December 2013

Dear Friends in Christ,

Advent is probably my favorite season of the church year. It marks the beginning of a new church year – a time when we can start fresh, to put our lives into perspective in relationship to God, and the love and blessings that God has given each of us, particularly in the Incar-nation. No longer is Advent seen as a peni-tential season in the Episcopal Church. In-stead, Advent is a time of preparation, and expectant waiting, for the coming of Christ anew into our lives and hearts. It is a time each year when we prepare ourselves to recall that moment when God entered into our world in the form of an infant, and as he grew he helped us all learn who God is, and how God wants us to live in God’s world. Advent is also a time each year when we can prepare ourselves to welcome him and invite him to bring light and healing into the dark places of our souls.

Many people have a desire to experience this season of Advent in a deep way, but the chal-lenge in doing so is that we all tend to become even more busy than usual during the weeks leading up to Christmas. The powerful gift of Advent is that it offers us light in the midst of darkness…hope in the midst of despair…liberty in the midst of captivity…peace in the midst of war or conflict. But how can we ex-perience the special nature of this holy season in the midst of everything that we are trying to do?

The first step is to recognize that we want and need a savior…that we have places in our lives and hearts where we are experiencing dark-ness, despair, captivity, and war. Recognizing our own unique version of these struggles is the first Grace of Advent. And how do we do this when we are frantically busy trying to do all that must be done in this season of the year? We can take those small but regular mo-ments in our days when we have a few min-utes…when we’re in the shower, getting dressed, walking down the stairs, getting cof-fee, driving to work, doing laundry, walking from one meeting to another, flossing our teeth, getting ready for bed. Often in these moments we are “daydreaming” and our minds are wandering. If we try to focus our thoughts during these times into an examina-tion of our true feelings, we may well begin to recognize that we can benefit by having Jesus be our companion on the way, our guide, and the healer of our wounded places.

And then we need to try and trust what will happen if we begin to relinquish our attempts to control our lives, and relax into letting our-selves be led where God wants to take us. The truth is that God is going to direct the course of our lives anyway, and life just tends to be easier when we stop fighting the tide and go along with the flow of the living stream, confident that a higher power knows better than we do what’s best for us and for others.

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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

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We don’t have to jump with both feet into the deep end…we can ease our way into this new kind of relationship with Jesus, one step at a time, surrendering just one worry, one situation, one painful thing to God, trusting that our Lord will bring that one thing to its most holy and healthy conclusion. And we can begin simply with a prayer that might go something like, “Lord Jesus I trust that bring light into my life, that you can give me hope as you free me and fill me with your grace. Thank you for helping me prepare for your coming this year. Come, Lord Jesus, come.”

The gift of this season of Advent is that we have a fresh start, a new season, in which to try again to make ready for the presence of Christ into our lives and our hearts. I pray that as we look deep within ourselves in this season, we will see that the light of Christ already burns within us – sometimes as a clear flame, and sometimes as simply the pilot light – and that whatever size the flame is, it can be burning just a little bit brighter at Christmas.

Canon Pat

ADVENT STUDY Canon Pat will offer an Advent Study on Sun-days from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., beginning on December 1. The one exception, in terms of time, will be December 8 when we do the Living Nativity, in which case Advent Study will take place over a light supper beginning at 4:30 p.m. Everyone is welcome! The theme is “Advent: A Savior for All People”. All interested folks, especially those who might need child-care, should contact Canon Pat as soon as possible. GLUTEN FREE COMMUNION If you are trying to keep a gluten free diet, you’ll be happy to know we now have gluten free communion wafers. Please advise Canon Pat if you would like to try this option. ~ PC

November 24: Stewardship Sunday and Thanksgiving Sunday Bring your pledge cards. Coffee and goodies will be served after 8:00 a.m. worship and a gala Thanksgiving coffee hour will be served after the 10:00 a.m. worship.

December 1: Advent Brunch All ladies are invited to brunch at Partners Café on First St. and Cove Avenue. The cost will be $20.00 cash. Call Bunny at 203.853.3004 for reservations. This will be a perfect way to relax before the holiday and Christmas rush!

December 1: Giving Tree Setup after 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. worship. This year children’s gifts will go to the Salvation Army for distribution. They request hats, gloves, mittens and scarves, as well as canned goods. Please no peanut butter, as they have all they need, but jelly is always welcome. The Sal-vation Army services 500 families in the area and the need is great! December 23 Aurora Community Eucharist All are welcome to join Canon Pat and the group headed to share the Eucharist at Aurora Senior Living Center at 10:30 a.m. ~ GD/BZ LIVING NATIVITY Christ Church will, once again, host a Living Nativity the night of the East Norwalk Christ-mas Tree Lighting on December 8th at 5:30 p.m. Canon Pat has been invited to deliver greetings and offer prayers for the tree lighting. We have secured the services of seasoned pro-fessionals to portray the stable animals. The live animals will be available for petting. The sanc-tuary will be open with Betty Belcher playing seasonal carols to greet frosty visitors with the warmth of Christ Church. Jesus, The Light of the World, will surely brighten our little corner of the earth. All are welcome, so be sure to in-vite strangers and friends. ~ DB

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MUSIC NOTES The long awaited debut of our Bell Choir will take place on Christmas Eve at 11:00 p.m. The Bell Choir includes some very faithful parishion-ers who have been rehearsing on Tuesday nights: Bridget Pritchard, Anita Hughes, Judy White, Marge Owens, Laura Deems, Barbara Felter, and Barabara Marzolf. They will be ring-ing during the procession; the sound of which should magnify throughout the church. We can’t wait to hear it! We invite new people to join the Bell Choir in January when rehearsals will resume and we will be working on our Easter and Spring music. The full choir will be singing at the 11:00 p.m. worship and will perform the Russian Carol Of The Bells, with real bells ringing. They will also sing the Vivaldi “Gloria”. The young people of the choir will be singing at 5:30 p.m. worship; as we will enjoy the Paper Bag Pageant. Folks attending the Living Nativity on Decem-ber 8 will be treated to familiar hymns on the organ as well as choir voices. Lessons, Carols, and Bells will greet those at-tending worship on December 29. ~BB

SHEPHERDING “Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.” (Matthew 10:40) The Shepherding Committee is looking for members, from both worship times, who would be willing to help greet newcomers to Christ Church. Time commitment is minimal, and no special skills are required. Please contact Liz Conti for more information. ~ MD/LC

PENNIES FOR HEAVEN The Altar Guild is happy to announce that the Pennies for Heaven campaign donated $415 worth of food to the Open Door Shelter of Norwalk. Thanks go to Chris Davis and Barbara Judson for their help in shopping and delivering the groceries; as well as to all who contributed pocket change. It certainly adds up! ~ SF

THOSE IN NEED There are many ways to help those without ade-quate nutrition, through the ministries of Christ Church. We will be getting together a group of interested folks in the near future, so, if you are interested in serving as part of the feeding min-istries, like Hungry Soul Breakfast and or Father Frank’s Table, please contact Don Burr at dburr@christchurcheastnorwalk.org. COMPLINE We will be trying on something different for the advent season—the order of Compline from the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. Ginny Deering and Marsha Dunn will join us for this exploration of our liturgical past. ALL are in-vited to take part on Tuesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. in these monastic inspired evening prayers, intended to offer a quiet and contemplative con-clusion of the day. ~ GD/MD CHURCH SCHOOL Our Christ Episcopal Church School boasts 15 students and 3 dedicated teachers. In addi-tion, our nursery is competently staffed by Shauna Goldman, with assistance from Eric Mordoff. The curriculum this year is “The Whole People of God”. It is lectionary based and allows the same themes to flow through the worship service and through the church school lesson each week. Being a relatively small church school with a wide age range can be challenging. But as one of our teachers, Bridget Pritchard, explains “This is really an intergenerational effort with adults and high school students interacting with middle schoolers and elementary aged kids. We all come from different places with different back-grounds and different schools. Somehow we find common ground and manage to laugh and learn”.

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The students spend 45 minutes in class and then join the congregation for communion. Each week Canon Pat prepares a children's homily (a tradition begun by Father Frank and greatly enjoyed by everyone) On many occasions the church school participates in the worship service, most notably on Veterans Day and on Kidz Day (the Sunday we honor our students). Our theme for outreach is “Church, Commu-nity, and the World”. In the past, the church school has held fundraisers to donate money to Heifer International, buy a grill for church pic-nics, and they have gathered clothing to give to the Norwalk Shelter. To help transition the older students into active parish life, we offer them the opportunity to minister to the congregation. For example, Eric Mordoff is a lay reader and Artie Egan has joined the Usher Corps. Lisa Helwig, who began teaching 3 years ago, says, “I enjoy seeing the kids learn and have fun with projects during the lessons. They really love to see how the lesson can apply to them at school and at home. Church school gives them another chance to talk with an adult besides a parent, and also to talk with their peers outside a regular school setting.” ~ JW

GENE SCOFIELD Sadly, we pass along the news of the passing of a longtime member of the Christ Church family. Eugene Scofield died November 13, at 88 years…69 of them married to Helen. Gene is predeceased by their son, Eugene “Genie” C. Scofield, Jr., who died in 1952 at the age of 3.

LITURGICAL ASSISTANTS SCHEDULE

ADVENT 12.1 .13

Lector: Eric Mordoff Chalice: Marge Owens

Intercessor: Barbara Judson Usher: Bob Cole

Altar Guild: Sarah French and Marsha Dunn

12.8 .13 Lector: Chris Davis

Intercessor: George Helwig Usher: Ed Zamm

Altar Guild: Marge Owens and Ruth Lovallo

12.15.13 Lector: Raelene Miller

Intercessor: Marge Owens Usher: Peter Hughes

Altar Guild: Barbara Judson and Chris Davis

12.22.13 Lector: Paul Mordoff Intercessor: Bunny Zamm

Ushers: Judy White and Sandy Kittredge Altar Guild: Lorraine Burr and Lorraine McLaughlin

CHRISTMAS Christmas Eve @ 5:30 Lector: Eric Mordoff Chalice: Bunny Zamm

Intercessor: Paul Mordoff

Christmas Eve @ 11:00 Lector: Barbara Judson Intercessor: Chris Davis

12.29.13 Lector: Jean Chappell,

Intercessor: George Helwig Usher: Bill Davis

Altar Guild: Sarah French and Marsha Dunn

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EPISCOPAL YOUTH EVENT Upwards of 1,000 teenagers will converge on Villanova University, in Philadelphia, PA, next

summer for the triennial Episcopal Youth Event. Please advise Canon Pat if you will have

completed 9th—12th grade by June of 2014, and desire to attend the event. Her nominations

are due Sunday, December 15. ~ DB

12.14.12 REMEMBRANCE 12.14.13

The church bell will toll at 6:00 p.m. in

remembrance of those lost in Newtown,

on December 14, 2012. All are welcome

to meet with candles at 5:45 p.m. on the

front steps of the church for prayers.

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OK, make that six children born “Unto Us”—the Christ Church family—this year. Yes, surely, a number of baptisms in the coming months; and more babies too!

Chelsea Andrea Denig June 8 @ 7:17 a.m. 7 lbs. 4 oz. @ 20.5”

@ Bridgeport Hospital

Chelsea’s parents are Stephanie and Nick

Denig. Her big sister is Sydney. You may have met one of her Grand-

mothers; our own Canon Patricia Coller.

Her paternal grandpar-ents are Nancy Denig

and the late Right Reverend Robert Denig,

7th Bishop of the Diocese of Western

Massachusetts.

Dominic John Vitti January 10 @

5 lbs. 7 oz. @ 18.5” @ Norwalk Hospital

Dominic’s parents are Amanda Vitti and

Omar Ali.

His maternal grandparents are

Liz and John Vitti; with great grandparents being

Bette and Ed Wiehe.

Dominic’s great-great grandparents are the late Alan and Eleanor Burr;

and Lorraine Burr.

Leia Anne Wohlfert July 15 @ 7:47 p.m. 8 lbs. 10 oz. @ 20.5” @ Norwalk Hospital

Leia is the daughter of former Vestry member,

Lindsay Burr, and Christian Wohlfert.

Leia’s maternal grand-parents are, Don (Senior Warden) and Beth Burr.

Great-grandparents are the late Alan and Eleanor Burr; and

Lorraine Burr.

Leia’s older sisters are Amber and Kate.

Logan Cole Bieling October 17 @ 5:02 a.m.

5 lbs. 2 oz. @ 18” @ Norwalk Hospital

Logan’s parents are Danielle (Treasurer) and Donald Bieling. Logan has a big sister, Emma.

Preston David Schiff July 8 @ 3:53 a.m.

7 lbs. 8 oz. @ Stamford Hospital

Preston’s parents are Peter and Lauren Schiff

His grandparents are Tommy and Ginny

(Altar Guild) Deering.

Harper Jacqueline Black March 25 @ 11:53 a.m.

8 lbs. @ 20” @ Stamford Hospital

Harper’s parents are Brooke and David Black;

and her big brother is Ethan. She was baptized at their new church, Nov. 3rd.

Chelsea, Leia, and Dominic will

bundle-up and portray Baby Jesus

for the Living Nativity on

December 8th, beginning at

5:30 p.m.

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Flower Memorials for Christmas

The Altar Guild is now accepting gifts for memorial Christmas flowers. Please look for this form in the Gathering Place and return it to Sarah French or place it in the offering plate by Decem-ber 15. Please print the message you would like published in the Christmas Eve order of worship.

Memorial Message: ____________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

Donor Message: ____________________________________________________________________________

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It is with excitement that we launch a new Christ Church icon, which

will be slowly introduced as part of our publications and other media.

The cross and dove will not com-pletely replace use of the 1920’s

era line-art drawing of the church tower, however the icon will be used for labels, branded items…

like shirts, mugs, and more.

Designed especially for Christ Church, East Norwalk—the cross and dove seeks to convey a bit of how the power of the Holy Spirit moves among us. ~ MD/LC/DB

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a living nativity and petting zoo for all ages—fun for the whole family

come in, out of the cold, and enjoy music in a candlelit sanctuary—open to all