A Message from Our New Rector Friends, I am writing you from the campus of Virginia Theological Seminary. Graduation is a few days away and my family is eagerly awaiting our move from campus to our new home where we will begin our new life as members of the Christ Church community. Of course it goes without saying that transitions are loaded times. They are filled with feelings of anticipation, hope, anxiety, and exhaustion. We Christians, though, understand that God is constantly at work in our lives. A companion who, even if we do not know where we are going, guides us, holds us, and loves us unconditionally. It is comforting to know that when we discern in sincerity, prayer, and faith we will find the path that God intends for us. To say that I am excited to begin my ministry would be an understatement. I intend to be a priest of joy and relationships, a priest of laughter and hope. I believe a rector should listen a lot before he or she speaks. My father always said, “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason. You should always listen twice as much as you speak.” My first year will be getting to know you and the Christ Church community, listening to your stories, and finding out what hopes and anxieties you have about the future. I love face-to-face discussions. I am not an office dweller. I believe a rector should be out in his or her community and engage, as Jesus did, the people where they are. I look forward to meeting you and for you to meet me, Shannon, Logan, Aubry, and Rhys. Please keep us in your prayers during our transition to Christ Church as I keep you all in my daily prayers. I would like to leave you with a message from Ephesians. I have hope in the future because, as I said at the beginning of this message, I have faith that God is constantly guiding us. So, as we go into the future together let the words of St. Paul remind us that, “...to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (3.20-21) Peace, Fr. Daniel THE MISSION OF CHRIST CHURCH is to bring all persons to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through Word, Sacraments, and instruction, as taught through the Episcopal tradition, that all may know the joy and grace of faith, and to share that grace through outreach. THE CHRONICLER SUMMER 2019
Transcript
A Message from Our New Rector
Friends,
I am writing you from the campus of Virginia Theological Seminary. Graduation is a few days away
and my family is eagerly awaiting our move from campus to our new home where we will begin our
new life as members of the Christ Church community.
Of course it goes without saying that transitions are loaded times. They are filled with feelings of
anticipation, hope, anxiety, and exhaustion. We Christians, though, understand that God is
constantly at work in our lives. A companion who, even if we do not know where we are going,
guides us, holds us, and loves us unconditionally. It is comforting to know that when we discern in
sincerity, prayer, and faith we will find the path that God intends for us.
To say that I am excited to begin my ministry would be an understatement. I intend to be a priest
of joy and relationships, a priest of laughter and hope. I believe a rector should listen a lot before
he or she speaks. My father always said, “God gave you two ears and one mouth for a reason.
You should always listen twice as much as you speak.”
My first year will be getting to know you and the Christ Church community, listening to your
stories, and finding out what hopes and anxieties you have about the future. I love face-to-face
discussions. I am not an office dweller. I believe a rector should be out in his or her community and
engage, as Jesus did, the people where they are.
I look forward to meeting you and for you to meet me, Shannon, Logan, Aubry, and Rhys. Please
keep us in your prayers during our transition to Christ Church as I keep you all in my daily prayers.
I would like to leave you with a message from Ephesians. I have hope in the future because, as I
said at the beginning of this message, I have faith that God is constantly guiding us. So, as we go
into the future together let the words of St. Paul remind us that, “...to him who by the power at work
within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory
in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (3.20-21)
Peace,
Fr. Daniel
THE MISSION OF CHRIST CHURCH is to bring all
persons to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ
through Word, Sacraments, and instruction, as taught
through the Episcopal tradition, that all may know the
joy and grace of faith, and to share that grace through
After a 20-month search, we are all delighted to extend a very warm welcome to our new Rector, Fr. Daniel Johnson, a recent graduate of the Virginia Theological Seminary.
As you can see from Fr. Daniel’s “Message from the Rector” as well as his biographical article, “My Journey to Christ Church,” he comes to us – following the path that God intended for him - prepared to put all of his energy into Christ Church and its devoted parishioners.
Let’s show him how thrilled we are to have him as our new Rector by attending his first service this Sunday as well as the Welcome Pot Luck Luncheon for him and his family in the Great Hall following the 10:30 service. God Bless You.
My Journey to Christ Church By Fr. Daniel Johnson I was born and raised in Albert Lea, which is a small town in southern Minnesota about 90 miles south of the Twin Cities. My mother, Jeanne, was Irish Catholic and my father, Lloyd, was Lutheran before he converted to Catholicism when he married my mother. My childhood church, St. Theodore Catholic Church, was a beautiful place to be raised Catholic. The priests were all very laid back and open to questions. None of them were authoritarian or obsessed with being “right” about theology or doctrine. My memories are of caring and compassionate priests who were more interested in fostering relationships and bringing people closer to the love of God than enforcing the rules of the faith. Most of all I remember happiness. My priests joked and laughed. They were not pedestal priests. They were joyful priests. They loved the faith; that was infectious. And because of that, I felt the call to the priesthood back when I was a teenager. My priests made me love my faith and God. However, as I discerned the call to the priesthood. The call faded away. What is interesting about a call is that it is impossible to describe. Everyone’s is different. The call, for me at least, has always been a desire, a tug at the heart, a gentle invitation that I felt compelled to follow. This can ebb and flow and when the call faded as a teenager I was told, by my priest, just keep your ear open. When I went off to The College of St. Scholastica, in Duluth, Minnesota, I attended a Catholic church. During that time I began to have what some would call a crises of faith. The church I attended was everything St. Theodore was not. The priests had the opposite attitudes of the priests from my hometown church. They did not seem to have the joy that my priests had, nor did they exude the caring and compassionate attitudes that the priests had at St. Theodore. Additionally, while attending college I began to have some serious misgivings about the Catholic Church’s stance on various issues. Consequently, after a lot of deliberation, I decided that I could no longer, in good conscience, call myself Catholic. This was not an easy decision. My mother’s family brought their Catholicism over from Ireland. It was not just my faith but a piece of my identity, and I felt like I was turning my back on part of who I was culturally. My mother, being the loving person she was, accepted it with patience and let me drift without comment or judgment. My father was the same way, gentle acceptance of my need to step away from the faith for a bit. I think they knew God was not done with me yet. My twenties were a time of little to no faith. I went to Belfast, Northern Ireland to attend graduate school. I graduated with an M.A. in Irish Literature and returned to Minnesota. After deciding not to pursue a Ph.D., I looked for a job but couldn’t find one. My brother, who lives in King George, said I should come out to Virginia because I could easily find
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a job in Northern Virginia. So, I came out to interview and was offered a job at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren as a technical writer and began what would become a 14 year-long career in technical and analytical writing with various federal and private industry clients, including the Marine Corps, General Services Administration, Fannie Mae, and the Department of State. During that time my first marriage came to an end. After a long period of soul searching I met my wife Shannon. We were married October 10, 2009 and after a couple of conversations about faith, and some reluctance on my part, we felt like we needed to find a church home for our family. On Christmas Eve 2009 we found our way to St. George’s Fredericksburg. After one service, and to my surprise, we fell in love. We felt at home. Over the next couple of years we began attending regularly, did the Pilgrim’s Path class for newcomers, and were confirmed. I began teaching teenagers and Shannon taught the fifth grade Sunday School class. Logan and Aubry, our now 16 and 13 respectively, also began serving as an Acolyte and Gospel Book Bearer (our littlest guy Rhys was born while we were at seminary). And while we loved St. George’s, we especially loved the Episcopal Church. It is, without a doubt, where we belong as followers of Jesus. To be honest, though, it is not surprising that we found our way to the Episcopal Church. During my twenties I didn’t stop reading scripture; however, that reading was more habitual than spiritual. I was also reading Anglican and Episcopal writers, namely Bishop John Shelby Spong and Keith Ward. And while I do not agree with Bishop Spong on doctrinal matters as much as I once did, I now see that God was planting seeds for me to find my way back to our faith. Shannon has always been the more faithful of us. As my faith waxed and waned, hers always remained strong. She, like my parents, have been very patient with me. While at St. George’s the call returned—softly at first. As I said above, my initial call was subtle; this time it was no different. It was a silent invitation that asked me to explore the church more deeply. Over the next couple of years I continued to teach, was elected to the Vestry, became a Eucharistic Minister, and provided intercessory prayer. The call intensified until finally, I decided to talk to the associate rector, Rev. Gay Rahn, about it. She supported me and guided me until the Rev. Joe Hensley was called to be rector of St. George’s. From there, Joe helped me navigate my way through the rocks and shoals of the ordination process, which led me by God’s will, and my joy, to you.
JUNE 2019
06/02 Marilyn Greene 06/19 Johnathan Doud 06/03 Jacob Stockli 06/20 Jane Schultz 06/05 Penny Knepp 06/20 Jennifer Gibson 06/05 Olivia Johnson 06/21 Stephanie Cronin 06/06 Joseph L. Ilk 06/22 Tracy Magin 06/15 Heather Doud 06/22 Kalissa Houck 06/18 Tom Kempster 06/25 Jim Settles 06/18 Ethan Goldberg 06/30 Robert Eagle ###################################################################################################B
On May 26, our college and high school graduates were celebrated and recognized at the
10:30 service with Bambi Willis and Deacon Margaret officiating. Jill Bates presented
each of the graduates with a farewell memento. Here they are:
One College Graduate: Hunter Clifford, the son of Kristine and Steve Clifford, grandson
of Jeff and Hannah Massey, graduated from Virginia Tech with an associate degree in
Agricultural Technology. He has accepted a position as an assistant superintendent at
Meadows Farm golf course. His future holds much promise in the landscape and turf
management industry.
High School Graduates: Colby Clifford, son of Kristine and Steve Clifford, grandson of
Jeff and Hannah Massey, has graduated from Spotsylvania High School. During his high
school years, he was active in Tennis for 3 years and JROTC for 4 years. He has enlisted
in the Marine Corps and left for boot camp at Parris Island on June 25. After completion
he will go to Fort Leonard Wood where he will train to be an MP. He would like to use
what he learns in the military to eventually transition into civilian law enforcement.
Jacob Davis, the grandson of Thom and Tricia Smelter, graduated from Riverbend High
School. He plans to attend Germanna to study computer science and cyber security.
Aaron DiFilippo, son of Kristi and Mark DiFilippo, graduated from Spotsylvania High
School. He is a “distinguished honor graduate” and #8 in his class! Aaron was also on
the Varsity track and cross country teams. He was the recipient of Chris Ross Memorial
Scholarship. He accomplished this all while working part time. Aaron will be attending the
College of Engineering at Virginia Tech in the fall.
Jacob Svare, grandson of Mark and Mary Svare, graduated from Sand Creek High
School in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He will attend the University of Mary-Hardin
07/04 David Fagiano 07/23 Bill Estes 07/05 Peggy Settles 07/23 Riley Erwin 07/07 Louise Corderman 07/24 Gerald Stockli, Jr. 07/08 Deacon Margaret Haight 07/26 Alli Ayres-Brown 07/12 Tina Strasbaugh 07/27 Amanda Watts 07/14 Joan Goodbody 07/27 Hannah Lovell Clifford 07/15 Mary Williams 07/27 Hunter Clifford 07/15 Anna Caitlin Doud 07/30 Beverly McNeill 07/21 Bill Jackson 07/31 Patricia Kempster 07/21 Gerald Johnson 07/31 Molly Watts #######################################################################
Father’s Day always celebrated on the third Sunday of June, refers to a celebration honoring fathers and giving them respect for fatherhood, paternal bond, and their influence in our society. Every day, we celebrate God, our heavenly father, and thank him for our dads. Amen to that! The ECW will host a special coffee hour/fellowship in the Great Hall on Sunday, June 16, after the 10:30 service. ####################################################################### BEST WISHES TO OUR AUGUST CELEBRANTS FOR AN AWESOME,
EPISCOPAL CHURCH WOMEN (ECW) May 21, 2019 yielded a perfect spring day, for our annual trip to a historical Episcopal church. This year with a gracious invite from Bill Queen, we visited his church, St. Paul’s in Richmond where he serves as Interim Rector. Some of the highlights we enjoyed at St. Paul’s were the highly polished brass doors, the beautiful stained glass windows, the sunny atrium, and the massive pipe organ. Our guides, Pat Archer and Barbara Holley, were warm, friendly and informative. They even went the “extra mile” and rounded up the church organist to play for us. Bill was able to join us for most of the church tour. He was delighted we chose to visit St. Paul’s. After the tour he treated us to a bonus and walked us across the street to a beautiful park to show us the new Women’s Memorial being built and one that is complete honoring Native Americans. We were happy to see Bill again and get to spend some time with him albeit short. Unfortunately he had a meeting and was unable to join us for lunch at the Iron Horse Restaurant in Ashland but sent us on our way with his regards to the good people of Christ Church. Until today our trips had been to country churches so this one to the “big city” was quite different and on such a grand scale compared to the simplicity of our past church visits. Big or small, each church had its own history and beauty. As always we will not hold regular meetings during the summer. We will, however, remain active for special events. On May 26, we provided a cake for our high school graduates and said good-bye to Bambi. The following Sunday we will welcome Daniel with a pot-luck luncheon and a cake. On Father's Day we’ll host a special coffee hour to honor Christ Church’s Dads with another cake and finger foods. We wish everyone a happy and safe summer and we'll resume our regular meetings in September.
EPISCOPAL CHURCH MEN (ECM) The ECM will continue to meet this Summer at Scafa’s, every second Wednesday, at noon.
