This Week at CCLA - February 14, 2019

Upcoming Events

NEW Monthly Yoga Class
Starting on Saturday, February 23, 10:30-11:45 a.m., we will be delighted to offer a monthly Sacred Heart Yoga Class meeting every fourth Saturday of the month in the Chapel (additional classes on March 23, April 27 and May 25 through the Spring). Sacred Heart Yoga combines heart-centered spoken prayer with gentle stretching movements and provides a pathway to inner peace, wisdom, divine guidance, wholeness, and an ever-deepening connection to God within. This form of yoga embodies the original Aramaic Lord's Prayer of Jesus and is often considered less physically demanding than hatha or vinyasa yoga, with which many people are more familiar. The class will be led by Joan Loney, a certified Sacred Heart Yoga Instructor and friend of the parish. A $15 suggested donation will be welcome but don't let that keep you from coming to the class. Bring a yoga mat and wear light comfortable clothing that allows for freedom of movement (we'll have some extra mats on hand if you don't have your own). A blanket and/or cushion are optional. All are welcome!

Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner

The annual "Fat Tuesday" parish supper of pancakes with all the fixings, frittatas, sausages (and of course, Mimosas for the adults) is set for 5:30-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5. Everyone is invited as we indulge a bit before the official start of the penitential season of Lent! Mardi Gras attire is welcome. Please join us in the Parish Hall for food, fun and fellowship - Mardi Gras mask making and face painting for kids! RSVPs are not required, but it would be helpful in planning for the event (RSVP here). Also, we are in need of a few more helpers for table/chair setup (20-30 minutes), and for clean up (20-30 minutes). Contact parishioner Suzette Hedley (978-473-9369 or sbhedley@comcast.net) if you can help. We are excited to see you there!

Ash Wednesday

It's hard to believe that Lent is nearly upon us! Lent offers a time of reflection and self-examination in anticipation of the dawning joy of Easter. The 40-day season begins on Ash Wednesday, March 6, with the imposition of ashes, a somber reminder of our mortality, and Eucharist at 6:00 p.m. in the Church. If you are unable to attend services that evening, we welcome you to get your "Ashes to Go" from Rev. Claire, 12:00-1:00 p.m. in downtown Los Altos outside the Starbucks at the corner of Main Street and Second Street.

Still I Rise: A Program for International Women's Day

The next offering in our Living Harmony: Arts at Christ Episcopal Church concert series will be on Saturday, March 9 at 4:00 p.m. Celebrate international Women's Day in song and story with the uplifting and virtuosic voices of Convivium. Inspired by Maya Angelou's beloved poem "Still I Rise," the program weaves together music by some of today's leading female composers with poetry by women of color. The music includes Melissa Dunphy's powerful reflection on the immigrant experience, American DREAMers; Anna Thorvaldsdottir's stunning setting of an old Icelandic psalm; and works by Meredith Monk, Rosephanye Powell, Elizabeth Alexander, and Ysaÿe M. Barnwell.

Cantabile Youth Singers' Northern Lights Gala Concert
As many of you may be aware, we have begun a relationship with the Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley. They are using our parish hall for rehearsals on Monday and Thursday evenings, and Eric Tuan, our music director, has composed a piece for them which they will premiere at an upcoming choral convention. Cantabile will be holding its annual Gala Concert, Dinner and Fundraising Auction on Saturday, March 9, at 6:00 p.m. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.

CSA Empty Bowls Soup Supper XXVIII
Homelessness affects many people in our community. Empty Bowls Soup Supper provides a unique and cost-effective opportunity for us to help. O

n Sunday, March 10, Community Services Agency (CSA) will be hosting the 2019 Empty Bowls Soup Supper. Join us for soup, salad, cake and beverage and take home an original handcrafted ceramic bowl! This popular community event will be held at the Central Seventh Day Adventist Church, 1425 Springer Road, Mountain View. New this year, there will be two seatings, 3:00-4:30 p.m. and 5:00-6:30 p.m. Early bird ticket rates through February 28 (prices increase $5 on March 1): $25 for seniors; $35 adults and teens 12+; $10 for children under 12. Tickets can be purchased here. Funds raised benefit CSA’s Homeless Prevention Services Program.

Dust Thou Art: A Lenten Study on Living and Dying Well
At the heart of our Ash Wednesday liturgy is the imposition of ashes, when a priest smudges our foreheads with soot in the sign of the cross saying, "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." It is a reminder of our mortality, our fragility, and our finiteness as creatures of the earth and the Spirit. It is commonly held that the root of all our fears and anxieties is the primary, primal fear of death, and yet throughout the season of Lent Christians intentionally remind ourselves of our ultimate end and tell and retell the story of Jesus' own life, death, and resurrection. As an Easter people, a people of hope, what does our faith tell us about death and dying? What did Jesus teach about eternal life? What does our tradition tell us about living well when "in the midst of life we are in death"? Join us Wednesday evenings during Lent (March 13-April 10) for an illuminating and inspiring discussion of ultimate ends and new beginnings, deaths and rebirths, and the promise of new life in Christ. The series will be led by our own Rev. Claire as well as three of our affiliate clergy: The Rev. John Buenz, The Rev. Julie Nelson, and The Rev. Kacei Conyers. We will begin each evening with a soup supper at 5:30 p.m. and will conclude with a simply liturgy just after 7 p.m. All are welcome!

Save The Date - Upcoming Events

Office Hours: Tuesday through Friday, 9:00 a.m.- 4:00 p.m. The office will be closed on Monday for the Presidents Day Holiday. Rev. Claire will be out on vacation through February 27.
Monday, 9:15 a.m. Yoga in the Church Narthex
Monday, 8:00 p.m. AA Men’s Group in the Chapel
Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. Nova Vista Symphony Rehearsal in the Parish Hall
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 Fireside Room

Pastoral Care while Rev. Claire is away will be provided by The Rev. John Buenz. You can contact Deanne in the office during office hours (650-948-2151), or Rev. John directly at 408-343-0655.

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. You can also sign up at church on Sunday. All contributions are due on Sunday, February 24. 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).

Cultural Exchange with English Girls' Choir - Seeking Host Families!
In April, our Living Harmony Concert Series will be welcoming a girls' choir from England (St Catharine's College, Cambridge) to sing a service of choral Evensong at Christ Church. We are hoping to offer them homestays for one night with members of our community. It's a wonderful opportunity not only to show our appreciation for their music, but to enjoy a cultural exchange - not to mention those beautiful and varied British accents! Would you be willing to host a pair of English choristers (ages 8-15) for the night of Saturday, April 13? The schedule would be:

Attend the choir's Evensong at 4:00 p.m. and pick up your choristers afterwards
Feed them dinner and host them overnight.
Feed them breakfast and drop them off in the church's upper parking lot by 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, April 14.

If this would be of interest to you, please contact our director of music, Eric Tuan (eric@ccla.us), by the end of February. We are looking for eight homestay families between the Christ Church and Ventana School communities.

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.

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.

What do we want to create together in year ahead that you cannot create alone?

Continue connecting Ventana School with the church - improve connecting needs of the school & gifts of the parish; programs that unite the two communities; bridging existing church events to the school; events that will draw Ventana parents; joint social justice committee (10)
Joint school board/vestry meeting/dinner
Draw in more young families
Invite neighbors/larger community to our programs (2)
Include Youth Group in all our programs; brainstorm on how youth can participate more fully (2)
Maybe more service events, maybe connect to Ventana curriculum
Reach out to the younger generations
Connect families and pairshiners
Parish membership
Grow choir membership
Increase connections/outreach (internally and externally) - parishioners' motorcycle dealership
Table at Arts & Wine Festival
Host an event in Los Altos
Leverage power of group publicity
We have something precious and joyful, need to share and let outside know we are here

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).

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).

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.

Follow Up

Rise Against Hunger
More than 70 members of the parish and Ventana communities gathered on Saturday morning to pack 10,000 meal kits for Rise Against Hunger. The parish hall was full of activity and there were cheers of excitement every time the gong sounded to mark another 1,000 meals packed. Thank you to everyone who came out to help!

Ventana Toy Hack-A-Thon
The annual Ventana Toy Hack-a-thon last Wednesday evening was a big success. Lots of amazing new toys were created from the donations. Thank you to all the parishioners who donated old/used toys!

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

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