Episcopal Visitation 2012

The Rt. Rev. David Bowman, Assisting Bishop of Ohio, will be worshiping with us at our 10:30 am service this Sunday! Three Christ Church young people will be confirmed and five adults will be received into the Episcopal Church or will renew their vows.  Please join me in praying for these faithful parishioners as we head into the weekend: Libby, Callie, Shanna, George, Deborah, Kathleen, Ryan, and Laura.

Confirmation

Plans for the new year are underway! Two weeks ago this crack team of catechists met at Panera's to plan for youth confirmation this fall. We are really looking forward to working with our amazing young people. Confirmation class is open to youth (grades eight, nine, and ten) who would like to deepen their faith and grow in their knowledge of the Church as preparation for the sacrament of confirmation.

On Homecoming Sunday, September 9th, at 9:45 am we will be meeting with interested youth and their parents in the Library to share our plans for confirmation classes which will begin on September 16th. We are reading My Faith, My Life again this year, which is a wonderful blend of information and spiritual formation.

Rev. Peter is offering an Inquirer's Class this fall as well for adults who would like to be confirmed or received into the Episcopal Church, or who might like to reaffirm their faith. This is always a meaningful and interesting experience for participants! Talk to me or to Rev. Peter for more information.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to the four young people who participated in the Rite 13 Celebration on Sunday! It was a moving ceremony celebrating a wonderful group of young adults! Thank you also to Rite 13 teachers Justin and Mischelle (pictured on either end of the youth above) for teaching our youth these past two years!

Rite 13 Celebration

Join us tomorrow at the 10:30 am service as we celebrate the Rite 13 Ceremony with four of our youth. Very loosely based on the Bar and Bat Mitzvah, the ceremony allows us to acknowledge publicly that the role these young people play in our faith community is changing. During the ceremony we will pledge to assist our youth in this transition to adulthood and offer our support to their parents. Be with us as we celebrate with these amazing teens and pray for them in the journey ahead!

A Joyful Morning!

It was a joyful morning at Christ Church! Today we welcomed our Bishop, the Right Reverend Mark Hollingsworth, Jr., to our parish as our preacher and celebrant! Thirteen parishioners confirmed or reaffirmed their faith, or were received into the Episcopal Church.  Among the Confirmation candidates were four much loved young people who have been members of our parish for most of their lives.  Can you figure out who is who from the photos above?

It was a wonderful morning! Congratulations and many blessings to all thirteen* parishioners who renewed their commitment to Christ today! 

* My apologies to the three parishioners not pictured in the photo above!

Success!

Here is an update on last weekend's 30 Hour Famine from our incredible youth leader, Katie Ong-Landini!  

300 candles representing the approximately 300 hunger related
child deaths that occur every 15 minutes. We extinguished them
one at a time during our Evening Prayer service.

30 Hour Famine was a Big Success!

Thank you to the many members of Christ Church who supported the youth group as they fasted and raised money for the 30 Hour Famine.  We had a lofty fundraising goal of $3,600 this year--twice what we raised in 2010--but the group far exceeded expectations.  The 10 youth group members and their 5 friends raised over $5,500, shattering our previous record of $2,600.  Many thanks to them for collecting funds from family, friends, neighbors, teachers and classmates.

After digging out from the storm, we spent Friday evening at the church playing a game which simulated life in a slum in India.  We also moved boxes and furniture into storage spaces, and worshiped together.  On Saturday, we went to our "adopted" Nursing Home where we spent several hours cleaning various public areas of the facility.  In addition, The Rev. Peter Faass held a service of Holy Eucharist for us later that afternoon.  (Thank you, Rev. Peter!)


We are already looking forward to next year's event!

Thank you to Christ Church's youth and their friends, for fasting, raising money, and serving our Church and community! Thank you also to our wonderful youth leaders, Mischelle, Brad, Jenn, and Michael for making this event such a success!

  

And finally a special thank you to Katie Ong-Landini who coordinated and led our 30 Hour Famine this year (and the previous SEVEN times!!).  Katie's commitment to our youth and her passionate concern for the environment are only outdone by her deep faith.  Katie is always the last person standing at these events - always ready to clean one more wall when the rest of us have collapsed in nearby chairs!  She is one amazing woman and we are so grateful for her ministry at Christ Church!

30 Hour Famine for Youth

Please keep Christ Church youth, their friends, and our youth leaders in your prayers Friday and Saturday as they take on the 30 Hour Famine!  This is our 8th year doing the famine.  Youth will begin fasting at 1:00 pm Friday and will meet at the Church at 6:00 pm for an overnight.  Friday night they will participate in a poverty simulation game, do some work around the Church, gather for prayer, and finish the evening with movies and games.  Saturday they will spend time visiting with residents and do some cleaning at our local "adopted" nursing home, gather for communion with Rev. Peter, and at 7:00 pm they will break their fast with a celebratory feast!

It isn't too late to sponsor our youth. Visit their team web page for more information.  Last year, our youth raised $1800 for hungry people around the world. This year they have set a lofty goal of $3600! Knowing our youth, and knowing the parish I think they just might make it!  :)