Parishioners, join us  for an end-of summer Cook-out and Campfire. The event will be held at Christ Church on Saturday, September 10, from 5 to 8 p.m.–the day before we resume our regularly scheduled services at 8:15 and 10 am.

We will be serving grilled burgers and hot dogs and ask that everyone bring a side dish, salad or dessert to share.

Details:

5 -6 p.m. – Horseshoes, bocce, ladder golf, volleyball, and can-jam

6-7 p.m. – Grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, and pot luck items

7- 8 p.m. – Fire pit, s’mores, songs and skits … bring your blanket or lawn chair

To sign up for shared dishes, you may use Sign-up Genius: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c094fafaa2aa0fd0-back

Or, contact David Carnahan at: davidcarnahan@rcn.com

Haiti Partnership

The many sides of Christ Church Episcopal Needham will be on display at a Ministry Fair in the Parish Hall on Sunday, September 11. All are welcome to come learn more about the ministries that make Christ Church a vibrant part of its local, national and international communities.

The fair will operate after both the 8:15 and 10 o’clock services, with representatives from different ministries manning information tables. The fair’s purposes are to educate the parish and visitors about our activities, and to welcome anyone interested in getting involved in them.

Habitat for Humanity Youth Trip

“This is our chance to share our joy of Christ Church with both newcomers seeking church school for their children and existing members,” said Michael Niden, who is organizing the fair with Alyssa Kence. The parish’s missions–from church school to Study Buddies to Altar Guild to a Haiti Partnership and many more in between–are “critical to the mission, the growth of our church and our community,” Niden added.

For more information, please contact the church office at office@ccneedham.com.

Welcome back to Church School at Christ Church! We welcome new and returning children/youth to our program, which runs September – May.

On Sunday, September 11, our annual “Blessing of the Backpacks” will take place at the 10 a.m. service. Also on September 11, after the 8:15 and 10 a.m. services, parents may register their children (pre-K through 7th grade) for church school.  Or, they may call the church office at 781-444-1469 to obtain registration forms.

Church School classes begin on Sept. 18.

Programs include Children’s Chapel (pre-k through grade 2), Gather ‘Round (grades 3-5) and Re:FORM (grades 6-7).  Christ Church also has an ongoing Confirmation Class and Youth Group. To learn more about our children’s education programs, go to the Learning section of the website or call Kathy in the church office.

Our religious education program nurtures our youngest members and engages and supports all of our children and teens as they learn and grow as disciples of Christ. Our educational goals are three-fold: to share a deep knowledge and understanding of the stories of the Bible, to engage our children and teens in the traditions and experience of prayer and Episcopal worship, and to foster a lifelong commitment to serving others and working for justice.

A group of eight returned from Haiti August 23 after a six-day trip that nurtured ties between Christ Church Needham and its sister parish of St. Luc’s in Lazil, Haiti.

Look what I made!

The mission included two days and nights of mingling, meetings and fellowship with our sisters and brothers in Christ. Most inhabitants in the remote but beautiful mountain village are subsistence terrace-farmers who live many miles from paved roads and running water.

The partnership has been refreshed by annual visits since it began as a medical mission led by parishioner Emilie Hitron, MD, 10 years ago. Christ Church helps support teacher salaries at the local elementary school run by St. Luc’s. With funding from the Diocese of Massachusetts, the parish also supports a cooperative aimed at building a flock of meat goats that can serve as four-legged “bank accounts” for participants.  As individuals, Christ Church parishioners also support a St. Luc’s-sponsored community music program.

Big Buck

The visitors enjoyed–in fact, were blown away by–a high-quality musical performance by the community musicians and their instructor, Aniel Napoleon. A goat clinic and training session were delivered by a veterinarian and a veterinary technologist who were part of the Christ Church group. In addition, the visitors organized a fun day for the school children and attended church at St. Luc’s on Sunday. Mission members met for a partnership update with Father Milor Medela, the rector of St. Luc’s and four other mountain parishes, and Jean Rony, the parish lay leader and school principal.

Sunset over Lazil

After leaving Lazil, the missioners brought supplies to an orphanage in urban, still rubble-strewn Leoghane–near the epicenter of the 2010 earthquake–and played with the children. Countless thousands of children were orphaned by the quake, from which Haiti is still struggling to recover. “I’m remembering the orphans, but also celebrating the progress in Lazil,” trip leader Barbara Murphy reflected the morning after the Christ Church group returned to their comfortable American homes. Compared to the early days of the partnership, she said, many more children are completing primary school and many fewer are showing signs of malnutrition. Barbara thanked the Christ Church community for generous donations of crayons and musical instruments, which the visitors brought to Haiti in duffle bags.

Orphanage visit

Christ Church members participating in the trip were Barbara Murphy, Drew Murphy, Margaret Pantridge and Nathaniel King. Holly Hartman, former Christ Church deacon and longtime Haiti activist, co-led the trip with Barbara. Holly speaks Kreyol and helped the visitors attain a deeper understanding of Haitian culture. For the first time, a member of St. Paul’s Church in Newton Highlands–Kyrah Rodriguez– participated as a possible first step in creating a three-way partnership.Rounding out the group were veterinarian Christine Adreani, DVM, a Needham native now living in West Roxbury, and her colleague, veterinary technician and Haiti native Cesaire Gai of Roselle, New Jersey.

Making music

Click here for more information about the Haiti Partnership and to view a slideshow of last year’s mission trip.  If you are interested in learning more about the Haiti Partnership, please contact the Christ Church office at office@ccneedham.org. Someone involved in the partnership will get back to you.

Save

Save