May 21, 2020

  

cross
 
The Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 24, 2020 at 10 a.m.

Join us on Facebook at 10 a.m. to watch a live service of Morning Prayer in the Chapel You can watch on our website as well.

Zoom Coffee Hour to follow. Details below.

Thank you for your patience as we continue to troubleshoot and fine tune 
our broadcasts.


Missed last Sunday's sermon, want to read it, or re-watch the service?  You can by clicking here.
         

COLLECT FOR THE SEVENTH SUNDAY OF EASTER

God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen Please  click here  for this  week's readings.


A Journey By Stages: Gathering, Serving & Growing as the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts During & Beyond a Time of Pandemic 

Greetings, Friends,

As you look at the picture at the bottom of this text, you can likely tell that I am standing at the top of the front steps to the church on Highland Avenue, in front of the big red doors. Oh, how I long to actually greet you on these steps once again! 

I hope you will click on the here to read the wise guidelines our Bishops have crafted to guide our  life together during this journey. They give us direction as to when and how it is safe to gather in-person for worship and to conduct the essentials of our ministries. It is a fluid process, with the emphasis always on how best and safely to love our neighbors and one another. Currently, we are in Phase 1 (Stay-at-Home). At this point, we do not have plans to return to in-person worship immediately after July 1, the earliest possible date set by the Diocese to move to Phase 2 (Cautious). For now, we plan to offer only live-streamed or recorded worship beyond the July 1 deadline, while continuing to make every effort to make sure that all parishioners on any side of the digital divide are able to connect with our worship and other activities. (For example, we are delivering a month's worth of bulletins to shut-ins, complete with land-line, call-in Zoom instructions, instructions we have also given over the phone. Let us know if you know someone who would benefit from this.) Even when we move into the other phases, live-streamed and/or recorded worship is now a permanent, and long-overdue, feature of our life together.
 
Stay tuned for word on plans to bring folks "in" to the church, nurture fellowship gatherings, reimagine how we engage "zoomed out" and anxious households into congregational life, and continue to offer concrete love and reassurance to our neighbors near and far.  
 
If you look carefully at the stained-glass windows above my head behind me, you can see Jesus seated there, lifting his hand up in benediction. That hand of Love is over all of us as we move through these uncertain times under his gracious blessing.
 
Faithfully yours,
  Nick+









(781) 444-1469 ext. 113
nick@ccneedham.org
       
Table
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Please click the link below to jump to the section.

Summer Choose-A-Hymn - Sign up before June 8th!
CCN Women Zoom gathering - Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Organ Notes  - Worlds to Conquer: Disney and the Animated Bach
Health Links  g un safety, domestic violence , and food support

       
summersong
SUMMER CHOOSE-A-HYMN

piano_keyboard.jpg Do you have a favorite hymn you would love to hear played during service?  Now is your chance, and you can also support our need for a summer accompanist with a donation in any amount you choose.  We need a total of $100 per week.

Please click here to sign up, and enter your requested hymn.  Please mail a check to Christ Church (made payable to Christ Church and note "summer music" in the memo line).  We will recognize donors in the weekly bulletin.  Please sign up by Monday, June 8.

Please email Ali or Pam with questions!


VirtualCHTopic
VIRTUAL COFFEE HOUR THIS SUNDAY

This Sunday we invite you to a virtual Zoom coffee hour following the 10 a.m. service.  

In your mind's eye, imagine us together in Upper Parish Hall eating and drinking and enjoying one another's company while standing on the newly refinished floor.

You can join online on your computer or mobile device, or dial-in on your cell phone or landline.  Here's a helpful PDF on how to access and use Zoom.  
women
CCN WOMEN'S ZOOM GATHERING: Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m.

young-woman-laptop2.jpg Join the women of Christ Church virtually on Tuesday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m. A Zoom meeting/gathering has been set up for the women of Christ Church so we can connect this way even though we can't meet in person quite yet. 

Please plan to mute yourselves unless you are talking to group as this helps to reduce background noise so that the voice of the person(s) speaking is not interrupted.  Please email Donna Vello for the Zoom link.


summerhours
CHRIST CHURCH SUMMER HOURS

On Sunday, June 7, summer hours at Christ Church begin.  Sunday service will be at 9:00 a.m.  The office will be closed Fridays.  This schedule continues until Tuesday, September 8.


OrganNotes
ORGAN NOTES: Worlds to Conquer: Disney and the Animated Bach

By Linnea Wren

Fantasia image illustrating Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor
Arguably, there is no more important figure in American popular culture than Walt Disney (1901-1966). In Disney's view, animation could be more than crude cartoon entertainment; it could be an art form. And in the film   Fantasia (1940), he proved it. He not only explored new frontiers in animation; he also unlocked the dynamics of complex music for a mass audience.

Fantasia begins with the Philadelphia Orchestra's recording of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor. Silhouetted instrumentalists transition into abstract images intended to illustrate the audience's thoughts as they hear the piece. Brilliant colors flow and merge; lacy figures comet through space; a sky-writing cipher traces sprays of falling stars.

Fantasia turned Bach's Toccata and Fugue into one of the most recognizable pieces of classical music of all time. Yet, Disney film audiences hear the piece very differently than it was written. Bach wrote the Toccata and Fugue for the solo organ. The toccata incorporates complex rhythms painstakingly written out by Bach. The fugue exposition presents alternating simple sequences that move from one manual to another. Together they create high energy extended development sections. An extended coda closes the piece dramatically and chillingly.

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) championed the Toccata and Fugue. He considered the piece to be accessible to almost every audience. And he was right. During the early 20th century, Bach's organ piece became the go-to spooky piece for organists who accompanied silent films. Innumerable later films have incorporated it into their sound tracks.

Disney once described his goal in Fantasia as this: "There are things in this music that the general public will not understand until they see the things on the screen representing that music. Our object is to reach the very people who have walked out on this Toccata and Fugue because they didn't understand it. I am one of those people; but when I understand it, I like it."
When we hear Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor being performed on our Bach-era virtual pipe organ, chances are high that no one will walk out.

epiphanyschool




The letter reads:


Dear Friends at Christ Church, 

Your loyal generosity makes a real and lasting impact here at Epiphany School. God bless you, and thank you for all your help.

Your Grateful Friend,
John Finlay (Head of School)









lectorsneed

We calling for parishioners who want to read a lesson or the prayers of the people for the Pentecost service recording (Sunday, May 31).  If you are able to record and send a video, please email Nick to let him know your interest.

supportneighbors
SUPPORTING OUR NEIGHBORS AND COMMUNITY

Christ Church has deep ties to these organizations that continue to offer services and support to those in need during the pandemic. Donations  in any amount are truly appreciated. It is one way to keep loving our neighbor as Jesus teaches.

MANNA has expanded their  mission to be a place of solace, peace, and nourishment for those who have nowhere else to go just now, and the new costs are significant, as partner parishes have not been able to cook and bring down meals in the usual way, though our Parish and St. Michael's, Milton, have figure out an alternative way to make and deliver meals safely. Donate online  here . Scroll down on the options drop-down menu to Monday Lunch.

The Needham Community Council is keeping the Food Pantry open and will continue to provide food supplies to Needham residents. Click here to learn how you can donate.

Circle of Hope is offering contactless emergency deliveries to partner shelters. C lick here to  link  directly Emergency Response Wish List.

B-Safe continues to offer virtual and financial support to the young people it serves and their communities.  Donate to the SSYP Pandemic Relief fund here.


refreshingprayers

Please email the office with your prayers for inclusion in Sunday worship.

HealthLinks
Health Links: Gun Safety, Domestic Violence and Food Support

GUN SAFETY    
 
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE     
REACH    

FOOD SUPPORT
Sign up to shop at the Food Pantry  here



WeekAhead
THE WEEK AHEAD

Monday, May 25
Office Closed for Memorial Day

Tuesday, May 26
8:00 a.m.      Men's Prayer (via Zoom, email Nick for the invitation) 
9:30 a.m.      PRM (via Zoom, members will receive an invite in their email)
11:00 a.m.    Virtual Staff Meeting
7:30 p.m.      Women's Zoom Gathering (please email Donna Vello for the invitation) 

Thursday, May 28
7:00 p.m.      CCN Choir meeting (please email Pam for the invitation)

Sunday, June 7
9:00  a.m.      Morning prayer via Facebook
           

QuickLinks
QUICK LINKS
Just click on the links below for...

If you or someone in your family is in the hospital or in need of pastoral care, please call the church office so that our clergy or the Pastoral Response Ministry team may be notified and tend to the need. The office number is 781-444-1469, and you can reach Nick at ext. 113.