Missing the Boat 
by Naomi Shihab-Nye

It is not so much that the boat passed 
and you failed to notice it.
It is more like the boat stopping
directly outside your bedroom window, 
the captain blowing the signal-horn,
the band playing a rousing march.

The boat shouted, waving bright flags,
its silver hull blinding in the sunlight.

But you had this idea you were going by train.

You kept checking the time-table,
digging for tracks.

And the boat got tired of you,
so tired it pulled up the anchor
and raised the ramp.

The boat bobbed into the distance,
shrinking like a toy—
at which point you probably realized 
you had always loved the sea.

• The Rev. Kacei Conyers will be our celebrant at both services and Rev. Claire will be preaching.
• The altar flowers have donated by Karen and Allen Rudolph in honor of their mother Betty.
• The Ventana School Choristers will be singing at the 10:15 a.m. service.
• Boy Scout Troop 30 Pancake Breakfast: 9:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall. All are welcome! To celebrate Scout Sunday, and to say thank you to our parish, Troop 30 will be serving a pancake breakfast 9:00-10:00 a.m. The 9:00 Forum is cancelled for this Sunday. Stay after the 8:00 a.m. service or come early for the 10:15 a.m. service and enjoy a hot breakfast! \
• CSA Food Drive:  Donations can be dropped off at either service. CSA is in need of healthy and nutritious non-perishable items, including boxes of cereal, oatmeal, pop-top canned food items (fruits, vegetables, meat, etc.), flour, oil, condiments, salad dressings, etc. CSA no longer wants bulk packaged items that they have to divide out into individual packages - no 10 lb bags of rice, no restaurant size mustard dispensers. Please keep items to individual family sized packaging - yes to 10 individual cans of tuna packaged together as this is essentially individual cans.
• Sunday Worship:  8:00 a.m. Eucharist in the Church; 10:15 a.m. Choral Eucharist in the Church; Creative Holy Play for preschool through pre-teen during the 10:15 a.m. service; Youth Group meets after the 10:15 a.m. service.
• Choir Rehearsal:  9:00 a.m. in the Church
• Coffee Hour:  in the Parish Hall following the 10:15 service
• Sunday Seven Band Rehearsal:  1:30 p.m. in the Parish Hall
• Convivium Rehearsal:  5:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall
• AA:  8:00 p.m. Co-Ed Step Study Group in the Fireside Room
• Sunday's lesson can be found online by clicking here.

Announcements
Next Week at Christ Church (see the full church calendar here)  

• Office Hours:  Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m.                  Rev. Claire will be out on vacation beginning Wednesday, through February 27.
• Monday, 9:15 a.m.  Yoga in the Church Narthex
• Monday, 4:45 p.m.   Cantabile Youth Singers in the Parish Hall and Star Room
• Monday, 8:00 p.m.  AA Men’s Group in the Chapel
• Tuesday, 6:00 p.m.  Men's Group Dinner & Fellowship in the Parish Hall
• Thursday, 5:30 p.m.  Cantabile Youth Singers in the Parish Hall and Star Room
• Thursday, 7:00 p.m.  AA Meditation Group in the Chapel
• Thursday, 7:15 p.m.  Choir Rehearsal in the Church
• Saturday, 7:00 p.m.  AA Meditation Group in the Chapel

Missed Church Last Sunday? You can watch and/or read the sermon online here. 

Lenten Meditations
Building on the success of last year's Lenten Inspirations booklet, you are invited to contribute to daily reflections for the season of Lent, which will be compiled into a book of Lenten Meditations. This book will be available beginning Sunday, March 3. If you are interested in contributing a reflection, or two, you can see which days are available, and sign up for the day(s) you would like, online here. If the "Writer" column is blank, add your name next to the specific day you are selecting. You can find full copies of the 40 specific meditation passages by day here. All are welcome to contribute! Please consider lending your voice and your perspective to this creative project. Contact parishioner Alice Landis with any questions (alice.j.landis@gmail.com).

Meditation Group
The Thursday evening meditation group has been going strong since September and we're looking forward to continuing offering this group consistently moving forward. However, because Rev. Claire will be out of the country for much of February and then we'll be hosting the annual Lenten Study Series through March on Wednesday evenings, the group will temporarily be on hold from Thursday, February 14 through Thursday, April 18 (Maundy Thursday), recommencing on Easter Thursday, April 25. Please let Rev. Claire know if you have any questions. 

Annual Gathering Table Conversations
About ten minutes of the Annual Gathering was devoted to some structured table conversation with vestry members and other volunteers taking notes. We've assembled those comments and the cards themselves are posted on the bulletin board in the Parish Hall lobby. Each week for the next several weeks we also will be sharing the responses to one of the four questions asked. If these conversations sparked other ideas please feel free to reach out to Rev. Claire or another member of the vestry - we would love to hear from you! If you missed the annual gathering, there are blank cards posted on the Parish Hall lobby bulletin board where you can feel free to add your thoughts.

How might we invite others to join us in the year ahead? Where might we also be more present in the wider community? 

• Convivium and other special programs, Living Harmony, are great ways to invite people in (2)
• Introduce people to who we are
• More publicity, spread the word about Christ Church, in the Town Crier, Mt. View Voice and other community newspapers/publications (3)
• Ashes to Go
• Windows tours
• Connecting with other congregations
• Opportunity to create healing ministry for the larger community
• Promote our service projects and events more on social media

Parish Event Clean Up Help
If you know teenagers who may be interested in making a little extra money helping clean up and wash dishes after parish events, please contact Deanne in the office (office@ccla.us). We will pay $15/hour.

Helping Spread the Word about Christ Church Events
If you would be willing to post/distribute flyers about Christ Church Events to stores on bulletin boards  (stores, Starbucks, etc.), please contact Deanne in the office (office@ccla.us).

Weeknight Services/Events Timing - We only received one response to this question. If weeknight timing matters to you, please share your feedback. As we plan for Ash Wednesday and Holy Week services, we are asking for your input on timing. We want weeknight (Monday-Friday) services and parish events to be timed to accommodate the most parishioners possible. If you/your family are likely to attend a weeknight service (Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday) or a weeknight parish event (Lenten Soup Studies, Parish Potlucks with speakers, Summer BBQs), please provide feedback on the timing that works best in your schedule here. 

Stewardship of our Stained Glass Windows
As we have shared over the past two weeks, we have contracted with Nzilani Glass Conservation Inc., to do an intensive survey on the physical condition of the stained-glass walls in the church. Last week they examined every inch of the windows, visually documenting their condition for a comprehensive printed report. We’re hoping for a good bill of health, but if they do find areas of concern, the Survey report will help us pinpoint them and prepare for future restoration. Thank you to those of you who have responded to our ask for contributions of any amount to help offset the remaining $6,000 project cost following the initial $10,000 donation from a parish family. If the Windows and their future are important to you and your worship among us, please feel free to contribute any amount – large or small – to help us meet our goal. Contributions to “Windows Survey” can be made online (credit/debit card or bank account) or via check in the Sunday plate or mailed to the office (Windows Survey on the memo line). For more information on this conservation project, please contact Lauren Arnold at laurenarnold@cs.com.

Catholic Charities House Sharing Program
As we all well know, affordable housing is a significant local issue and one of increasing concern. Many solutions are being proposed and worked on across the Bay Area. One that can happen right now is house sharing. House Sharing is when two or more unrelated people share a home. This could be a homeowner renting out vacant bedrooms, or two or more people renting a home together. In the right situation this can be beneficial for the renter as well as for the owner. Catholic Charities is operating a House Sharing Program in Santa Clara County. We wanted to make this information available in case you or someone you know is looking to share a house, or looking for an affordable housing option.

Epiphany Art Installation in the Church
We are thrilled to have a new art installation from parishioner Sukey Bryan in the church through the Season of Epiphany. The installation is called "Sky Banners" and it is oil on canvas, 120 x 29" each (see photo to left). 

Sukey also has two large scale outdoor installations about sky as part of the "Sheltering Sky" group show at the Palo Alto Art Center,  January 19 - April 7, 2019. Her pieces are "Sky Front" on the front of the building (photo to right) and "Sky Windows" in the sculpture courtyard. 

Give a Ride/Need a Ride to Sunday Services

The Vestry is aware that we have parishioners who are not able to get here for Sunday services on their own. If you would be able to provide Sunday rides, or know someone who needs a ride, please contact Deanne in the office (office@ccla.us).