O R D I N A R Y P E O P L E E X T R A O R D I N A R Y S P I R I T

Two Emerson Street @ Gregory Boulevard, East Norwalk, Connecticut 06855 203.866.7442 The Reverend Canon Patricia M. Coller ~ www.christchurcheastnorwalk.org

November 2014 Dear Friends in Christ, “A lot of people are willing to give God the credit, but not too many are willing to give God the cash.” ~ Found on a billboard on a highway some-where in the USA We are entering the season of the secular and the church year when we turn our attention to noticing and appreciating the things for which we are thankful. At the end of this month most of us will gather with family or friends to cele-brate the Thanksgiving holiday, and we will natu-rally be thinking about the people in our lives who enrich us with their presence. As the cli-mate grows cooler we will think about our grati-tude for the homes in which we live and the fact that we have enough in the way of food, and heat, and clothing to sustain us through the win-

ter months as well as the rest of the year. And in our church, we will continue to remind one another that all that we are, and all that we have, comes from our gracious and loving God, whose spirit lives in our hearts and sustains us through the good days, and the dark days, of our lives. The Vestry will rekindle a spirit of thanksgiving for the gifts of time, talent and treasure that our members have given in order to sustain the life of Christ Church in the present year and, of ne-cessity, will also pray and deliberate about what will be needed in order to keep our worship, our spiritual support, our fellowship, and our Chris-tian formation and education lively and strong for another year. This is one of the realities of being God’s people here on God’s earth. We reap the lovely, soft and warm benefits of know-ing that we are loved unconditionally by the God who made us, and wants the best for us always, but we are also confronted with the practical re-

The feet of children in Mblumuti, Uganda; one of the places Sole Hope provides shoes for children without. Details on page 4.

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alities of needing to figure out how best to use what God has put into our care in order to keep our church building open, maintained, and warm, and to keep our programs running throughout the year. Some of us groan during the time of year when the church talks specifically about “stewardship.” Many of us feel that we barely have enough money to make ends meet as it is, and cannot imagine how we could possibly spare more to give to the church, especially when it always seems to manage to carry on somehow year after year, with or without our support. One thing we must all try to remem-ber is that giving to the support of the church is part of our spiritual exercise, just like praying, and attending worship, and offering up our selves in order to help where we can. I know that the people who are Christ Church are loving and generous, and I am thankful for that – and am grateful that I am able to be part of this community. And part of my role as Mis-sional Priest is to invite us all, in this season of the year, to review – to pray and reflect on the way we are stewarding the gifts that God places into our care, and to remind us that “The world asks: ‘what does a person own?’ God asks, ‘How does a person use what he or she has been giv-en?’” Canon Pat

MARK YOUR CALENDARS NOV 2 All Saints Day/First Sunday: NOV 2 Instructed Eucharist NOV 9 Veterans Sunday NOV 15-30 “Whatsoever You Do” Sculpture at Christ Church for National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Month NOV 16 Llera Baptism NOV 16 Altar Guild Meeting,11:00 a.m.

NOW 16 Sole Hope Shoe Party, 6-8:00 p.m. NOV 23 Stewardship Sunday NOV 24 Aurora Community Eucharist NOV 24 Norwalk Community Thanksgiving NOV 27 Thanksgiving Day NOV 30 Advent I/Soleng Baptism DEC 7 Advent II/First Sunday: Bishop’s Visitation with Confirmations DEC 14 Advent III DEC 14 Hungry Soul Ingathering DEC 14 Living Nativity, 4:30-6:30 p.m. DEC 17 Sacred Labyrinth Walk DEC 20 Hungry Soul Cooking, 9-11a.m. DEC 21 Advent IV, Hungry Soul Breakfast DEC 24 Christmas Eve, 5:30/11:00 p.m.

Community Thanksgiving Service Christ Church will be hosting the Thanksgiving service for the Norwalk Interfaith Clergy Asso-ciation on Monday November 24 at 7:00 p.m. Please come and share a time of worship and good music (see Betty Belcher’s Music Notes) with our neighbors from other houses of worship in Norwalk. There will be a reception immediately following the service in the Guild Room. We are honored to be able to host this gathering and to worship and give thanks with our sisters and brothers in Norwalk. ~ PC Confirmation Sunday Three members of our congregation, Artie Egan, Isabelle Greco, and Ryan Helwig, will be confirmed when Bishop Ahrens visits Christ Church on Sunday, December 7. This will be a wonderful opportunity for our community to honor and support these young members of our church as they make an adult commitment to God and take on for themselves the promises that were made on their behalf at their baptisms. It will also be a time to greet Bishop Ahrens and to hear the message she will bring as one of the chief pastors of our diocese. You won’t want to miss this Sunday! !~ PC

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Living Nativity Once again Christ Church will embody the sce-ne so often remembered on Christmas Cards and artwork by having live animals and human beings create a manger scene on the front lawn on Sunday, December 14, beginning at 4:30 p.m.. This event will coincide with the lighting of the Christmas Tree @ 5:00 p.m. in Ludlow Park, sponsored by the Third Taxing District. ~ DB An Advent Gathering The Reverend Laura Queen will join us on Wednesday evening, December 17, for a light supper and a program about the spiritual prac-tice of the sacred labyrinth walk. As part of the program we will have the opportunity to walk the labyrinth ourselves. This will be a wonderful opportunity for an evening of reflection, re-freshment, and re-alignment as we move through Advent and approach the feast of the Incarnation. Watch for further announcements in the weeks to come. ~ PC Vestry Notes from October Meeting

From Marsha Dunn, Clerk

Property Updates: New glass doors have been donated to replace the inner doors leading into the church from the narthex. They will be exte-rior quality doors so that we can leave the outer doors open during services, thus allowing our doors to be open to the public, but not the ele-ments or street noise. Estimates are in for the elevator, the next step is to meet with contrac-tors for bids on construction and installation. Ivy removal has begun on the brick exterior. We will be meeting with an arborist to discuss the health of the large pine on the playground. The updated web page is coming along. We hope to have it online by Advent season.

The Hungry Soul Breakfast group provided breakfast for shelter residents in September. The next breakfast will be in December. We will also donate the food we have on hand in our pantry to the shelter to help restock their shelves. Please be aware that there are food and other items available in our pantry if you or anyone you know is in need. Please see Canon Pat for details. There will be a “Ministry Fair” on October 26th to showcase ministries available at CCEN. Please prayerfully consider what talents you can share. The “Whatsoever You Do” statue of Jesus will return to CCEN in November. Important dates are on reverse side of calendar in October Visitor.

Music Notes We have a busy month of music coming up in November with both the Bell Choir and the Adult Choir working hard to prepare excellent music for your worship service. On November 9, we will celebrate Veteran’s Day with a brand new contemporary anthem entitled “American Anthem” by Gene Scheer, which has an unforgettable melody and lyrics that will stir everyone’s patriotic spirit. On November 16, the Bell Choir will be pre-senting the music for the Offertory. They will be playing “For The Beauty of the Earth” to cele-brate our fall harvest. On November 24, Monday evening, we will host the Community Thanksgiving service here at Christ Church and a combined choir from all the participating churches will be singing

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“How Marvelous Are Thy Works”, by the con-temporary composers D. Angermann and Jo-seph Martin, in addition to singing the familiar Thanksgiving Hymns. We should expect the rafters to shake with this great musical sound. November 30 is the first Sunday in Advent and the choir always starts our Advent services with “Prepare Ye The Way” from the Broadway Musical “Godspell”. During Advent , we will use the Merbecke chants and no Gloria. Our an-thems will take on an anticipatory nature , re-flecting the “coming” of the Christ child. Again, I invite those that are interested in our Bell Choir or Adult Choir to come , visit us at a rehearsal and see if it might be something you would like to do for your church. ~ BJB Ministry Contacts Lectors / Servers: Chris Davis wldavis2450@att.net Ushers: Judy White jaz826@gmail.com Altar Guild: Sarah French altarguild@christchurcheastnorwalk.org Acolytes: Marsha Dunn mdunn@christchurcheastnorwalk.org Women’s Group: Bunny Zamm bzamm@christchurcheastnorwalk.org Music / Choirs: Betty Belcher music@christchurcheastnorwalk.org Education: Bridget Prichard churchschool@christchurcheastnorwalk.org Outreach: Don Burr dburr@christchurcheastnorwalk.org

Sole Hope Shoe Cutting Party On November 16, The Confirmation Class will be hosting a shoe cutting party to benefit Sole Hope, an organization which provides shoes to people in Uganda who suffer from “jiggers,” a debilitating, yet preventable illness.

Jiggers come from Sand-Fleas which burrow in-to feet of children, hatching eggs, which turn into terrible worms, preventing walking and normal foot development.

ALL are invited to be part of the Shoe Cutting Party, so bring your family and your friends, co-workers, teammates or classmates. The evening will begin at 6:00 p.m. and run thru 8:00 p.m.

If you are not up to cutting shoes—consider helping with a collection of medical supplies headed to Uganda with our shoe pieces. Sole Hope treats the feet of those they serve before the children receive their shoes.

We are in need of: clean, new or used denim jeans, Large Safety Pins, Surgical Gloves, Cotton Balls, Medical Tape, Antibiotic Cream (Neosporin), Rolls of Gauze, Band Aids, Stickers for the children (for being good troopers while having their jiggers removed).

If you would rather write a check, the real cost of getting one pair of shoes from Christ Church is about $10 per pair. This includes shipping from North Carolina to Uganda, purchasing the sole supplies, paying the shoemakers and tailors, and purchasing some medical supplies necessary for the jigger removals that happen before the children get their new shoes.

The shoe size we are responsible for making is a toddler size, so just imagine the healing hands of Jesus wrapped around those little, wounded feet. The items you can bring with you (though not required) on November 16 is a pair of jeans, a pair of fabric scissors, perhaps a ten dollar bill or two, and a servant’s heart. ~ DFB2