communion on Sundays. Often people will ask for prayers for healing for themselves or others, but any prayer request is welcomed. If you would like to pray with one of our prayer partners, you are encouraged to come forward for communion and then make your way to the narthex for additional prayers. If you have any questions about this ministry or are interested in becoming a prayer partner to pray with others, please contact Cindy Gravis or Fr. Richard.

If you would like to learn about other ways to financially contribute to the life and work of our parish, please contact our Treasurer.

And Mary Said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior..."

Luke 1:46-47 NRSV

Dear Christ Episcopal Family, 

Last week's Epiphany play was a gift to us and a reminder that through many forms of communication we are telling the Good News and sharing the gospel. The children and adults that prepared and participated did 'Tell Out Their Souls' and it was a beautiful display of the creativity of our parish family. 

With all of our gifts, we are doing God's work, the work that He has given us to do, and with thankful and grateful hearts, we can share that with God's help we have achieved our Pledge Campaign goal with $225,015 and 48 pledges. What a wonderful way to recognize our blessings as we come to the close of the Christmas Season “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” As we said last week, we can never say it enough and we pray we achieve God's will through our church in your service to ministry, your service to the community, and your gifts to our church.

Each week is an opportunity to learn something from the Weekly Reflection and to learn how other people tell out their souls. We hope you enjoy learning “nada te turbe, nada te espante quien a Dios tiene, nada le falta…” In English, the words mean 'let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you, whoever has God lacks nothing.' It is a beautiful song that Noah Elijah Stone shares with the world as he plays it.

Thank you for giving over $225,000 for the amazing work God has given us to do. If you have prayed and the Holy Spirit is guiding you to pledge along with us, it is never too late. Please know your gift will be used to share the comforting words of the Gospel. You may access pledge cards online HERE, or hard copies in the CEC Narthex and pews. Thank you for pledging with us. Thank you for giving. Thank you for praying. 

Your Stewardship Ministry

WEEKLY REFLECTION

“Nada te turbe” Questions for Reflection: An Interview By The Rev. Cn. Dina van Klaveren

Noah has always had a gift for making music. As a church musician

and a street musician, he shares his gift generously with others.

His gift has been honed through his study of violin and voice at

the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. You can still find Noah in

Baltimore, playing for the weekly contemplative eucharist at the

Cathedral of the Incarnation, at a bilingual misa at Church of the

Guardian Angel, or along the busy public areas of the Inner Harbor.

Noah’s passion for music is rooted in his faith. He had a conversion

experience as a teenager and finds that through music he can best

embody the Living Word. During an especially dark period of his adult

life, Noah experienced the healing power of God at work to restore

him to health. Through different gatherings in the Lutheran and

Episcopal traditions, Noah has found healing through community,

music, and poetry.

He considers his music – whether in a church or out in public areas

–to be an offering from his soul. Having known the love of God

deeply, Noah offers an embodied gift of that love to anyone who

longs to hear it. Noah’s musical offerings offer hope to others, and

he especially enjoys when passers-by pause to listen and be fed by

the sound. From time to time, someone will want to connect about

the music or perhaps engage in theological conversation. While he

enjoys connecting with listeners in conversation, Noah notices that

the wordless and transcendent power of music grows hope in places

where words might frustrate us. For one example, the healing power

of God dances throughout the crowd as Noah plays the Taize tune

that, even without words, reminds Noah that “nada te turbe, nada te

espante quien a Dios tiene, nada le falta…”

Questions for Reflection:

• What tune draws you into an experience of healing and hope? What does your soul tell out to those who gather near to you to listen?

Noah Elijah Stone is a violinist, church musician, and busker on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland.

CEC VESTRY MEETINGS

The Vestry usually meets on the third Monday of each month, at 7:00 p.m. Any congregant can attend a Vestry meeting and observe. Only Vestry members have voice and vote. Vestry meetings do become "closed" when discussing personnel issues or staff salaries. Vestry meets via Zoom. If you wish to attend, please notify Fr. Richard, and he will send you the Zoom link.

CEC Finances – Available in the Library

Quarterly financial statements are available on the bulletin board in the library following the vestry meeting.

Discipleship Group - This group meets the first and third Sunday of the month at 6:00 pm in the library. It includes study of the Sunday service gospel readings and is open to anyone wishing to participate. Please contact Bill Sterling at silverbillwes@gmail.com for more information.

The Senior Shepherds is a Service/Social organization at CEC. Anyone over the age of 50 in the church is welcome. We meet on the 3rd Wednesday of every month at 11:45 am in the Library for a delicious Potluck meal and lively conversation. A short program normally follows the meal. We do various interesting and creative service projects for the church children and the local community; host exciting outside speakers; visit unusual local places and have occasional seminars for better living. Contact: Fr. Richard at rector@cectx.org for more information. 

The Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on the 3rd Sunday of every month from 4-6pm in the library. We knit, crochet and do various other needlework and sewing crafts to meet a known need in the community such as providing pretty and comfortable caps for cancer patients, providing crocheted and knitted prayer shawls for those in need of comfort in our church community. These items are made with prayer and much interesting conversation. They are blessed by Father Richard before being distributed. Learn to knit or crochet at our meetings. Teens are welcome. Contact Mary Wybenga.

The Tuesday Book Club will begin a new book in February. Stay tuned for the title and the date we will start.

The Tuesday Book Club is reading The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. They survived more than 50 years of exile and the soul-crushing violence of oppression. Despite their hardships or, as they would say, because of them, they are two of the most joyful people on the planet. Currently, we will be meeting from 10:30-12:00 in the Outreach Room. We have about 12 regulars that come and go as their schedules permit. All are welcome: men and women, younger and older adults, introverts and extroverts and everyone in between. We enjoy seeing new faces and hearing differing thoughts.

Questions, please contact Mary Wybenga at EJayW@msn.com or at 303-587-2373.

Choir Practice is held every Thursday at 2:30 PM in the sanctuary. Anyone who is interested in joining, or getting more information on our choir, is invited to attend a practice. Questions? Contact Dave Gravis.

Ministry to and with Infants/Toddlers and their Families.

We have three spaces available to minister to our youngest members and their families on Sunday mornings.



1. Our church nursery is open from 9:00 am to noon. The nursery is located in the Family Life Center. The nursery serves children through the age of 4 and is open every Sunday morning.
2. A “soft” play space is located in the back of the sanctuary where children will find a small selection of toys and parents will find rocking chairs.
3. A “cry room” is located above the sanctuary and accessed by the stairs in the narthex/lobby of the church. The cry room contains comfortable seats, toys, and a changing table.

Children who are attending the 10:30 service participate in the service with their parents until after the Collect (the Prayer of the Day). After the Collect, the officiant calls all the children to the altar. The Children’s minister will select one of the children to come forward to be the children’s crucifer, who will lead, and the others will follow the cross out of the church to the Family Life Center. Children return at approximately The Peace in time for the Communion Service. Lessons will focus on learning about either the Gospel or Epistle or one of the Prophets or Kings.

Volunteers assist with the crafts, songs, prayers, or playing Bible games. Once a month or quarter, the children will ‘perform’ a song, recite a prayer or Bible verse, or act out a Bible story for the congregation at the end of the announcements.

If you are one of the volunteers for this ministry, you will be asked to help once a month or once every other month on the same Sunday of the month so that it is easier to remember when your commitment is. Swapping is, of course, allowed. Please join us in our fun way of learning about our belief, our faith practices, and Bible stories that we all remember from our youth!

If you can volunteer, please contact Sarah Martinez.

During youth group meetings, Roots teens discuss Christian educational topics. Teens have input into the selection of topics. Teens also participate in Service Projects such as Trunk or Treat and the Easter Egg Hunt in Spring. Teens also vote on Social activities/outings. Events in the past have included visiting a hay maze, meeting at movie theaters, ice skating, touring Main Street Bethlehem, having parties, swimming, hiking, etc. Join us!

Contacts: Ruth Sobieralski and Fr. Richard

Let us know if you're having a birthday or anniversary this month so we can celebrate with you. Be sure to come to church and get your birthday or anniversary blessing!

Birthdays: Deborah Cartwright, Christina Knox, Lea Melvin, Lu McCann, Laura Lerma, Erwin Wybenga, Shawn Ballard, David Dellisi, Pam Thomas, Lauren Sandy, Cullen Senger, Tony Alvarez, Carl Jahnke, Maria Miller, Mackenzie Cartwright, Jerry Halstead, Bob McAdams, Allen Sandy, Jason Warner

Anniversaries: Ben and Beth Sterling, Jenny and Jason Warner

All third party events held at the church are listed here. For parents, if at the church campus while the event(s) is taking place, children should be supervised by a trusted individual, as Safeguarded personnel / volunteers will not be present.

Upcoming Third Party Events:

AA Meeting - Wednesdays at 6:30 PM in the Library, Stone Building

ROCK Enrichment Academy - Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM, FLC and Grounds; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8:00-12:30 PM, Stone Building

PEACE Homeschool Village - Fridays, 8:00 AM - 4:30, PM, FLC and Grounds