WEEKLY NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
January 03, 2020

Sunday Worship
January 03, 2021
The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Scripture Readings for this Sunday:
Service of Holy Eucharist
with Music,
in the Sanctuary
8:00 am

Please make a reservation as we are allowed a limited number due to social distancing.

Make you Reservation below: 


Please wear a mask.
Service of Holy Eucharist
with Music,
in the Sanctuary and Zoom
9:30 am

Here is the link to join us on Zoom:

PRAYER REQUESTS THIS WEEK
Healing of body, mind and spirit for
Roe (healing); Nelli (health); Tony (health); Joanna (COVID); Emily (discernment); Chelsea; Gregg (continued healing of COVID); Bobby (healing of COVID); Peggy (healing from daughter’s suicide); Nancy (healing of lung cancer); Scott (coping with dementia); Greg (healing of leukemia); Webb (healing of lymphoma); Sarah (peace of mind & to feel God's love); Julie (patience and peace of mind); Peter (continued healing from heart surgery); Susan (strength and courage during cancer treatment); John; Ola; Michael; Terri (healing of multiple myeloma); Stevan (Tinnitus); Scott (coping with dementia); Elaine, Sue Ellen, Peter, Xavier, Web & Kelly (healing of cancer); Nancy (during her radiation treatment); Doug (recovering from stroke); Matt’s dad (polio) and Matt's mom (strength); Bill (healing of infected shoulder); Thanksgiving for the scientist who developed the COVID vaccines. 
FROM OUR PRIEST-IN-RESIDENCE
Dear Friends in Christ,

So, its back to the routine. The season of Christmas will soon be over as we anticipate the beginning of Epiphany in the coming week. And yet, for many of us, somehow the vision of Christmas continues to haunt us. The love and the joy and the peace of this holy season continues to catch hold of our imaginations. We long to hold on to the vision, perhaps most especially in the midst of our old routines, right where we are and always have been, in the real world living our lives day by day. In a world that Christmas doesn’t seem to change at all.

And yet, it was precisely into such a world of day to day reality that Christ was born. His love came into a world infected by hatred. His peace came into a world in conflict. His joy came into a world all too acquainted with suffering and grief. Into such a world, Love came down and continues to come. Into the real world, with all its compromises, with all that depresses and breaks our hearts - into the real world, Love comes down. Into our present time, this right here and right now of our lives, God is made flesh and dwells among us.
So as we anticipate these post-Christmas days, our work now truly begins. How do we find out for ourselves whether in this Child of Bethlehem there is indeed the power to give us new life? Fred Buechner gives one of the best answers I know. He writes

“Adeste Fidelis. Come all ye faithful, and all ye who would like to be faithful if only you could, all ye who walk in darkness and hunger for light. Have faith enough, hope enough, despair enough, foolishness enough, at least to draw near and see for yourselves . . . The Great promise is that if you come to follow this Child, you will find coming to be born within you something stronger, braver, gladder, kinder, and holier than you ever knew before or ever could have known without him.”

Alas, as we anticipate this final Sunday in Christmas, my brief time with you as visiting priest soon comes to an end. We also stand on the cusp of a new season of Epiphany, the arrival of a new visiting priest, and all of the possibilities and hopefulness of a new year.       

The message of Epiphany proclaims that the full splendor of God has enlightened the world with the coming of Christ. The light of the Epiphany star engages the magi who have come from the ends of the earth. The wisdom they find in God’s light is greater than all of the Wisdom they have known before.

Donna and I are grateful for the light of Christ we have encountered here in Christ Memorial Church,. Your many kind expressions of Aloha during our sojourn with you have touched our hearts. And we will carry the memory of you and the beauty of Kauai with us always.
  
- Zachary Fleetwood +
MUSINGS
We welcome your thoughts on the message from Sunday worship or any inspiration you may have this season of Advent.

Our hope is that the newsletter will become more than a calendar of events, and will instead act as a space to share and learn.

Please email the church office with your responses.
INCOMING CLERGY-IN-RESIDENCE
Christ Memorial welcomes
Rev. Canon Alonzo C. Pruitt
TSSF, SCP, MSW, M. Div., D. Min., D.D.
Fr. Pruitt is a native Chicagoan who returned home after retiring on 2016. He has served churches in Chicago, Brooklyn, New York, and Richmond Virginia, in addtion to offering supply ministries on the island nation of Dominica and in the United States Virgin Islands.

At one time a chaplain for Intergity, Chicago, Alonzo served in the administration of the presiding Bishop Edmond Browning as the Interim Staff Officer for Black Ministries, in addition to ministry as a Chaplain (1LT) in the United States Army Reserve. At the time of his retirement, he was a Sheriff's Deputy (Lt. Col.) and Chief of Chaplains for the second largest jail in Virginia. Since 1982 a Life Professed member of the Third Order Society of St. Francis, he serves as an Area Chaplain in the Order and as a Chaplain to the Retired Clergy and Spouses of the Chicago South Deanery. He has been gratefully active in a 12 Step fellowship since 1995, and more recently became a member of the Society of Catholic Priests. His hobbies are reading, travel, and Shotokan karate. Alonzo and his wife Martha live on the near north side.
New Four-Week Series
Starting January 14, at 10:00 am
"America's Original Sin: Racism's past links to the presnt" will be held Thursdays at 10:00 am.

Rev. Canon Alonzo C. Pruitt will lead this class through the exploration of the ideas and practices that created and sustained division amongst people of different ethnic groups.
CONNECT
Dear Church Family,

Our new microphone arrived and it is working great. We used it at the last service and there was a noted improvement. We plan to continue to have our live Zoom service from the sanctuary at 9:30 am with harp music for now. Our goal is to have an integrated live and zoom service which includes Chantarelle playing and singing from her home. We are also hoping that our mainland lay readers will be able to read for us as well. Branch is working on all the technology this requires and plans to update the Bishop’s Committee on January 10. We will keep you posted. Thank you for your patience with us while we are making these changes.

Wishing all of you a New Year of health, peace, joy and love.

Aloha, 
Rebecca Hullum
Bishop’s Warden
Volunteer at Helen Mitsui's Shared Blessing Thrift Shop
Helen Mitsui Shared Blessings Thrift Shop is seeking Volunteers to work as Greeters + Merchandisers + Donation Intakers + Work from Home Team Members. Each volunteer shift is a 2-4 hour commitment for a minimum of one day per week.

Volunteers are invaluable to serving our community. Our goal is to reuse, repurpose and recycle goods — keeping as much as possible out of landfill — while providing our community with access to reasonably priced, quality merchandise.

Greeters welcome shoppers and ensures a pleasant shopping experience. Merchandisers restock the floor and display retail goods. Donation Intakers receive and process donations. Work-from-Home volunteers help prepare merchandise for sale. We are looking for team players with a genuine interest in serving the community and contributing to the reuse movement.

Requirements?
Willing to support COVID-19 safety measures set by Shared Blessings
Physically able to lift 50 pounds (Merchandisers and Donation Intakers only)
Experience in Retail, Customer Service, and/or Retail a plus

Benefits?
Serving the community is rewarding work. We have a lot of fun! New merchandise is donated daily, so the element of surprise and wonder is constant. Get a first peek and more!

Interested?
Click on this reply button to learn more. Provide your interests, availability to volunteer and your contact information. Mahalo!
CONNECT - A Note to Our Zoom Family
One big blessing for our church that has come out of the struggle with the COVID-19 virus is the connection we have made via Zoom. Many folks who are either seasonal residents, timeshare residents, or even tourists consider us their church community. They can now be a more active part of our church. We have a Sunday worship service, two Bible studies, an Adult Confirmation class and Centering Prayer, made possible through Zoom. Who knew? This has been a learning experience for us. The good news is that even after the virus crisis is over, we will continue many of these offerings on Zoom.

Here are some things everyone can do to help us all have the best experience possible:

  1. Please try to connect at least 10 minutes before the service or the meeting to make sure everything is working correctly.  
  2. If possible, keep your video on so it feels more like being together in church.  
  3. Have your audio always on mute unless advised by the facilitator.
  4. Be present. Try not to multi-task. Having your water or coffee nearby is fine but since your video is on, probably best not to be moving around.
  5. Try your best not to leave early. If your computer drops you out, come back on but make sure your video is on and your audio is muted.  
ONGOING ACTIVITIES
Our Thrift Shop is Open!
Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 2:00 - 5:00 pm
Wednesday 9:30 am - 12:30 pm
Saturday 9:30 am - 3:00 pm

For a safe shopping experience, we can only allow 8 shoppers in the store at any time. All must wear masks and use hand sanitizer.

Online Bible Study
Monday 10:00 am-11:15 am:
Spiritual Lessons from the Book of Genesis

Wednesday 2:00 – 3:15 HST
Letters of Paul 

If you wish to join us, let us know know and we will send you the link and the questions we will discuss. 
Online Centering Prayer & Scripture Reflection
Tuesdays, 9:00 - 9:45 am (HST)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7532197968

Centering Prayer is every Tuesday morning on Zoom, 9:00 - 9:45 am. We begin with a Scripture reading for the day followed by 12 minutes of meditation. Then a reflection is read and anyone who would like to share an insight is invited to do so. We finish with prayer time for those in need of healing.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)

Meets in the Parish Hall:
Monday 6:15 - 7:15 pm & 7:30 - 8:30 pm
Tuesday 10:00-11:00 am & 7:30 - 8:30 pm
Wednesday 7:30 - 8:30 pm

Go to www.kauaiaa.org for more info.
GIVE
Our giving is important, especially now.

Although we aren’t gathering in the sanctuary for worship, our church bills are still the same. We’ve had questions from our Sunday worshippers and now our Zoom worshippers about how to give. Your continued gifts really matter, especially in this time of uncertainty.  
If you like to give by check, please send to:
Christ Memorial Episcopal Church,
P.O. Box 293, Kilauea, HI 96754

Or consider changing to Automated Giving. It makes life easy. Just click on the button below to make a one-time or recurring donation. 

Thank you for your love and care for our Christ Memorial community!

STAY INFORMED
Keep up-to-date with messages from the Bishop. Click on the buttons below to view the Bishop's weekly Monday & Wednesday messages, and find links to online worship in the Diocese.
QUICKLINKS
Newsletter Mission: Our weekly newsletter was launched to inform our island community, as well as connect with our broader community of old and new friends, near and far. Whether you live on Kaua'i, visit seasonally or joined Christ Memorial for the first time during vacation, we welcome you into our global family. We endeavor to include inspiration, new ideas, practical advice and updates on news and events of Christ Memorial. Let us know how we can serve you best in 2020 by replying to this newsletter or emailing us.

Have you met Pastor Gae? Pastor Gae wants to get to know you all – phone chats, home visits, morning coffees, afternoon teas or walks on the beach. Near or far, reach out to meet or share your thoughts by emailing her or call (623) 208-9436.
Christ Memorial Episcopal Church
2509 Kolo Road, Kilauea, HI 96754
Mailing: PO Box 293, Kilauea, HI 96754
Phone: (808) 482-4824

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