“To grow as disciples in Christ, prayerfully opening our hearts and minds to joy and service.”

Dec 2013

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH • 802 HARRISON AVENUE • CAÑON CITY, COLORADO 81212 • 719-275-2028

www.christchurchcanoncity.com email Office: bjparishad@gmail.com email Rector: markdmeyer@q.com

THE REV. MARK D. MEYER, RECTOR † THE REV. MERLE HARRISON, DEACON † ALL MEMBERS OF CHRIST CHURCH, MINISTERS

Mark’s note: Luci Shaw (lucishaw.com) is an accomplished poet, author, and retreat leader. She graduated

from Wheaton College in 1953, and became co-founder and later president of Harold Shaw Publishers. When I first visited the Holy Land in 1988 with a group from St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Glen Ellyn, Illinois (near my home town), Luci was

one of our group. She is now a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bellingham, Washington.

Mary's Song

by Luci Shaw

Blue homespun and the bend of my breast

keep warm this small hot naked star

fallen to my arms. (Rest …

you who have had so far to come.)

Now nearness satisfies

the body of God sweetly. Quiet he lies

whose vigor hurled a universe. He sleeps

whose eyelids have not closed before.

His breath (so slight it seems

no breath at all) once ruffled the dark deeps

to sprout a world. Charmed by doves' voices,

the whisper of straw, he dreams,

hearing no music from his other spheres.

Breath, mouth, ears, eyes

he is curtailed who overflowed all skies,

all years. Older than eternity, now he

is new. Now native to earth as I am, nailed

to my poor planet, caught

that I might be free, blind in my womb

to know my darkness ended,

brought to this birth for me to be new-born,

and for him to see me mended

I must see him torn.

Our Senior Warden says….

The Christmas Season is

here! Thank you to all

who help facilitate the

celebration of the

wondrous season! A

special thank you to the Alter Guild for their work during this time of

year. The children are practicing for their Christmas program and music

has been chosen for the celebration. Thanks to Barbara Kohl for her work

with the music and the Lessons and Carols that is celebrated the Sunday

after Christmas. A very special thank you to Father Mark and Deacon

Merle who will be leading us during Advent and Christmas services. I’m

looking forward to the beautiful poinsettias which will be presented during

the greening of the church.

Our youth have been busy. Sunday School participants were a part of

our music on the first Sunday in November and are now rehearsing for the

Christmas program. Several of our youth went to the Diocesan “Beyond”

program. When you see one of the girls, ask her about duck tape! Thank

you Steph Ropp for taking them. Confirmation is being held in Colorado

Springs with other youth in the area and we have one participant, Dallas

Darcy. It’s a good program and we are pleased that Dallas is participating!

A message of the Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke states that the

blessings of the kingdom are available to ALL who will come to Christ by

faith. A committee has been formed to study how Christ Church makes

disabled folks comfortable and our compliance with the American

Disability Act. Members who have volunteered are: Fr. Mark, Kay

Bevens, Bryan Fredrickson, John Merriam, Gaylord Plaster, Bill Price,

Christopher Rock and Barbara Smith. I had an opportunity to talk with

Marie Carpenter who uses a wheelchair occasionally. She urges us to

consider remodeling the bathroom as soon as possible as it will give folks

in a wheelchair independence while using the facilities. Please let us know

your thoughts as to how we can upgrade our facilities to make everyone

welcomed. Think about it…the probability of all of us being in a

wheelchair at some time is high.

“Second Plate Offering on the Second Sunday”… Our SWEEPS

committee recommended that we take a second offering the second Sunday

of each month and give the money to a charity as part of our outreach. The

money that was collected in November was given to Mercy Today to help

feed the hungry in Canon City. December’s offering will be given to

Loaves and Fishes for their Christmas activities. If you have a charity that

you would like to support, please let us know and we will schedule a

“Second Sunday for the Second Offering.”

Stewardship…Thank you to all. Our Hospitality Ministry once again

provided us with their leadership in coordinating our potluck after our

church service. The Apostle Paul would be very pleased with Christ

Church as he was with churches in Corinth and Macedonia. II Corinthians

9: God provides "every blessing in abundance, so that by always having

enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work." (v.

8).

Advent Antiphons From Mary's sweet silence, Come, Word mutely spoken! Pledge of our real life, Come, Bread yet unbroken! Seed of the Golden Wheat, In us be sown. Fullness of true Light, Through us be known. Secret held tenderly, Guarded with Love, Cradled in purity, Child of the Dove, COME! Sr. M. Charlita, I.H.M.

Prayer Practice Praying With Pictures

There are many times when I cannot pray, when I

am too tired to read the gospels, too restless to have

spiritual thoughts, too depressed to find words for

God, or too exhausted to do anything. But I can still

look at [holy] images so intimately connected with

the experience of love. -Henri J.M. Nouwen

Images are part of our everyday lives. Henri

Nouwen writes in Behold the Beauty of the Lord,

“We are forever seeing. When we dream, we see.

When we stare in front of us, we see. When we

close our eyes to rest, we see. We see trees, houses,

roads and cars, seas and mountains, animals and

people, places and faces, shapes and colors. We see

clearly or vaguely, but always we find something to

see.”

Each of us values certain photographs, paintings

and other works of art. Take a moment to remember

a picture you have seen that moved you. As you sit

with it you see the lines, shapes, colors, textures,

shading. You really notice what is going on in the

picture. It is “saying something” to you. The artist

has done something marvelous. He or she has

communicated something that lies beyond words.

As you experience the work, something happens at

a deep level.

Images are powerful. They may depict

something beautiful or repugnant, peaceful or

violent, happy or sad, hopeful or despairing, loving

or hateful. All are part of the human condition.

Although we are bombarded daily with images,

to some extent we can control what we look at. In

fact, in the midst of the steady stream of raw images

we get from print and electronic media, “our

spiritual life requires us to consciously safeguard

that inner space where we keep our eyes fixed on

the beauty of the Lord.” Nouwen, Ibid.

We do this by sitting with holy images and

letting them speak to us. They may depict stories

from the Bible, Christ’s life and Passion, sacred

architecture, monastic gardens, photographs or

paintings of sacred places or faces, such as icons.

As we gaze at them in silent prayerful presence,

turning our full attention to God, the Spirit speaks to

us through the images.

On stewardship Sunday we sang the following

hymn called “Moved by the Gospel” by Jane Parker

Huber where the author asks the “Great Artist [to]

Order through Amazon and Support

El Hogar

Christ Church sponsors Martha Irene Sevilla Gonzalez at El

Hogar in Honduras. While doing your holiday shopping via

Amazon on-line, you can support Martha and the other 250

children at the four El Hogar sites. Amazon contributes 4% of

every purchase to El Hogar at no cost to you. Simply start at

www.elhogar.org. Scroll to the bottom left side of the home page

and click on the box entitled “Amazon.” Simple!

During the 11/1/2012 – 10/31/2013 fiscal year, Amazon

contributed $3,966 to El Hogar! This is equivalent to food for a

week for all 250 children, plus a teacher’s salary for two months,

plus school supplies!

If you are interested in further

information about El Hogar, visit the new

website www.elhogar.org or contact John

& Jocie Rohde, Mark Meyer, or Debi

Blackwell.

form our common life according to your will”:

Moved by the Gospel, let us move with every gift

and art.

The image of creative love indwells each human

heart.

The Maker calls creation good, so let us now ex-

press

With sound and color, stone and wood, the shape of

holiness. Bryan Fredrickson

BC:AD

This was the moment when Before

Turned into After, and the future's

Uninvented timekeepers presented arms.

This was the moment when nothing

Happened. Only dull peace

Sprawled boringly over the earth.

This was the moment when even energetic Romans

Could find nothing better to do

Than counting heads in remote provinces.

And this was the moment

When a few farm workers and three

Members of an obscure Persian sect

Walked haphazard by starlight straight

Into the kingdom of heaven.

U.A. Fanthorpe (1929-2009)

Rector The Rev. Mark D. Meyer

Deacon

The Rev. Merle Harrison Senior Warden

Barbara Smith

Junior Warden Bill Price

Treasurer

Walter Roche

Vestry

Robert Barnhill

Kay Bevens

Bryan Fredrickson

Bud Gentry

Connie Liptrap

Jim Maxon

Bill Price

Christopher Rock

Stephanie Ropp

Terry Squier

Acolyte Director:

Marnie Chapman

Centering Prayer: pb Walsh,

Nancy Kovalcik

Child Care Attendants

Michelle Cook

Coffee Hour: Bob & Earline

Barnhill

Episcopal Church Women:

Ann Roche

ECW Thrift House:

Lois Kitchell

Eucharistic Visitors:

Christopher Rock

Hospitality: Shirley Squier

Lectors: Mary Olson

Library: pb Walsh

New Child Montessori

School: Michelle Cook

Operation Christmas Child:

Ann Roche

Organist: Barbara Kohl

Parish Administrator:

Becky Jamison

Pastoral Care: Ann Roche

Prayer Chain: Donna Cooper

Risk Management:

John Merriam

Sexton: Larry Jamison

St. Gabriel’s Guild:

Sarah Baxter

Stewardship: Vestry

SWEEPS Council:

Mary Olson

United Thank Offering:

Audrey DeBekker

Ushers: John Merriam

Worship: Fr. Mark Meyer

Christ Church is on Facebook at http://facebook.com/ChristChurchCanonCity

Donate to our

Food Pantry

Please remember to add a few

food items to your grocery

basket each time

you shop and bring

your food offering

to church each

Sunday.

Debi Blackwell and Sally Plaster presented a discussion on how members of Christ

Church reached consensus during our recent renovation of the front pews and

vestibule.

Father Mark reported on the Diocesan Convention. Stewardship will be November

17 with one service and a potluck. Christ Church members are presenting “money

minutes”

Web Site: christchurchcanoncity.com

Faith Seeking Journey Blog: markdmeyer.wordpress.com

Bob Grieve’s Legacy Gift and Steph Ropp’s attendance enabled our youth to attend

“Beyond”

Barbara Smith reiterated the thought that one way to survive the present declining

participation in mainline churches is to make Christ Church indispensible to the

community as in being available for weddings and funerals.

Bill Price’s report discussed ADA requirements for our church, and repairs to be

made on our rental house. A committee is being formed to study the ADA

requirements.

SWEEPS report included plans for Stewardship Sunday, Christmas music, and a

second plate offering going to a charity.

Our finances are healthy and on track. Treasurer Walter explained the difference

between contributions and pledges. While one is up and the other down, they

balance each other and our finances are healthy.

I suddenly saw that all the time it was not I who had been seeking God, but God who had been seeking me. I had made myself the centre of my own existence and had my back turned to God. All the beauty and truth which I had discovered had come to me as a reflection of his beauty, but I had kept my eyes fixed on the reflecti on and was always looking at myself. But God had brought me to the point at which I was compelled to turn away from the reflection, both of myself and of the world which could on-ly mirror my own image. During that night the mirror had been broken, and I had felt aban-doned because I could no longer gaze upon the image of my own reason and the finite world which it knew. God had brought me to my knees and made me acknowledge my own noth-ingness, and out of that knowledge I had been reborn. I was no longer the centre of my life and therefore I could see God in everything.

Bede Griffiths (1906-1993)

Lessons & Carols

Morning Prayer

One Service Only

10:00 am

Sunday, Dec. 29, 2013

Fall Festival Fair Fall Festival Fair held November 2 was a FABULOUS

event! There were twelve individuals who priced items and

set up for the event. Thirty-nine parishioners contributed

hand-made crafts, baked goods, chili/soup, and/or attic

treasures. Twenty-six individuals worked during the event

welcoming and assisting visitors, selling tickets for lunch

and the drawing, and serving lunch to about seventy

folks. Father Mark Meyer entertained the group

from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with uplifting piano music.

The beautiful quilt made by Jocie Rohde and Kendal

Abbott was won by Lois Kitchell. The stunning black and

white photograph by Barbara Smith and Jim Maxon was

won by Lovina Mack. The elegant photograph of pink

flowers by Shirley Squier was won by Deeann Jayson. All

left over attic treasure and food items were contributed to

the Episcopal Thrift House, Loaves & Fishes, and Mercy

Today.

$2,281.50 was deposited from

this event. This money

supports church outreach. In

the past, it has supported

mission work in the Lakota

Indian Reservation in South Dakota, mission to Juarez,

Mexico to build a home for a family, and a mission team to

El Hogar Agricultural School/Residence in Honduras. (For

those interested in statistics, Fall Festival Fair raised

$3,069 in 2012; $2,215 in 2011; and $1,868 in 2010.)

Fall Festival Fair 2013 was, indeed, financially

successful! Perhaps even more important was the fun and

cooperative spirit that was present among the many

volunteers from our church . . . . That was special! Mark

your calendars for Nov. 7, 2014 and plan to be a part of

next year’s event.

Many, many thanks to ALL who made 2013 Fall

Festival Fair happen from the Steering Committee

consisting of Debi Blackwell, Donna Cooper, Sally

Merriam, Ann Scharich, and Shirley Squier.

Ubuntu Team

The “Ubuntu Team” is

an open and inclusive

group of caring people in

the Canon City area that actively works for

social justice and community service issues.

Ubuntu Team provides support and

encouragement for members working for

social justice and compassionate action; is a

place to network with others with an “activist”

or “mission” bent; and has as its spiritual core

the believe that we are all One in the spirit—

when one suffers, we all suffer, when one is

lifted up, we are all elevated (Ubuntu).

Some of our past and present projects

include the “Bridges to Life” restorative

justice program working with prison inmates,

our recent series of educational classes on

Understanding Islam”, and providing free

counseling to Medicare D recipients on

selecting the most advantageous health plans.

We continue to discuss, develop and

implement new service strategies at our

monthly meetings.

We normally meet the last Tuesday of the

month, but will be skipping December due to

the holidays. Pencil in our next meeting,

Tuesday, Jan. 28. Charles Wallace, Ubuntu secretary and Rev Bob

Kippley, Ubuntu Team facilitator

Conservative, Liberal, or Transformed?

As many have said in varying ways, you can (1) Do the old thing with the old mind (“conservatives”), (2) Do a new thing

with the old mind (“liberals”), or (3) Do a new thing with a new mind. Only the third way deserves to be called authentic

religion. The other two stances often avoid the necessary dying to self which is called transformation. The new mind

could be called the contemplative mind. The new thing is

always love—at ever-deeper levels. Richard Rohr

Highlights from the 2013 ECW Thrift House Annual Report

Christ Church ECW recently filed its 2013 Annual Report which

indicated that members had earned $6,086.96 for 659.5 hours of service

to the Thrift House. This amount represented a $2,072.70 increase in

revenue over the previous year’s earnings. Christ Church ECW members

volunteered their time and service to enable the ECW to combine some

previously transferred funds and allocated $6,367.07 to outside agencies,

organizations or groups dedicated to religious and charitable purposes and

works. Those funded represented local, state, national, and international

entities that adhere to the principles of the Thrift House profit spending

guidelines.

The following identifies 17 entities received ECW funding allocations

for the 2013 annual year: Mercy Today $850; Heart of Colorado C.A.S.A.

$500; Fremont Regional Hospice $100; Sangre de Cristo Hospice $100;

Loaves & Fishes $950; First Methodist Saturday Suppers $250; El Hogar $600; Boys & Girls Club $300;

Humane Society Animal Shelter $150; Episcopal Relief & Development $147.88; Prison Ministries $200;

Starpoint $200.00; Samaritan’s Purse (Operation Christmas Child) $300; Colorado E.C.W. $192.65; Fr.

Mark’s Discretionary Fund $215; Baby Blanket materials fund $200.00; and the Prayer Blanket materials fund

$223.00.

In addition, their volunteer the ECW members allocated $888.54 to outreach within Christ Church which

covered the costs of the materials and bibles needed for the Faith Seeking Journey class; installation costs for

a slightly used stove for the parish hall donated by Lois and George Kitchell; and a new vacuum for the parish

hall.

Although the 659.5 hours of services is impressive it does not accurately reflect of the total hours

volunteered. Approximately 100 hours were acquired primarily by Lois Kitchell who didn’t work at the Thrift

House but from her home marking and transporting books to be sold at the Thrift House and Kendall Abbott

who not only worked at the Thrift House but took home additional sewing and mending completed at her

home. It is safe to estimate that each volunteer logged in addition to the 550 hours another 2 hours in travel

time. Thus, a minimum of an additional 1100 hours were actually donated by the volunteer plus the cost of

transportation for 29 trips to Colorado Springs. This figure doesn’t include weekly trips by George and Lois

Kitchell to transport books marked by Lois at home for sale at Thrift House. Thus, a total of 2000 hours of

volunteer service is a more accurate estimate of volunteered service.

Nine Christ Church E.C.W. members volunteered, on a regular basis, the 2nd and 3rd Fridays of each

month plus additional days coordinated by Debi Blackwell and Ann Roche. We also had a member of St.

Michael’s Church volunteering occasionally. Ann Scharich had recently been added to our numbers and we

are seeking more members to assist us in this invaluable outreach activity. Please contact Ann Roche,

President, at 275-8788 or Shirley Squier, Treasurer, at 269-3455 if interested. We also accept male volunteers

at the Thrift House. It is truly an enjoyable use of your time and talents.

Thank you Many thanks to Shirley Squier and the Hospitality Committee for hosting the

Consecration Sunday luncheon. The food was delicious, the tables beautiful, the hospitality felt deep down. A true family meal!

Thanks to all who have made a financial pledge to Christ Church for this next year. For those of you who have not yet done so, you still have that opportunity!

Thanks to Vicky Valentine for offering her services as our newest acolyte! Thanks to Sunday School teachers Jennifer Contreras and Dustin Darcy, and to Nursery supervisors

Michelle Cook and Jessica Alire for all your hard work on behalf of our Christ Church children!

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

US POSTAGE PAID CAÑON CITY CO

81212 PERMIT NO. 133

Christ Episcopal Church “To grow as disciples in Christ, prayerfully opening our hearts and minds to joy and service.”

816 Harrison Avenue Cañon City, CO 81212

Return Service Requested

Tuesday, Dec 24 7 pm Family Eucharist/Pageant 10:30 pm Christmas Eve Service

Wednesday, Dec 25

10 am Christmas Day Service

Sunday, Dec 29 ONE SERVICE ONLY

10 am Lessons & Carols/Morning Prayer