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SCHEDULE OF WORSHIP
Week of April 25, 2024                                                        PRAYER LIST 

Sunday, April 28: The Fifth Sunday of Easter
9:15 a.m.      Nursery Opens
9:30 a.m.      Adult Forum in the Chapel

10:30 a.m.    Holy Eucharist: BULLETIN
4:00 p.m.      Concerts at Christ Church: To Build a Home

Wednesday, May 1
12:00 p.m.    Holy Eucharist with Prayers for Healing
12:30 p.m.    Mid-Day Music. If Music Be the Food of Love

Livestreamed services can be found on the on the Christ Church YouTube channel


MESSAGE FROM THE RECTOR

Over the years, many of you have heard me make the distinction between “resurrection” and “resuscitation." In John’s Gospel, Lazarus is not resurrected but resuscitated. Lazarus does die again. Jesus, on the other hand, is resurrected. He is not simply returning to his aging body and waiting for death to come for him at a future time. Jesus is resurrected to a new life and a new body. Yes, there is continuity with all that has gone before, but resurrection is always to something new rather than a return to that which was. 

In the Gospels and the Book of Acts, we get to witness the disciples coming to terms with this reality. Jesus tells Mary Magdalene, “Do not cling to me because I have not yet ascended to the father.” Things are not the same on this side of resurrection. If we cling too tightly to the past, we will not be able to embrace that which is to come. 

Spiritual writer Ronald Rolheiser was the one who introduced me to this distinction between resurrection and resuscitation. In his understanding that resurrection is always to a new chapter, a new era, there will always be a mixture of joy and sadness: joy for the new beginning, and sadness for that which has passed and will be no more. The Easter message holds all of these emotions together at once. When we allow joy, fear, excitement, and sadness, to coexist at the same time, we are living into our Easter faith. 

For me, this poem captures the beauty and complexity of Easter life:

Mary Magdala's Easter Prayer, by Ronald Rolheiser

I never suspected
            Resurrection
                        and to be so painful
                        to leave me weeping
With Joy
            to have met you, alive and smiling, outside an empty tomb
With Regret
           not because I’ve lost you
           but because I’ve lost you in how I had you –
                        in understandable, touchable, kissable, clingable flesh
                        not as fully Lord, but as graspably human.
I want to cling, despite your protest
            cling to your body
            cling to your, and my, clingable humanity
            cling to what we had, our past.
But I know that…if I cling
            you cannot ascend and
           I will be left clinging to your former self
            …unable to receive your present spirit.


CONNECTION

Concerts at Christ Church: To Build a Home,
Musica Atlantica & Bridge Voices

Sunday, April 28, 4:00 p.m.

Join us for this concert of choral music centered on themes of homecoming, vulnerability, and what it means to belong. Savannah choral ensemble Musica Atlantica joins with Washington D.C.-based Bridge Voices to offer this hour-long program of music stretching from the English Reformation up through a world premiere of a new work by Baltimore composer Jonathan Woody.


Youth Service Project with Over the Moon Diaper Bank: Sunday, April 28 


All middle and high school students are invited to take part! Join us after the 10:30 a.m. service on Sunday, April 28. After sharing a meal together, we will head to the Parish House for a service project with Over the Moon Diaper Bank, a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded by Christ Church member Katie Griffith in 2019.

Please RSVP to the Rev. Samantha McKean if you plan to attend.


Reflections on Easter: Theme and Variations

9:30 a.m. Adult Forum in the Chapel
April 7–May 12

Join us in the chapel during the Easter season as we discover the wonderful variations found in the life-changing theme of Easter. Borrowing a concept from musical compositions, we will begin with one theme: Easter. Different Easter stories from Scripture will be shared, and we will listen each week as a new variation flows forth and transforms us. Variations include forgiveness, reconciliation, joy, and peace.


Register Now for Summer Camp at Honey Creek


In less than two months, the Diocese of Georgia's 100th Summer Camp will be underway at Honey Creek. We will have daily camp activities, including arts & crafts, outdoor games, ropes course activities, kayaking, pool time, and more. In addition to every day being filled with fun camp activities, we also devote time to worship and spiritual formation. Each session has Spiritual Directors on staff that will lead a formation program in the afternoon, and we begin and end each day with worship in the Chapel of Our Savior with gorgeous views of the Creek right outside our window. The Rev. Samantha McKean will be a Spiritual Director for Middle School Camp June 9–15!

Registration for each session is open, and scholarship assistance is available.

High School Camp
June 2-8, 2024
Registration

Middle School Camp
June 9-15, 2024
Registration

Elementary School Camp
June 16-22, 2024
Registration

Learn more about Summer Camp here.

 


Transition Update from the Vestry

With the retirement of Michael and Helen approaching this summer, the vestry wanted to share the next steps in the life of Christ Church. Bishop Logue met with the vestry last month and shared that there are three main phases of a rector’s transition:

  1. Celebrating the current rector and seeking an interim rector.
  2. Conducting a search for the next full-time rector.
  3. Welcoming and integrating the new rector into the life of the church.

The first phase is already in progress, with a church-wide celebration being planned for Michael and Helen on June 14, from 5:30-7:30 at the Ships of the Sea Museum. Liz Macfadyen is leading a small committee of volunteers to organize the event. Save the date for June 14—everyone is invited!

The position of the interim rector has been publicly advertised and we are collaborating with the bishop to identify suitable candidates. Given the ample three-month notice and the presence of other priests and two deacons in our congregation, we have sufficient time to find the right person, even if they can begin only later in the summer. While we search for our interim rector, we will simultaneously be searching for candidates to fill Helen’s many roles.

Once we have an interim rector in place, a Search Committee for the next full-time rector will be formed (the interim rector fills an important transitional role and cannot stay on as the new rector). This phase will involve creating a Parish Profile and conducting the actual search. The entire process is expected to take 12–18 months, and we will provide updates throughout this period.

The vestry is honored to serve this strong and vibrant community during such an important moment of our congregational life together. With your prayerful support, we are confident that we will find Spirit-led and servant-hearted candidates in the months ahead. If you have questions about the transition process, you can reach out to our wardens, Stephen Rilee and Wash Dender.


Next Week at Christ Church


Sunday, April 28: The Fifth Sunday of Easter
     9:30 a.m. Choir Rehearsal
     9:30 a.m. Adult Forum in the Chapel. Reflections on Easter: Theme and Variations
     10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist
     12:00 p.m. Youth Service Project with Over the Moon
     4:00 p.m. Concerts at Christ Church: To Build a Home

Monday through Friday, April 29–May 3
     10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. Docent Tours

Wednesday, May 1
     12:00 p.m. Holy Eucharist with Prayers for Healing
     12:30 p.m. Mid-Day Music. If Music Be the Food of Love
     7:00 p.m. Choir Rehearsal

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK






Thanks to Mills Fleming for the church photographs

From Sunday's Low Country Boil:




Thanks to Steve Edwards for the Low Country Boil photographs
Centered in Worship
All are Welcome
Joyful Living

Servant Leadership


We invite you to worship with us at Historic Christ Church.
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Church Location: Johnson Square | 28 Bull Street
Our mailing address is:
28 Bull Street
Savannah, GA 31401

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