Dear Christ Church,

Naturally, when we are new to something, or some place, we are like tourists that take in the beauty, observe the culture, and appreciate its community life from a distance. Some of you might have recently been in that kind of relationship to Christ Church or to Anglicanism, but you’re now wondering if this might actually become your home. We’d love to explore that with you; here are three ways for you to step further into the life of Christ Church: (1)register for our Core Class, where we tell the story of Christ Church and cover our core convictions, values, and practices; (2) register for The Anglican Way class, where you learn more about Anglicanism as way of following Jesus; (3) watch our recent Annual Parish Meeting to hear an encouraging and engaging report on the life of our parish.

I also want to invite you to step into Lent with us this year in some unique ways. Toward the end of Lent we are going to have two Evensong services with several interactive healing stations around the room. These will be beautiful evenings of sung services, with opportunities to bring the pain, sins, sorrows, and divisions of recent years to the cross, and let God touch those tender parts of our hearts with his grace. We will also grow together in God’s heart for “the least of these” throughout Lent through daily reflections produced by the Matthew 25 Initiative. These are beautiful and simple, requiring just a moment’s pause in the middle of our day. If you are not already receiving these, you can sign up here.

Peace,

Cliff+

P.S. This Sunday will be my last time at worship with you before my sabbatical begins. I will share more about this on Sunday, but know that I will miss you dearly!