Oct. 27, 2020 Faith, Hope, and Love

And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  1 Corinthians 13 

October 2020

Dear Christ Church Family Member, 

This year has been full of challenges, from the pandemic to economic trouble, to calls for racial justice and equality.  Despite these challenges, we have continued to carry on. We put our faith and hope in a God of unconditional love. We are all sadly feeling the temporary suspension of in-person worship and fellowship that is so basic to our Church family life. It may even seem that Christ Church has gone into hibernation but nothing could be further from the truth.  

With the spiritual support of Father Mike, and Deacon Tom Morelli, and the creative dedication of our ministry lay leaders, office staff, Head of School, and a legion of volunteers, we have shared and strengthened our faith through a growing number of virtual gatherings. We have developed very effective worship, shared fellowship, and Christian education online. We continue to reach out to those in need. We share hope and love through numerous ministries such as the online backpack drive, online pie social for Vida Joven, Saint Mark’s food pantry, and Christ Church Day School.  

Our Church and Family Ministries continue with active online meetings of Youth Groups and Adult Formation programs. Our supporting Committees; Vestry, Property, Finance, Investment, Service Ministry, Daughters of the King, Knitting Ministry, and others actively maintain the vibrant life of the Church. In August the Thrift Shop ‘opened’ in the form of outdoor Saturday markets, raising over $2500 so far. We have resumed meeting for outdoor worship in the courtyard at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays. A CCDS Scholarship Fund drive is underway to help provide financial aid to deserving CCDS students.  

In addition, our Call Committee has met weekly on Zoom faithfully discerning, with an abundance of hope and love, for a new rector, and we have faithfully prayed each week for the same. God is faithful and we look toward a hopeful future of welcoming a new rector and continuing to share our love with neighbors, near and far through our various ministries. 

Stewardship is about being a faithful disciple of Christ, responding to God’s grace with a grateful and generous heart. We are stewards of God’s creation and called to love our neighbors. Stewardship is sometimes viewed as simply an annual fund-raising drive in the Fall. It’s true that actively pledging is essential for our Vestry to develop a budget for the operation and ministries of Christ Church in the coming year. But it is so much more than that.  

To be truly effective it must be an ongoing, year-round expression of our dedication to maintaining and growing the ministries of Christ Church. I’ve listed a few but there are many opportunities for you to be active in terms of time and talent as well as treasure even during this difficult time. I welcome you to prayerfully consider what you can share to continue to spread God’s work in Faith, Hope, and Love. 

I invite you to join us at our online service on October 18th  for our “Faith, Hope, and Love” kickoff.  

Yours in Christ,

Paul Laedlein, Senior Warden

My 2021 PLEDGE