November 28, 2021: Holy Eucharist Rite II for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

We are an inclusive, family-oriented, and multi-generational parish. Find your place at Christ Church and grow in heart, mind and spirit. Join us in-person and online for worship and connection on Sundays: 8:15am Holy Eucharist Rite I (Chapel) and 10am Holy Eucharist Rite II (Main Sanctuary, Facebook, and our website).  

• Watch below or on Facebook and Youtube.
• Follow along in the service bulletin.
• Explore our weekly eBlast.
• Read or watch the sermon.
• Give online and select giving fund “Loose Plate”.

The Thanksgiving hymn, “Now thank we all our God” reminds us that it is possible to give thanks for God’s abundance even in the most difficult circumstances. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10.10) May you know and share the blessings of God’s abundance this Thanksgiving and always. Happy Thanksgiving from Christ Episcopal Church in Needham MA. Or watch directly on our Youtube Channel, where you can also watch past services and the sermons.

November 21, 2021: Holy Eucharist Rite II for the Third Sunday of Advent with guest preacher The Rev. Brock Baker

We are an inclusive, family-oriented, and multi-generational parish. Find your place at Christ Church and grow in heart, mind and spirit. Join us in-person and online for worship and connection on Sundays: 8:15am Holy Eucharist Rite I (Chapel) and 10am Holy Eucharist Rite II (Main Sanctuary, Facebook, and our website).  

• Watch below or on Facebook and Youtube.
• Follow along in the service bulletin.
• Explore our weekly eBlast.
• Give online and select giving fund “Loose Plate”.
• Watch and read the sermon by guest preacher The Rev Brock Baker.

The Rev. Brock Baker joins us as our guest preacher this Sunday, November 21, Christ the King Sunday. Brock served as a priest in the Diocese of Albany as well as in our Diocese, after careers in literary journalism and trade book publishing. Currently serving as a supply priest, a passion of Brock’s ministry has been healing prayer. Brock is writer of non-fiction and fiction, a bird watcher, a Premier League football follower, and (currently) a Red Sox fan. The father of two adult daughters, he lives with his wife Elizabeth, a vice president at Morgan Stanley, in Arlington. Welcome, Brock!

Stop by our Community Art Gallery to view the new exhibition, Nature’s Bounty, by Nancy Present-VanBroekhoven, an accomplished watercolorist who is donating 20% of all sales to Silent Spring Institute, a nonprofit organization whose mission is dedicated to scientific research to look at potential environmental causes of breast cancer. Meet Nancy and a representative from the Silent Spring Institution at her art reception during coffee hour on November 21 from 11:15-12:30.

Greetings in the Name of the One who was, who is, and is to come.

After a good response last year, we will try on Expanded Advent again this year. Sunday, November 7 begins the season. Advent means “coming.” We wait expectantly for the coming again of God: Come, Lord Jesus. We lean into continuing to envision new ways to regather ourselves as followers of Jesus and people of joy and hope in a world that suffers.

A seven-week Advent was the way the Church originally prepared to observe the inbreaking of God’s kingdom, culminating in the Incarnation. Sometime in the seventh century, for reasons that are obscure, a transition to a four-week Advent began.

Fast forward to the twentieth century. The season of Advent—focused broadly on the end (as in purpose) of creation; a new heaven and earth; the coming reign of God, as accomplished in the Incarnation of Jesus—was completely eclipsed by Christmas culture, which is obsessed with the coming of the baby Jesus. Secular consumer culture in turn has overpowered Christmas culture—which is why we won’t be surprised to see a stunning array of fully decorated Christmas trees sometime before Halloween.

But this new, old Advent prepares us spiritually for a time of year already notoriously bleak for many. I don’t need to remind you why the months behind and ahead compound our anxiety, even as the virus seems currently to be on the wane in many places. In addition to the personal difficulties that seem to be amplified by a time of forced frivolity, many continue to be exhausted also by the uncertain economy, cultural and political conflict, and threats to our environment. Advent helps us meet despair and spiritual fatigue head on. We use the power of our traditions to remind ourselves of God’s providential care and power, and to prepare us to perceive God’s deep compassion and blessing afresh.

What will this look like? We’ll be experimenting. In no particular order: on Sunday, November 7, we will celebrate a baptism at the 10am service; then at 5pm, we will gather together to light our outdoor Advent tree.  We’ll start enjoying the stunning blue altar frontal, paraments, and vestments. We’ll begin singing verses from ‘O Come Emmanuel’. Other Advent music will appear. On December 12 at 4pm, join us for an Advent Taizé Evening Prayer in the Main Sanctuary or online followed by some festive fellowship in Upper Parish Hall. Read more about this serene Taizé service here and watch last years’ service here. We’ll again see a new kind of Advent wreath, with new prayers for lighting the candles and for home devotions. Blue ribbons will grace the wreaths on the building. We may need to enjoy another outdoor Pageant. The expanded Advent sign will reappear on our front lawn. We’ll continue experimenting as we go along. Send us ideas!

Please join us for worship every Sunday at 8:15am in the Chapel or 10am in the Main Sanctuary or online on Facebook and our website. You can also watch the services any time at your convenience. And let us know you’ve visited by emailing office@ccneedham.org, so we can welcome you more personally.

Experience the power of Advent, which buttresses our confidence in the power of Jesus, and his ability to lead us through whatever is before us. Come, Lord Jesus.

Faithfully yours,

Nick+
Rector at Christ Episcopal Church Needham, MA

The Rev. Brock Baker joins us as our guest preacher this Sunday, November 21, Christ the King Sunday. Brock served as a priest in the Diocese of Albany as well as in our Diocese, after careers in literary journalism and trade book publishing. Currently serving as a supply priest, a passion of Brock’s ministry has been healing prayer. Brock is writer of non-fiction and fiction, a bird watcher, a Premier League football follower, and (currently) a Red Sox fan. The father of two adult daughters, he lives with his wife Elizabeth, a vice president at Morgan Stanley, in Arlington. Welcome, Brock!

November 14, 2021: Holy Eucharist Rite II for the Second Sunday of Advent

We are an inclusive, family-oriented, and multi-generational parish. Find your place at Christ Church and grow in heart, mind and spirit. Join us in-person and online for worship and connection on Sundays: 8:15am Holy Eucharist Rite I (Chapel) and 10am Holy Eucharist Rite II (Main Sanctuary, Facebook, and our website).  

• Watch below or on Facebook or Youtube.
• Follow along in the service bulletin.
• Explore our weekly eBlast.
• Give online and select giving fund “Loose Plate” from the drop down menu.
• Read or watch the sermon.

Stay up to date on the latest news at Christ Church in our quarterly newsletter, The Visitor.  Explore the most recent edition, The Visitor: Advent and Christmas 2021.

View archived Visitors here.

November 7, 2021: Holy Eucharist Rite II for the First Sunday of Advent

We are an inclusive, family-oriented, and multi-generational parish. Find your place at Christ Church and grow in heart, mind and spirit. Join us in-person and online for worship and connection on Sundays: 8:15am Holy Eucharist Rite I (Chapel) and 10am Holy Eucharist Rite II (Main Sanctuary, Facebook, and our website).  

• Watch below or on Facebook and Youtube.
• Follow along in the service bulletin.
• Explore our weekly eBlast.
• Read or watch the sermon.
• Give online and select giving fund “Loose Plate”.

Join us tonight at 5pm for our Third Annual Advent Tree Lighting. Learn more here.