Recently in News Category

Palm Sunday (Mar. 28 this year), the final Sunday before Easter Sunday, marks the beginning of Holy Week. Click HERE for the complete Holy Week schedule at Christ Church.

The Vestry has elected the following officers for 2010: Reid Jones, Sr. Warden; Catherine Cox, Jr. Warden; Suzy Lamb, Clerk; Jim Cain, Treasurer.


 

The immediate response from the Christ Church Vestry was to encourage our parishioners to provide initial monetary response to Episcopal Relief & Development (ER&D), which has agents and channels already in Haiti. Checks made payable to Christ Church with the memo "Haiti - ER&D" will go to ER&D and 100% will go to the short-term needs in Haiti. In response to this first appeal, Christ Church Outreach Ministries (CCOM) has approved the immediate disbursement of $4,521 in disaster relief funds to ER&D for immediate assistance to the people of Haiti.   

 In addition to this initial action, CCOM has begun working with agencies with which we have existing relationships to provide financial and other aid to the people of Haiti. In the past Christ Church has worked with Stop Hunger Now, which sent many of the meals we packed last November to Haiti. We have sent missionaries to Haiti through the Haiti Fund and its CODEP group that primarily focuses on Haitian development. We also have worked with the Water Ministries in Charleston, SC, to produce and distribute water purification units to Haiti and other locations. We believe that there will be a long-term need in Haiti, and these organizations will give our parish a direct way to assist the Haitian people in the months ahead.

Financial support will be needed for these Christ Church relief efforts to Haiti, and we ask for your support. Checks should be sent to Christ Church with the memo "Haiti - CCOM."  Checks can be placed in the alms basin during services, or mailed or brought to the church.  

As plans develop, we also will seek your direct participation in these relief efforts. Needs are being assessed on the ground, and we will identify the ways that our parish can reach out to the victims of this disaster. Your direct and personal support to Christ Church relief efforts may be through activities such as;

      - packing additional meals through Stop Hunger Now
      - preparing health and other aid packages
      - assembling additional water purification units
      - and for some, participating in mission trips to Haiti.  

For more information contact:
Andy Givens, Chair of the CCOM
Marshall Lamb, Haiti relief coordinator, CCOM
Cassie Struthers, church staff support for CCOM
 

The votive candle ("prayer candle") stands are now in place for the 5:00 service instead of the 6 tables previously used with hard-to-maintain glass votives of many differing sizes. Original plans were to store the stands away except for the 5:00, but that too was cumbersome, so they remain in place on either side of the crossing. The Altar Guild's work is now greatly eased with one less maintenance issue to perform every week after the 5:00. They will light one of the votives, should anyone during Sunday services (before, after or to/from communion) wish to participate in these prayer candles as those attending 5:00 have done for years.
 
Why votive (prayer) candles?  1. It is not a "throw-back" to Roman-Christian times of making an offering ("votive") for something or for someone's soul.   2. Just as the Paschal Candle has become an integral part of Christian expression in corporate worship, so too in post-Reformation times has the tradition of lighting a candle to simply remember or give thanks for a loved one become a very individual "outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace." The candle represents that someone (oneself included) who is facing adversity or someone who has died, etc., has been lifted up in private prayer.    3. Many find great comfort in this  "prayer candle" tradition, while others find it of no personal value. It is the same with many other individual signs of worship such as crossing oneself; kneeling (penitence) or standing (honor & adoration) to pray; hands folded or arms uplifted in worship posture. There are many more, and the prayer candles' use is provided only for those who choose. The new stands make this offering simple and practical. Thank you to the Altar Guild for providing and caring for them.      PH

Yorke Sartorio was approved by the Vestry on Dec.15 as Parish Life Coordinator from Jan. 1 - May 31, 2010. During this time of Yorke's ministry, there will be a discernment process within the Parish Life Committee and discussions around the ever-growing demands of the half-time position as we anticipate the coming of a new rector in 2010.
   Yorke has an exemplary background in volunteer and program oversight and coordination, and Christ Church is fortunate that she has consented to serve prior to the full search & hiring for this staff position. I share with those who already know Yorke the excitement and confidence that she will be a wonderful asset to the continuing work of parish life development, just as she has been a vital force in so many community and parish endeavors. Thanks Be to God.               

                                                                   Peter Hogg

The parish profile has been completed and is now available on the church's web site. The profile reflects the input parishioners provided to the Rector Search Committee in the spring and summer. Thanks again from the committee for your contributions to that effort.

We have now entered the phase of the search process where we are receiving names of prospective candidates. We believe that outstanding priests throughout the Episcopal Church are now considering whether their talents and our needs are a good match. We plan to receive names during December and January. We will then review the information provided by candidates and conduct telephone and face-to-face interviews with those who stand out as the strongest candidates. Ultimately, we will narrow the list to a few finalists, and we will schedule visits to their current churches to observe them, seeking to find the best person to be our next rector.  

If you have any questions, please contact a member of the search committee, or send an email to rectorsearch@christchurchraleigh.org.  Please continue to pray for Christ Church, for those priests who are considering Christ Church and for the members of the search committee.

[Episcopal News Service] The 114th annual convention of the Diocese of Los Angeles made history for the second time in as many days on Dec. 5, electing an openly gay candidate, the Rev. Mary Douglas Glasspool, as bishop suffragan, pending the required consents from the majority of the church's other dioceses.

A day earlier, some 680 delegates attending "Faith and Our Future" at the Riverside Convention Center, elected the Rev. Canon Diane Jardine Bruce, 53, rector of St. Clements by-the-Sea Church in San Clemente, California, in the Los Angeles diocese, as their first woman bishop suffragan.

Glasspool, 55, canon to the bishops in the Baltimore-based Diocese of Maryland for the past eight years, was elected on the seventh ballot. She defeated the Rev. Irineo Martir Vasquez, a Los Angeles area priest, who received 87 votes in the clergy order and 177 lay votes.

Glasspool received 153 clergy votes and 203 votes from the laity. The ballot required 123 votes in the clergy order and 193 in the lay order. The results of all the ballots are available here. The Rev. Silvestre Romero, rector of St. Philip's Church in San Jose, California, withdrew after the fourth ballot.

After Bruce's Dec. 4 election, the field of candidates narrowed to five, with Glasspool leading Vasquez on the first two ballots. Another openly gay candidate, the Rev. John Kirkley, rector of St. John the Evangelist Church in San Francisco, withdrew after the third ballot.

Balloting for the second election, which had originally been scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 5, commenced instead on Dec. 4 shortly after Bruce was elected.

Prior to the second election, the Rev. Canon Julian Bull, headmaster of Campbell Hall and chair of the bishop's search committee, encouraged convention delegates via video presentation to elect a bishop suffragan from the remaining five candidates to complement a team ministry with Los Angeles diocesan Bishop Jon Bruno and Bruce.

"I'm very excited about the future of the whole Episcopal Church, and I see the Diocese of Los Angeles leading the way into that future," Glasspool said after the election. "But just for this moment, let me say again, thank you, and thanks be to our loving, surprising God.

"I look forward, in the coming months, to getting to know you all better, as together we build up the Body of Christ for the world," added Glasspool, who received a standing ovation by convention.

Glasspool initially greeted the gathering in Spanish and reached out to Vasquez and "to people of every ethnic group and category" as "we try to be God's kingdom on earth."

"This is my 56th Advent and I think I finally know the meaning of the word wait," Glasspool said, eliciting laughter from the gathering about the lengthy election process.

Glasspool is the second openly gay partnered priest to be elected a bishop in the Episcopal Church. The first was Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire, who was elected in 2003.

Reaction to Glasspool's election was swift. The Rev. Canon Kendall Harmon, canon theologian from the Diocese of South Carolina, said the election "represents an intransigent embrace of a pattern of life Christians throughout history and the world have rejected as against biblical teaching.

"It will add further to the Episcopal Church's incoherent witness and chaotic common life, and it will continue to do damage to the Anglican Communion and her relationship with our ecumenical partners."

Under the canons of the Episcopal Church (III.11.4(a)) that apply after all episcopal elections, a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan Standing Committees must consent to Glasspool's ordination within 120 days from the day after notice of her election is sent to them.

Bruno, responding to a question about whether Glasspool would received the required number of consents for her episcopacy to go forward, said: "If by chance people are going to withhold consents because of Mary's sexuality, it would be a violation of the canons of this church.

"At our last General Convention, we said we are nondiscriminatory. They just as well might have withheld their consents from me because I was a divorced man and in my case, it would have been more justified than someone withholding them from someone who has been approved through all levels of ministry and is a good and creative minister of the Gospel."

He added: "I would remind The Episcopal Church and the House of Bishops they need to be conscientious about respecting the canons of the church and the baptismal covenant to respect the dignity of every human being.

"To not consent in this country out of fear of the reaction elsewhere in the Anglican Communion is to capitulate to titular heads."

The Rev. Canon Dr. Charles K. Robertson, canon to Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said: "This weekend witnesses the election of a new bishop diocesan in post-Katrina Louisiana and two bishops suffragan in Los Angeles. In each case, the voting representatives of the local diocese are making their decision trusting that God has called this person to be bishop. But this is only half the process, as bishops and Standing Committees throughout the Episcopal Church over the coming months will be asked through our consent process whether they confirm that God has indeed called this person to the office of bishop."

Glasspool's ordination and consecration is scheduled for May 15, 2010.

During her 28-year ordained ministry, Glasspool has served congregations in Maryland, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania.
 
While she was rector of St. Luke's and St. Margaret's Church in Boston (1992 to 2001), the small urban church's budget more than doubled from $44,000, and parish membership tripled from 50 to about 150. She also has served as program developer for the Massachusetts Bible Society.

A 2006 Harvard Divinity School Merrill Fellow, Glasspool said that in her current role she provides pastoral care to clergy and their families and makes officials visits on behalf of Maryland's bishops.

She is a 1976 magna cum laude graduate of Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and earned a master of divinity degree in 1981 from the Episcopal Divinity School, where she has returned to lecture in pastoral theology. She is also a certified field education supervisor, a Cursillo Spiritual Director and has designed and facilitated spiritual retreats for more than 20 years.

Ordained to the diaconate in 1981 and the priesthood in 1982, Glasspool has been active at local, provincial and national church levels. She has served as a three-time General Convention deputy, a Province III representative and as president of the diocesan standing committee.

The daughter of a priest, Glasspool was one of two openly gay candidates on the Los Angeles slate but maintained that her sexual orientation was "not an issue" in the election.

She was born on Staten Island and grew up in Goshen, New York, where her father served as rector of St. James' Church for 35 years. Her life partner of 19 years is Becki Sander, who holds degrees in theology and social work.

Bruno said that Glasspool has for years in effect fulfilled the responsibilities of a suffragan bishop in her role as canon to the bishops in the Baltimore-based Diocese of Maryland.

He said he is looking forward to working with Glasspool because of "her congeniality and willingness to work together to bring us to a place of abundance."

"She's not afraid of conflict and is a reconciler." He added that Glasspool and her partner are an example of loving service and ministry.

The Diocese of Maryland represents about 45,000 Episcopalians in 117 congregations and encompasses parts of Appalachia as well as Howard County, the fourth wealthiest county in the nation.

In written statements, Glasspool had said gifts she hoped to bring to the new ministry included: "a profound love of people; a willingness to learn new things; an appreciation of others' gifts and skills; the broad and deep experience of 28 years of ordained ministry; the "fresh" eyes of an 'Easterner'; and the energy and enthusiasm that seem to come from the new things that God is always doing."

Bruno had called for the elections at the diocese's 2008 convention, when announcing the 2010 retirements of Bishop Suffragan Chester Talton and Bishop Assistant Sergio Carranza, after 19 and seven years service, respectively, to the diocese.

Talton was elected bishop suffragan by the Diocese in 1990 and began ministry in 1991. Carranza, the retired Bishop of the Diocese of Mexico, was appointed bishop assistant by Bruno and began ministry in Los Angeles in 2003.

With 70,000 members in 148 congregations, the Diocese of Los Angeles includes all of Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, and part of Riverside County.

The Diocese of Los Angeles is one of 110 dioceses that form the Episcopal Church, located in 16 nations and territories and part of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The other candidates were:

• the Rev. Zelda Kennedy, 62, senior associate for pastoral care and spiritual growth, All Saints Church, Pasadena, California (Diocese of Los Angeles);
• the Rev. John Kirkley, 42, rector of St. John the Evangelist, in San Francisco in the Diocese of California;
• the Rev. Silvestre Romero, 41, rector of St. Philip's Church in San Jose, in the Diocese of El Camino Real; and
• the Rev. Martir Vasquez, 45, vicar, St. George's Church in Hawthorne, California in the Diocese of Los Angeles.

More information about all nominees is available here.

-- The Rev. Pat McCaughan is Episcopal News Service correspondent for provinces VII and VIII and the House of Bishops. She is based in Los Angeles.

The Parish Life Committee is taking this opportunity to review our mission at Christ Church of working with parish staff to facilitate and promote active membership among all Christ Church parishioners - both new and long-time members. The work of Nancy Haywood former Parish Life Coordinator, was instrumental in fulfilling this mission. We are grateful that as a volunteer Nancy has agreed to continue to serve Christ Church by sharing her knowledge and talents for connecting people and their abilities and interests with parish activities. She will remain a vital force in both Parish Life and Pastoral Care.

At this time the Parish Life Committee is reviewing its role within the parish and will, where appropriate, reshape its structure and role. As this review work proceeds within the committee, the search for a Parish Life Coordinator will be initiated. The formal position announcement, application acceptance and review process, and hiring of a Parish Life Coordinator will occur as soon as the Parish Life Committee concludes its internal assessment. Parishioners wishing to suggest candidates for the position should contact Peter Hogg. Please also help us by spreading the word that we are currently evaluating our parish life ministry and plan to hire a Parish Life Coordinator. Both Sarah Cowan, Chair, and Peter Hogg, Interim Rector welcome your parish life ministry questions and suggestions. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Rev. Travis Smith has joined the clergy of Christ Church as Interim Assisting Priest, it was announced by the Rev. Dr. Peter Hogg, Interim Rector, and Dr. Hubert Haywood, Senior Warden. Assuming a broad range of duties in parochial and liturgical support, Travis will focus on ministry to children, youth and young adults. His employment will be on a one-third time basis. Travis currently is an Associate Rector at St. Michael's Episcopal Church, Raleigh, with a focus on youth ministry. He serves St. Michael's on a two-thirds time basis.

Travis' Sunday mornings will be divided equally between Christ Church and St. Michael's. His first Sunday with us is October 18, and his first Sunday to preach will be November 8. 

A native of Seattle, WA, Travis graduated from the University of Washington. He served as Youth Director of St. Alban's Church in Edmonds, WA, and was a chaplain resident at the VA Hospital in Seattle. A 2005 graduate of General Theological Seminary, New York, Travis was ordained that year, returning to Seattle to join the staff of the Church of the Apostles. In 2007 he began part-time ministry and work on a Th.M. at Duke Divinity School.

Travis and his wife Aleta are the parents of a daughter, Ronia Miriam Skaanland-Smith (2); and a son, Samual Alexander Skaanland-Smith (7 mo.).

[Episcopal News Service] His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has announced his plans to allow provisions that would accept groups of former Anglicans who wish to convert to the Roman Catholic Church, according to an Oct. 20 press release from The Vatican. Read the entire ENS article.