Rejoice
May 2018
118 N. Washington St. ✠ Alexandria, VA 22314 www.HistoricChristChurch.org ✠ 703-549-1450
Youth Sunday in the Age of the March for Our Lives By Santiago Rodriguez, Youth Minister
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he young women and men leading the March for Our Lives have shown us that teens know how to lead a liturgy, how to preach, and how to inspire us to go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit. On May 6, Christ Church will celebrate Spring Youth Sunday – a worship experience, largely organized and led by the youth of our parish. This celebration features youth acolytes, singers, ushers, vergers, readers, intercessors, chalice bearers, officiants, and preachers. During the liturgy, we hear how our youth experience the love of God and how that love is molding their lives. They share their view of the world and how they see God working in it. They show us how the love and support of our community of faith forms them and transforms them. We are delighted to announce that we will have two preachers for Youth Sunday! Paige St. John will be our preacher at the 8:00 a.m. service. Emily Boehm will be our preacher at 10:00 a.m. Active participation and leadership in our liturgy is not something that is relegated to one or two Sundays a year. Youth Sunday is a celebration of Christ Church’s model for youth participation in the life of the church – year-round. We want our youth to be involved in the life of their parish, and our parish community to be involved in the life of our youth. We help our youth to
Paige at the 2017 OLR trip; Emily helps lead worship during Spring Youth Sunday in 2017
discern their diverse gifts through positive contributions to the church. We invite them to serve regularly in all aspects of worship (and service) as a way to develop their many gifts and talents. Youth Sunday is a way for our parish community to celebrate our youth, and for our youth to celebrate their parish community. Thankfully, our youth have great models of leadership in our community of faith: parents, friends, Sunday school teachers, youth leaders, lay ministers, and clergy. As a youth minister, I am especially grateful for the faithful lay leaders who mentor our youth. Our many and talented non-ordained leaders have a strong impact on our youth. And our youth have a strong and lasting impact on those who get involved in their lives. Our parish
leaders teach our youth about leadership (through the ways we lead and the ways we fail to lead). Our youth inspire our leaders and help them to renew their commitment to mission and ministry. Leadership (in life, service, and worship) requires practice. It is a great blessing to provide our youth with many opportunities to practice leading. Youth are the church of tomorrow and today and yesterday. The more opportunities we give our youth to lead, the more we enrich their lives, our church, and the world. Our youth are always eager and ready to lead. Every time we help them to lead and to participate actively, they seize the moment and they inspire us to go forth into the world, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit.
Rejoice is the official monthly publication of Christ Church, Alexandria, Virginia, an Episcopal church in the Diocese of Virginia. The Rt. Rev. Shannon Johnston Thirteenth Bishop of Virginia The Rt. Rev. Susan Ellyn Goff Bishop Suffragan The Rt. Rev. Robert Wilkes Ihloff, Bishop Associate Vestry Emily Bryan, Senior Warden Dave Riggs, Junior Warden Abas Adenan, Jane Baird, Nancy Carson, Kelley Brooke Hostetler, Steve Humphrey, Jim Lafley, Kevin Metz, Anne Shine, Sandra Thompson, Julie Zahn Ken Knapp, Treasurer Bill Baker, Assistant Treasurer Clergy The Rev. Dr. Noelle York-Simmons, Rector The Rev. Heather VanDeventer, Associate Rector The Rev. Dr. Lyndon Shakespeare, Associate Rector The Rev. Dr. Richard Jones Parish Visitor The Rev. Dr. Diane Murphy, Rev. Dr. William B. Roberts Priest Associates Director of Music M. Jason Abel Christ Church embodies God’s unbounded love by embracing, liberating, and empowering people, whoever you are and wherever you find yourself on your journey of faith. The Rejoice deadline is the third of the month preceding publication. Please email proposed articles to mbracco@historicchristchurch.org. Those accepted are subject to editing for length and content. Susan Hahn edits Rejoice while Craig Keith provides design and layout. Carol Donlan gives her time and talent as an advisor. Meredith Bracco is the staff liaison.
@historiccc
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Visiting Choir Needs Your Help
n Monday, June 18, the choir from The Choir School at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Charlotte, North Carolina will perform a concert in the church at 7:30 as part of their summer tour. We have agreed to host these choristers for one night. If you might be able to provide housing for one night,
June 18, for two young choristers (or more!), it would be GREATLY appreciated. We will ask you to take the choristers after their concert back to your homes, and then return them the following morning. If you can provide assistance in this, please contact Jason Abel at jabel@ccalex.org.
An Update from the Relocation Committee By John Douglass and Melinda Hudson, Committee Co-Chairs
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he Vestry formed the Memorial Relocation Committee to make a recommendation for a new location for our memorial tablets, which were installed in the church nearly 150 years ago. The Committee was asked to do three things: 1) recommend an appropriate place and manner to display the memorials that will be dignified, respectful, accessible and present an opportunity to tell a more inclusive greater historical context than is possible in our worship space; 2) recommend explanatory text to accompany the tablets to better convey our history, and 3) inform our discovery and
discernment by consultation with the wider parish. We have been meeting regularly and are making good progress. We have been fact finding, praying, discerning, and discussing. We have identified a number of potential locations for the tablets and have developed criteria to evaluate each one. We are drafting explanatory text to accompany them. We want to hear from you. You can reach us on our email anytime— relocation@historicchristchurch.org. Better yet—let’s talk! You’ll see us at every service and gathering wearing a “Let’s Talk” button. Most important, we’re asking for your prayers and your support as we work to find an appropriate new home for the memorials.
No Joke. Committees Can Light New Paths and Find Common Ground By the Rev. Dr. Noelle York-Simmons, Rector
the work of the church in community, they remind us that we are reliant on each other for everyhere are many anthing in our common swers to the joke life, and they keep us “How many Episcopalians from believing that any does it take to screw in one person’s opinion is a light bulb?” Here are a more important than few: others are. • Three: one to change For the last four the bulb and two to months, we have been talk about how bulb watching the work of changing is a timethe Relocation Comhonored tradition in mittee as they have our parish. thought, listened, • Two: one to change the bulb and researched, discussed, and prayed one to mix the cocktails. over their assignment to recommend • Twelve: we do not change light to the vestry a new location for our bulbs without a committee memorial tablets. This is a group of meeting and a resolution on the people whose individual views and changing of bulbs. perspectives vary widely but have This last one is my favorite. We come together to incorporate the Episcopalians are famous for our com- suggestions and concerns of the conmittees. Parish leaders work hard gregation and to find the common to create well-balanced committees ground among them. We are grateful populated by thinkers and doers, long- for their listening hearts, their disrange planners and short-term probciplined approach and their spirit of lem solvers. Committees help us do Christian community.
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If you still have comments you would like to make to the relocation committee, offered in the spirit of love and of kind candor, please send them to relocation@historicchristchurch.org. They will be able to receive comments until May 12. The committee will be delivering their recommendation to the vestry later this month at which point the vestry will prayerfully consider their recommendation and then vote on the new location, ensuring again that the weight of this important decision does not rest with any one person. As the Relocation Committee is concluding their good work, the History Committee and Campus Committee are both picking up steam exploring the stories we can tell about our rich, deep, and wide history and also looking at new ways of telling those stories. It is and exciting time to be a part of our parish community. Please continue to keep all the members of our Christ Church community—and its hard-working committees! — in your prayers.
Welcome Our New Associate Rector, The Rev. Dr. Lyndon Shakespeare By Susan L. Hahn, Communications Committee
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he Rev. Dr. Lyndon Shakespeare, our new Associate Rector, arrived on Sunday, April 22. In informing the Parish about him, the Rev. Dr. Noelle York-Simmons said he will lead our adult faith formation programs and work closely with pastoral care, in addition to regular clergy duties. In her note to the parish, Noelle shared that Lyndon is a gifted teacher and preacher, and that he speaks eloquently about understanding the faith journey over the lifetime of Christian formation. “I look forward to working with
him to create multi-generational opportunities for our parish to learn and grow in the light of Christ,” Noelle added.
A native of Australia, Lyndon graduated with a degree in psychology from Wheaton College and then worked in mental health in Kansas City. He attended the Virginia Theological Seminary and has served at Christ Church Georgetown, Holy Comforter in Vienna, St. Francis in Great Falls, and St Paul’s on K Street. He also served as Rector at All Saints’ Memorial in Navesink, New Jersey and as interim rector at St. Anselm’s in Shoreham, New York. Lyndon’s PhD thesis, written while as a member of the Archbishop’s Examination in Theology, has been published in the Veritas Series of Cascade continued on page 5
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When Our Lives Intersect, That’s Reason to Celebrate By Claire Haymes and Pat Henkel, Refugee Ministry Support Team
“How did you two meet?”
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hat’s often a question posed when people see friends laughing and chatting together, but can’t for the life of them fathom how that friendship came to be. Thanks be to God that the Refugee Ministry at Christ Church is bringing people together in an irresistible way, that makes the “How did you two meet?” question really code for “And how can I get a piece of that?” We give thanks for our good friends Solomon and Yrgalem and their children Lulya, Elshaday and Adonay, and for the fact that our lives intersected a couple of years ago. Newly arrived in Alexandria, having fled from Eritrea back in 2016, Solomon and his family had applied for political asylum and were waiting. For Solomon and his family, theirs was an active, busy waiting: looking for opportunities to be settled; to make life here work; to learn the ways of this society and culture; to find their place. They were active and cheerful, which is no mean feat, considering their story of flight and seeking refuge here. Each member of their family was living and breathing brave resilience when we were asked to connect with them after they had found their way to the Christ Church Lazarus Ministry. Uncertain of even how to pronounce their names, but eager to see how we might be of assistance, we explored with Solomon and his family where they could use a friend. Just being part of U.S. society equips you to guide someone else to do the same. When situations arise beyond your means, there are resources in the community—some they identified, some we and our fellows in ministry identified—to help welcome the stranger. Page 4 ✠ Rejoice ✠ May 2018
Our own day-to-day knowledge, backed up by strategic financial support from Christ Church, helped us navigate the challenges of their getting settled and selfsufficient—rent, resumes, asylum interviews, preschool, transportation, language lessons, job postings, interview etiquette and groceries. They were proactive, creative and industrious throughout. We were privileged to be able to brainstorm with them and help identify ways to navigate the obstacles or simply be at the celebration with them when another hurdle was cleared.
When situations arise beyond your means, there are resources in the community—some they identified, some we and our fellows in ministry identified— to help welcome the stranger. We found ourselves treated to Eritrean food, culture, thought, entrepreneurship, humor and hospitality as we visited together: youth group events, day trips, impromptu tent pitching, lunches, wandering and chatting, celebrations, photo sharing, video games, texts, emails, phone calls, laughter and smiles. Thanks be to God for the shared abundance of it all! Solomon came with qualifications that led to solid work opportunities, Yrgalem began immediately to learn English and train, also picking up work quickly with her natural entrepreneurial spirit. The children applied themselves at school and received support from their grand-
mother at home, the school community, and their parents. A couple of weeks ago we helped our friends load a truck full of belongings and bid them farewell as they embark on the next stage: a new home, job, and school in Indiana. This is a wise and sustainable move for them, a real landmark on becoming established in a new land, a testimony to their resourcefulness, determination and skills. We are
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Books, titled Being the Body of Christ in the Age of Management. From 2011 to 2013 Lyndon was Director of Program and Ministry at Washington National Cathedral, where he led the Cathedral’s education, formation, and public dialogue programs. Although Lyndon has barely had time to learn his way around, he has stepped in at full speed on his first Sunday with us. Asked what he most enjoyed about his first Sunday at Christ Church, Lyndon responded, “it was a delight to be so warmly welcomed into a community where worship, learning, and service are practiced with generosity and grace.”
pleased for them, will miss them, and are forever tied to them in friendship. Thanks be to God when our stories intersect! God give us grace to walk paths we didn’t know existed and share them with brothers and sisters we’ve yet to meet. If you want to gain new friendships that expand and enrich your daily life, as well as actively welcoming refugees to our community, contact Melanie Gray mgray@ccalex.org.
Rites of Passage
Births • Adrianna, daughter of Sara Hill Deaths • Jean Ziegler • Doris Kerber Grab • Edward Giza • Richard Giza • Ann Cole Tylander • Andy Turner • Laura Bryant Baptisms • Ames Calvin Baird • Bridget Hannah Floyd • Wyatt Ackley Vanzant • Caroline Lee Murphy • Evelyn Virginia Maddox Weddings • Lauren Quesenberry & Amanda Brown • Sarah Gilliand & Sean Sweeney
Save the Date: Bishop’s visit June 3 with Bishop Shannon Johnston
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One Girl, One Letter: Make a Difference in the Life of a Girl at Our Little Roses in 45 Minutes By Melanie Gray, Director of Missions and Outreach.
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oin us for letter writing and fellowship on Sunday, May 27th, both before and after the 10:00 service, to create the gift of personal letters for the residents at Our Little Roses in San Pedro Sula, Honduras. Parishioners who have been to Our Little Roses will be on hand to share stories with you. We will share letters the girls have written back to us, and write new letters for them that will be delivered this summer by our mission team. All are welcome to participate by with words of encouragement and artistic creations of crayon-crafted drawings. We will have a variety of writing supplies available. In just 45 minutes you can make a difference in someone’s life. This is something we can all do. Please come. Contact Melanie Gray mgray@ccalex.org with any questions or if you would like to help with this event.
Come Glean With Us At the Old Town Farmers’ Market! gleaning process, answer questions, and share in some fellowship before gleaning at 11:45 a.m. You will have the opportunity to meet our on-theground coordinator Brandie Mae Grubb as the Hunger-Free Alexandria representative. If you feel called to volunteer an hour on Saturdays to glean, please contact Stephanie Roberts Windus at stepharoberts@gmail.com. This opportunity is open to all—especially families! See you at the Farmer’s Market!
By Stephanie Roberts Windus, Gleaning Volunteer Coordinator
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ith warmer weather FINALLY approaching, there is no better way to kick off the season than to join Christ Church at the Old Town Farmers’ Market for gleaning fresh produce! This Outreach opportunity is a partnership among Christ Church, St. Paul’s, the City of Alexandria, and Hunger Free Alexandria to rescue or glean food from the Old Town Farmers’ Market vendors. The mission of this program is to connect fresh, locally-grown produce with food pantries, homeless shelters, and senior centers that provide food to those in need. Market vendors often have unsold produce at the end of the market day or just want to donate to the cause. Each Saturday from June to November, a group of volunteers will gather to collect, bag, and haul produce from those vendors. The produce gleaned by Christ Church and St. Paul’s is Page 6 ✠ Rejoice ✠ May 2018
shared and distributed among their respective Lazarus food pantries. This year’s gleaning season will take place from June 2, 2018 to November 17, 2018—rain or shine. We will be kicking off the season on June 2 at 10:45 a.m. at the Market Square entrance to City Hall to meet with volunteers from both Christ Church and St. Paul’s to review the
2017 Old Town Farmers’ Market Food Rescue Statistics 11 market vendors participated 5712 pounds of food in 6 months were rescued Value of food rescued was $18,9973.84 ($3.32/pound of donated food according to the Virginia Famer’s Market News Service ) Served two food pantries, a low income senior housing complex, and a woman’s transitional shelter in Alexandria, Virginia.
We’re Glad You’re Here Today! By Susan Davis, Welcome Team Coordinator
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irst-time visitors to Christ Church determine quickly, usually based on their initial visit, whether they want to return, attend regularly, and, perhaps, become members. How do we let newcomers know “We’re glad you’re here today” and encourage them to join us for the immediate and even long-term future? With a friendly “Hi,” you could be a Greeter and introduce yourself to visitors entering the church gates and sanctuary doors. You can also train to become an Usher, helping visitors find a pew and making sure they have a guide to the service for use with the Book of Common Prayer and Hymnal and a copy of Parish Life When the Peace is shared during
the service, each of us can leave our pews, mingle, smile, and warmly clasp hands. Beginning now, a new way to welcome newcomers will be added, Christ Church Swag Bags containing information and a few small gifts will be in the portico! You can help! Identify a visitor, give them a gift bag, and bring them to coffee hour. Introduce your new friends to others and share what you enjoy about Christ Church. Record their name and email this contact information to Susan Davis at susandavis121@me.com who co-ordinates the Welcome Team. Welcome Team members will contact and thank visitors for coming, and begin a personal connection by inviting visitors to accompany them to ser-
vices, events, or activities of mutual interest. Could you help provide follow-up communication and friendship with a visitor by becoming a member of the Welcome Team? Please contact Susan Davis at susandavis121@me.com. Christ Church needs parishioners of all ages (young couples, for example) to match with newcomers. Could you make visitors feel welcome by occasionally serving as a Greeter? To become a member of this team, email Sally Chadbourn at schadbou@aol.com. Christ Church seeks children and parents, as well as adults, to serve as Greeters. No experience, except enthusiasm, needed and no fixed schedule to follow! All are welcome!
United Thank Offering May 13 Shares Prayers and Thanksgiving By Cindi Bartol, UTO Coordinator
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hat are you thankful for today? Is it good health or access to medicine that increases your wellbeing? What about the warm sunshine that nourishes our trees and flowers and provides a glowing paint box of color to our world? Don’t forget to include on your list the importance of a church home that is open and welcoming like our own Christ Church. Saying thankful prayers for all the small things that bring you joy each day encourages a feeling of generosity within us. This generosity can be shared through your gifts to The United Thank Offering, a ministry in the Episcopal Church that reminds us to count our thanksgiving places and to make a financial gift in honor of such gratitude. This gifting takes place in Episcopal churches throughout the
world to respond to the needs of others that cannot be accomplished without many small gifts being used together. Last year’s grants were used within the Anglican Communion to improve the environmental status of a church campsite, for a recycling center, and for turning idle land into community gardens with teaching about farming and healthy eating. This summer, gifting from 2017, which totaled nearly $1.3 million, will be allocated by the women delegates to the Episcopal Church Women’s Triennial Meeting which gathers at the same time as the church’s General Convention in Austin, Texas. Allocations are always
a season behind until we learn how much is available. Whether you place coins in the blue collection boxes each day that are available for you to pick up from the table outside the church, or use the envelopes provided in our pews and offering packets at ingathering times, we hope you will support this important ministry of the Episcopal Church at any of our services on May 13. Please make you generous checks payable to Christ Church and add UTO in your memo line. Blessings often follow when ours are shared with others.
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Celebrate Special People in May with Treasures from the Gift Shop By Kristine Lebras, Gift Shop Volunteer
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ay brings two big events to celebrate, Mother’s Day on Sunday May 13, and baptisms on May 20. Come to the Gift Shop and select one of our beautiful cards and choose from a wonderful variety of gifts to add to these and other celebrations. You’ll find something for every budget that will make your mother feel appreciated—perhaps you’ll want to pamper her with coffee in bed on her special day. We offer a charming tray and matching mug from the Gift Shop! Mom can further pamper herself with a variety of products from This-
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tle Farms such as enriching body lotions, soothing body creams, or healing oils which the women of Thistle Farms developed to help regain calm, enhance immunity, or promote increased energy. We now carry beautiful and stylish lightweight vests to add to her wardrobe in addition to our popular selection of spring scarves. We also have a wide variety of traditional choices and prices in jewelry. The Shop also has a wide range of Baptism gift ideas for the little ones. Our baby cups are a beautiful keepsake that can be passed down for generations. Crafted from pewter by a company in Salisbury, Maryland, these highly polished cups come in a variety of styles with prices ranging from $43 to $65. We also have a new
shipment of adorable baby spoons made of pewter at a cost of under $20. Among other popular treasures are Baby’s First Bible, wonderfully plush stuffed animal or our snuggly lamb with an embroidered cross. We even have a beautiful baby blanket for under $25! Know an adult being baptized? Don’t forget that you can order a Book of Common Prayer with their name embossed on it. A truly personal gift for an important milestone in life. After all the wonderful gifts you are buying for others this month, be sure to treat yourself to one of our delicious jams and jellies, or to one of the locally made chocolate bars or toffee treats. You’ll be glad you did!