O R D I N A R Y P E O P L E E X T R A O R D I N A R Y S P I R I T

Two Emerson Street @ Gregory Boulevard, East Norwalk, Connecticut 06855 203.866.7442 The Reverend Canon Patricia M. Coller ~ www.christchurcheastnorwalk.org

July/August 2014

Dear Friends in Christ, Summer is finally here - school is out, vacations are being taken, the days have been sunny and warm. And even though the weather has not been too oppressive as yet, I find that I need to drink lots of water, especially as I have been out-side tending to my garden. My physical trainer has me bring water to my workouts, and drink between exercises. She also urges me to drink a cup of water for every cup of coffee or glass of wine I consume. Our bodies need water to function properly. And our souls need living water in order to func-

tion properly. Jesus said, "if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, 'out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" As we move through the somewhat slower weeks of summer let us keep both body and soul refreshed. Stay cool ... Remember to drink plenty of water ... And make space for spiritual refreshment as well. Take some extra time for prayer, worship, meditation, reading as you are able. Christ Church is here to provide spiritual refreshment as well, and we are air conditioned!

Canon Pat

“Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Matthew 19:14

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Celebration of New Ministry

The visitation of two bishops within six months of each other is highly unusual in a parish of our demographic, however we are thrilled to report that the Right Reverend Ian T. Doug-las, the 14th Bishop of Connecticut, will visit Christ Church at 7:00 p.m. on August 19 for purpose of presiding at the Celebration of New Ministry and installation of Canon Pat as Mis-sional Priest of Christ Church, East Nor-walk. All welcome and are encouraged to attend worship that evening, as well as a reception immediately following in the Guild Room.; and childcare will be provided. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend! Confirmation (Reprinted from June) The sacrament of Confirmation is appropriate when those who were baptized at a young age are prepared to make a mature, public affirma-tion of their faith and their commitment to the promises that were made on their behalf at their baptisms. It is also appropriate when those who were baptized as adults are ready to make a pub-lic affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their baptisms. Confir-mation is conferred through the “laying on of hands” by a bishop in the context of worship. Bishop Ahrens is tentatively scheduled to visit Christ Church on December 7, 2014. At that time she will confirm those members of Christ Church who have been prepared by attendance at Confirmation classes, which will begin this coming September. In addition to confirmation, a bishop’s visit is an appropriate time for those who have been con-firmed in another denomination to be “received” into the Episcopal Church. It is also a wonderful time for those who have already

been baptized and confirmed to renew their baptismal vows in the presence of the bishop and the congregation. It would be helpful to me to know how many of our young people are interested in being con-firmed this coming December. Please either email me at pcoller@christchurcheastnorwalk.org, or call me at 203.376.3332 so that I can begin to plan for the Confirmation Class. I would also welcome any adults interested in Confirmation, Reception or Reaffirmation to be in touch with me. ~ PC

Mystery at Christ Church

(Reprinted from June) Christ Episcopal Church will be having a Mur-der Mystery play and dinner on October 18. We will be using some people in the church to have “acting bits” There will be rehearsals involved and no one will know the entire script except a few people. Would you like to have an acting role and be part of the evening? Please let Judy White or Paul Mordoff know if you’re inter-ested. We need to know in advance so we can find the right script that has the right number of parts. It will be a fun night filled with lots of au-dience participation! Contact Paul Mordoff or Judy White for more information. ~ JW

A Note About Parish Visitations

Thank you to all who signed up for a visit with Canon Pat. These visits will take place through-out the weeks of summer. But because I serve Christ Church on a very part time basis it may take a number of weeks in order to get to every-body, so I appreciate your patience, and look forward to talking more with you!

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KIDZ Day On Sunday, June 15 the church school celebrated our annual Kidz Day. Our students participated in all parts of Sunday worship from greeting at the front door, being acolytes and leading the procession. They were also lay readers and brought up the ele-ments. Even our teachers got involved as lectors that day. It truly was great to see so many of our students take part in the service. Then we headed out with stu-dents and parents for pizza and ice cream. After that, what better way to end the day than a round of mini golf at the beach? Everyone went home with great memories and smiles! ~ LH

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Father Frank's Mobile Table

Last summer at Christ Church a small but com-mitted group of parishioners provided a break-fast each weekday for those who identified themselves as "in need". Our original target population had been school students who re-ceive subsidized breakfast during the academic year, but for a variety of reasons these students did not attend our breakfast. So the vestry be-gan to think about the challenges of getting school children to our location early on a week-day morning in the summer, and the various other options we might have for serving those who are "hungry" in our community. One idea that was suggested is that of a "food truck" which would be loaded up with food - sandwiches, soup, fruit - and then be driven to a particular location where people in need tend to congregate. We could start out doing this one day per week, and after a while, re-evaluate and expand if it seems that we are being called to do so. In order to make this work, we would need a number of people to make sandwiches, and soup, and some also to help deliver it. Much of the food making could be done right in the kitchen at Christ Church. If you would be interested in making sand-wiches or soup, or helping deliver the food, please contact Canon Pat at pcoller@christchurcheastnorwalk.com. Soaking the Beans Some years ago the former Bishop of Maine was a member of the Church Pension Fund’s Board of Trustees. She and I both served on what was called the Benefits Policy Committee of the Board, a committee which regularly ex-

amined the benefit structure of the clergy pen-sion plan and considered policy changes which would enhance the retirement benefits for clergy beneficiaries and their surviving spouses. Be-cause some of the changes we considered were complicated, and expensive to the Plan, and oc-casionally somewhat controversial, there was much discussion among the trustees whenever a plan change was suggested, and often items needed to be discussed more than once in order for a final decision to be made. The bishop began to use the expression, “bean soaking” to describe the process that we devel-oped of introducing a topic for discussion. The initiator of a proposal for a potential benefit change would give tell the committee what he or she hoped the committee would consider, give background information, facilitate discussion, and then let the idea “sit and soak” until the next meeting. Of course, this drove the “Type A” business people on the Board crazy – they would have much preferred a quick and firm de-cision be made - but her process actually did make for better decisions and full Board en-dorsement in the long run.

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The most important reason that people soak beans before they cook them (and it’s not really to cut down on “gas” although the soaking does have that effect!) is that it allows shorter cooking times and preserves the most nutrients, so those who eat the beans get the benefit of all of the proteins, vitamins and minerals in the beans and maximize their food value. During this summer at Christ Church we are “soaking some beans.” We are contemplating the possibility of perhaps adding a mid-week worship service and Bible Study. We are consid-ering some modifications to the children’s pro-gram and adult education program. We are re-searching the possibility of expanding our out-reach through a food-truck ministry. And we are thinking about ways to welcome our neighbors in Norwalk to join us in our worship and other activities. The beans are soaking so that whatever decisions get made are ones that will benefit our existing community, and also be attractive to any new folks who are considering joining our community. So stay tuned…more information will follow in the next edition of the Parish Visitor.

Vestry Notes from June Meeting

From Marsha Dunn, Clerk The vestry is discussing the idea of having month long “Welcome Back to Church” activi-ties this fall instead of a single Rally Day, ideas are welcome. The large tree in the playground has broken branches hanging from the top again. We will be consulting an arborist to determine the best long term plan for the tree, as this is a recurring problem.

Keeping the double doors of the sanctu-ary open during the service to encourage visi-tors seems to be working, however, during times of extreme temperature, we may need a buffer. The property committee is going to check into the possibility of replacing the inner wooden doors with glass ones. The Outreach committee is investigating a plan to provide food to the hungry by means of a mobile food truck. The truck would be able to bring food out into the community. The Hungry Soul Breakfast will continue to pro-vide breakfast at the shelter. We are working on updating our webpage. You can also Like us on Facebook to follow activi-ties, see photos, and get the daily readings. Kidz Day will be June 15. The kids will help out in the service and go out for Pizza and fun after the 10 am service. CCEN T Shirts will be pro-vided to the children and teachers. Aurora services will be June 23. Effective July 1, the facility will be renamed Rosewood, as a re-sult of a change in owners. The “Celebration of new Ministry” for Canon Pat will be held on Tuesday, August 19, 2014. The Education/ Christian Formation Commit-tee will meet on July 1st at 7 pm. On the agenda will be discussions for Church school for all ages and Bible study. All are welcome to join us as we discuss ideas.

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At the request of Bishop Curry, Don Burr spent July 9-13 at Villanova University, as an adult leader for the 2014 “Marked for Mission” Episcopal Youth Event; the triennial gathering of high school aged Episcopalians from all over the world. Twenty-four students, two bishops, and five youth minis-ters from Connecticut were part of a gathering of more than one thousand. Bookended by AMTRAK rides to and from Philly, the four days filled with worship, workshops, in-spired preaching, a variety of outstanding live music offered all present the opportunity to explore the Church beyond the doors of their local parishes… the “Church out there.” (More on this later…)

Youth and adults, alike, were able to see what is normally only heard about in prayers and an-nouncements… the Presiding Bishop, the Chair of the House of Deputies (Don is an alternate member); it was a pretty big deal for all assembled… and there’s just something about hearing the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer said by 1,000 people; or the flourish of as many voices singing “Ode to Joy” at the opening worship. (Chills..) The students from Connecticut have expressed in-terest in continued local gatherings and some of the adults have agreed to help facilitate the meet-ings for further mission minded work. Those attending were marked for mission and com-missioned to GO… go out into the world.

The EYE delegation from the Episcopal Church in Connecticut at Villanova University

“Selfies” for the “rents” back home...

Don and Bishop Ahrens on the mission bus.

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Members of the House of Bishops, including two of our own, passing the Peace.

Wearing our #cteye14 t-shirts for the first time. (Thank you for your help, Ginny Deering.)

The new Connecticut icon. The Presiding Bishop.

Rocky & Rocky II

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Among other stops along the way, during our Friday mission exploration, Don’s tour bus group visited Father Frank’s boyhood parish, of St. Mark’s Church, where the group took part in the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Later the 1,000+ EYE crowd celebrated the end of the experience by taking over the Philadelphia Art Museum. The event closed after worship back on campus, with a sermon offered by the Presiding Bishop. You can see more images from the Episcopal Youth Event on Facebook and Twitter @EpiscoYouthCT. (Look above the tent… sigh…)

“This is how EYE does Jesus.”

“Yes, we’re out exploring the mission field.”

Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Mark’s Church.