Weekly news & announcements
December 16, 2021
Annual Giving Campaign
In Joy and Hope
Download, print, fill out, and snail mail your EOG card OR save time and a stamp and make your estimate of giving online. You don't need a Realm account, just your email address.
Thank you to all who have submitted their EOG (Estimate of Giving) so far! As of 12/10, 76 households have turned in EOGs totaling $217,885. Last year, we gratefully received the generosity of 110 households who turned in EOGs totaling $339,910 for 2021.

Members of the Stewardship Team will be soon begin reaching out to invite yet-to-be givers to participate in this life-giving way to express our commitment to loving God and neighbor as Jesus teaches.
Christmas Service Schedule
Click here to view the Advent and Christmas service schedule.
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The Show Must Go On: Christmas Pageant 2021
The Greatest Story Ever Told continues to come to life. Click here to sign up your child(ren).

Pick up costumes after service on Sunday in Lower Parish Hall near costume closet. Or come by during office hours next week (Monday 11-2, Tuesday-Friday 9am-2pm).

If families have any angel or animal costumes you would like to donate, we are always looking.

Currently, we are planning an outdoor pageant, precise location TBD. Please reach out to Nancy Sterling  with questions.

The pageant goes up on Christmas Eve at 2.30pm.
Racial Justice Study Program Coming to Christ Church
Our parish’s Racial Justice Initiative group is partnering with St. Paul’s Natick to offer a 10-session program on race and racism. Developed by the national Episcopal Church, Sacred
Ground is a film- and readings-based
dialogue series of small group meetings. Participants are invited to “walk through chapters of America’s history of race and racism, while weaving in threads of family story, economic class, and political and regional identity.” Along the way we seek to create the Beloved Community that Jesus calls us to build.
Our own Rector Nick participated in the program last year and found it powerful. All are invited and welcome! If interested, please plan to attend the Zoom information session on Sunday, January 9, at 7:00 PM. To receive the Zoom link, contact Bob Keener or Cynthia Anderson.
The CCN Giving Tree Needs YOU!
Annually, CCN gives gifts to the women and children of the Shepherd House and Transition House through the Giving Tree Program. In the past, we have been overcome with generosity, but this year donations are behind! Vulnerable families continue to be disproportionally impacted by the ripple effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sign up to give here (donations due this Sunday, December 19, see below or click the link for specifics).

Ideally, items can be dropped at Donna or Alyssa's house in Needham. But we can arrange drop off at the Church. Email Donna or Alyssa with questions.

Thank you for your support and generosity!
By this Sunday, December 19, we need:
  • 17 $25 Target Gift Cards
  • 35 Women's Bags
  • Large gift bag or reusable shopping bag filled with the following items: warm hat, mittens/gloves, scarf, toothbrush/toothpaste, body lotion/hand cream, etc
  • 12 Children's Cozy Throw Blanket & $25 Target Gift Card
  • You may include them in a holiday gift bag or wrapped box
A Look Back at Christmas
Thank you to our archivist, Nancy Stern, for putting together a poster looking back at Christmases past at CCN. Click on the image to enlarge or stop by the Welcome Table in UPH!
Welcome Cameron Dinkens as Tenor Section Leader
Hello Everyone! My name is Cameron Dinkens and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join and worship with you. I originally hail from Central Texas where I studied and received a degree in Music Education (Vocal Emphasis) as well as Vocal Performance. Now I am living in Boston where I am pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree in Musical Theatre Vocal Pedagogy. 
Parish Elections
The time of year has come to invite the congregation to choose lay leadership at Christ Church. Positions to be filled by election at the Annual Meeting on February 6, 2022 include 1 Warden for a 2 year term; 4 Vestry members with 3-year terms; a Clerk; and 2 Delegates to the Diocesan Convention and Charles River Deanery. Click here to see more information and the ballot.
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CCN Annual Meeting is on February 6
The CCN Annual Meeting presenting reports for 2021 is Sunday, February 6 immediately following a single 10am service. Whether the meeting will in person, hybrid, or virtual is yet to be determined. Ministry leader reports are due to Ali on Friday, January 7. Ministry leaders should have received an email with the details. If not, please contact Ali in the office. 
MANNA MONDAY LUNCH PROGRAM SIGN-UP FOR 2022

Sign up to make, bake or buy food for the MANNA Monday Lunch Program from January-June 2022 by clicking here. Call or email Joanna if Sign Up Genius, gives you a headache (617-633-4466 orjojostarr4@aol.com).
Calling All Knitters!
The Knitting Ministry is in need of knitted winter hats for the homeless community of MANNA. The hats will be delivered in early January. Help keep someone warm this winter by knitting a hat! The next meetings are at 10am on Monday, January 10. Please email Bea with any questions.
Purse for Pam
After 23 years at Christ Church and 13 of them as Director of Music, Pam is graciously stepping into retirement. Her last day with us is Sunday, January 9. As is traditional, we will be collecting a purse to present Pam on that occasion as a token of our love and appreciation for her ministry among us. Please mail checks to the office with "Pam Purse" in the memo line or give online and select fund "Pam Purse". Read the announcement here.
Singing Rooster Coffee Available to Purchase
The Haiti Committee still has a few bags of DECAF Singing Rooster coffee available. The price is $10 per bag; proceeds benefit the school/community music program in Lazile. If you'd like to buy some, please contact Heidi Fieldston. Thanks to all for your support!
Monday, 12/20 - Office open 11am-2pm
Tuesday, 12/21-Friday 12/24 - Office open 9am-2pm

Monday, 12/27 -Church Closed in honor of Christmas
Tuesday, 12/28 - Nick and Ali off, Woody on site 7:30am-11:30am
Wednesday,12/29 - Nick and Ali off, Woody on site 7:30am-11:30am
Thursday, 12/30 - 9am-2pm
Friday, 12/31 - 9am-2pm

Monday, 1/3/22 - Church closed in honor of New Year's Day
Tuesday, 1/4-Friday 1/7 - Office open 9am-2pm
We Need You: Ministry Opportunities at CCN
Join Choir! Email Pam to learn more.
Coffee Hour Hosts Needed! Email Debby to host a coffee hour.
Help run worship. Sign up here.
Beyond the Parish
Click on image to learn more.
Loving our Neighbors
Temple Beth Shalom is coordinating hands-on help for a recently re-located Afghan family, with more potentially to come. To learn more about Errands for Afghans, email Rabbi Julie Bressler.
 
To love our neighbors in the tornado stricken South and Midwest through Episcopal Relief and Development, click here.
SIGN UP FOR MANNA MONDAY LUNCH PROGRAM HERE.
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.