Episcopal Church in the Holy Land – Starting Friday night!

Our Christian Formation Committee is sponsoring a program for the season of Epiphany on the ministries of the Episcopal Church in the Holy Land. In order to understand the Church’s involvement in the region, we need to understand more about the region, the people, and the occupation.

Join us as we learn more about the lives and struggles of the Palestinian people. Educational films will be shown to illustrate the lives of Christian and Muslim Palestinians under Israeli Occupation and followed by discussion. Popcorn and Middle Eastern pastries will be available!

There will be four two-hour sessions on Fridays from 7 to 9 p.m.

       January 20 - Israel and U.S. Collaboration: Controlling the Narrative

       January 27 - Resistance and Resilience Under Occupation

       February 3 - Unequal Justice under the Law

       February 10 - Gaza: The Largest Open-Air Prison in the World

The organizers of this program are parishioners Janet Quinn and Christine Meloni and their friend Laura Jaghlit. Please RSVP to Christine or email stcpalsfilm@gmail.com. For any questions, contact either Christine (cfmeloni@hotmail.com) or Janet (bandito8@verizon.net).

We would like to raise money for one of the Church’s ministries, St. John’s Episcopal School in Haifa. There will be a basket for your donations on the refreshment table. Checks may be made out to St. Christopher’s with memo: Haifa.For more information about this school, go to https://afedj.org/institution/st-johns-episcopal-school-haifa-israel/.

Bible study – January 23rd (Mon)

Join us in reading and discussing Rachel Held Evans’ A Year of Biblical Womanhood. We are resuming Bible Study January 9, and we will be discussing the February chapter. Please see below for the Zoom link; it will be the same link for the next 6-7 sessions.

Time: Jan 23, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

    (The group will meet every 2 weeks on Mon, until Apr 3, 2023)

Click here to join Zoom meeting

Meeting ID: 874 7717 1129

Passcode: 252983

Thanks!

Meredith

Chair Yoga - January 21, 28 and

February 4, 18, 25 (Sat)

Chair Yoga led by Ruth Meagher gives a gentle but meaningful time to center in our bodies. Please join us on January 21 and 28 at 9:30 a.m. This activity will occur on most Saturdays. The February dates are 4, 18, and 25. Auditorium

Contemplative Prayer Returns - Jan 25 (Wed)

Contemplative Prayer will return on Wednesdays beginning January 25 at 4 p.m.  Rev. Carey will do a brief introduction to this meditative form of prayer at 4 p.m. to be followed by twenty minutes of centering prayer together. Library

Holy Hike 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4 at Fairfax’s Royal Lake

At Deb Kim’s suggestion, our next Holy Hike will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, walking around scenic Royal Lake in Fairfax. Note, this pretty, neighborhood lake has three trailheads, and we’ll meet at the one at Lakeside Park, 5216 Pommeroy Drive. This will likely be our shortest hike of the year — just under two miles and mostly flat, although there are some steps and a grassy incline up to the dam. For your convenience, we’ll carpool from St. Christopher’s lower lot at 9:15 a.m. See you there! Questions? Contact Jim Bradshaw at jim.bradshaw@cox.net.

Hypothermia Program - Thank You!

Thank you to all who participated in this year’s Hypothermia Program! It was another great success! We had more guests than originally anticipated, but we adapted and improvised. Everyone participated in so many different ways – welcoming our guests, planning (so much planning), providing food, cooking meals, serving meals, spending the night, providing monetary donations, running to the store at the last minute, cleaning up, praying for the program and our guests, etc. Thank you to all of you!

Vestry Nominations

St. Christopher’s will elect four new Vestry members at our Annual Parish Meeting on Feb 5. The Vestry invites all those who are interested in serving on the Vestry or have questions about Vestry membership to contact the Rev. Carey Connors (revcareyconnors@gmail.com / 703-451-1089) or our Senior Warden, Mary Johnson (Mjohnson311@icloud.com / 703-944-7257).  

Vestry service is a great way to connect to St. Christopher’s at a deeper level, to increase interactions with other parish members, and to have the opportunity to see the inner workings of the church. Please prayerfully consider Vestry service and reach out to obtain more details.

Annual Parish Meeting – February 5 (Sun)

Our Annual Parish Meeting will be held Sunday, February 5 at 11:45 (after the 10:30 a.m. service) both in-person and on-line.  We will meet as a community to celebrate the work of the previous year, highlight selected ministries, and elect new vestry members.  All adult communicants in good standing, registered at St. Christopher's are entitled to vote.  If you have any questions about your status as a member, please call the church office so we can help.

Pledge Verification

We recently discovered that there may have been some issues with the electronic pledge link in the weekly newsletter. 



• If you submitted your pledge electrically and did not receive a thank you email confirmation from Marifran Bustion, our Pledge Monitor, please contact Marifran (marifranbustion@gmail.com / 703-887-2196) or Debbie Frear (StChristophersTreasurer@gmail.com / 703-731-4069) so they can check to ensure your pledge was received. 
• Those who submitted pledge cards in hardcopy should also verify that their pledge was received if they did not get a thank you message. 

Here is an updated fillable pledge card and instructions.

Thanks for your patience as we implement new ways of collecting pledges!