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May 13 , 2020

IN THIS ISSUE
Make sure to join us online for worship, at 9:15 am this coming Sunday, when we'll be recognizing our 2020 graduates.

Rector's Ramblings


Now that we are months deep in this pandemic and don't yet have a clear picture of how it will "end," conversations about the future are starting to get interesting. Every business and institution is faced with a host of questions that don't have answers and the church is no different. For example, is this pandemic a temporary disrupting event, or is it the harbinger of permanent change that requires significant adaptation? The truth is somewhere in the middle of these two realities and discerning that truth in bits and pieces as we move forward, is both exciting and daunting.

Worship


Worship This Week
Mother Becky bids us a seasonal farewell this week, as she heads to North Carolina for the summer. She will  rejoin  us in the fall. 
Godspeed, Mtr. Becky!

Please join us on the Christ Church Facebook page here, on our YouTube page here, or the Christ Church website here, this coming Sunday for worship at 9:15 am. We will be celebrating a musical Morning Prayer from the church and invite you to watch the service with us live.
Evening Prayer
If you enjoy hearing Evening Prayer read, please look for it at 5:00 pm on the Christ Church Facebook page here. The Rite I bulletin for evening prayer can be found here. The Rite II bulletin for evening prayer can be found here.
Daily Morning Prayer, Wherever You Are
Start your day and lift your spirits each morning by reading Morning Prayer. If you're at home and have your prayer book handy, find a quiet spot, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and select Morning Prayer I (BCP page 37) or Morning Prayer II (BCP page 75) and begin. If you're away from home, you can find the Book of Common Prayer at https://www.bcponline.org and the Scripture and Collects of the Day at http://lectionarypage.net.
 
Mother's Day 2020
Our Mother's Day worship service this year included beloved images of many of the ladies who mean the world to us. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all who dug deep into old photo albums, digital files and mobile phones to find the pictures you so kindly shared with us. 

You can see all the special ladies and find out exactly whose mother belongs to whom here. The Mother's Day bulletin with the list of all the mothers names who were asked to be honored can be found  here. If you'd like to watch the service again, hear the beautiful music, and listen to Mtr. Katie's sermon, you can find it here.

We'd also like to take this opportunity to recognize our treasured Christ Church Women who have reached the age of 90 and surpassed it. These are our living saints.

Ann Barfield
Lise Hofmann
Jean Belt Jane Ledbetter
Tuddy Benton Nell Mathis
Nelda Burke Maryalice McDonald
Pat Collins Charlotte Raymond
Snookie Collins Jane Rives
Margie Dorsey Dotty Anne Smith
Mary Garrison Carolyn Stephens
Frances Graves Edith Tayloe
Marge Hall Millie Wilcox
Mary Hanley
From the Organist and Choirmaster
This coming Sunday's anthem is the Ashokan Farewell, composed by Jay Unger. Ashokan  was the name of a former village in the Catskill region that is now mostly covered by the Ashokan Reservoir.
Jay Ungar composed the song as coming out of "a sense of loss and longing" after the annual Ashokan Music and Dance Camps ended. You might recognize the piece as the theme song for the series The Civil War.
The recorded arrangement you will hear this Sunday is the brainstorm of our incredibly talented Soprano Section Leader, Misty Renard-Laskowski. She asked if I would accompany the song as she wrote lyrics to the tune for her 8th Grade Students (Miss Eva Purdy being one of them). 
As the project progressed, we adapted the lyrics in honor of our Christ Church Parish graduates. I wish to go further to include all of our children and youth who are no doubt feeling, as Jay Ungar did, a sense of loss and longing for what they once knew in their lives a few short months ago.
In the recording, you will hear Misty playing the violin and singing, I am accompanying. 
Cum laude digma (with joyful voice).
Kathleen Turner
Musical Invitation From Canon Joshua Varner



Dear Friends,
 
I am reaching out to you again because you all were generous enough to sign up to sing for our Consecration Choir, back when we thought we would all gather together for that worship service. Now, after a successful experiment with Virtual Choirs for Holy Week and Easter, we would like to invite you to be part of our Consecration Choir! Bishop-elect Logue has invited us to sing Hymn 370, "I bind unto myself today" as an opening to the service. I would love to have you be part of this event!  Many thanks to Kathleen Turner, Organist and Choirmaster at Christ Church, Frederica, for creating these tracks.

Our deadline for submissions is this Friday, May 15! Submissions received after that day may not be part of the choir.
 
The full set of information, including links to guide tracks, instructions for recording, an example video, and directions for submitting your video, and more, are all in the document at this link: https://bit.ly/OrdinationChoir. Please read these instructions carefully, and after doing so, please feel free to ask any questions you have! I am available by email, phone call, and text.
 
I look forward to singing (virtually) with you!
 
God's Peace,
Joshua Varner

Formation 


Join Our Online Contemplative Group
A group from Christ Church Frederica are joining parishioners from Trinity Episcopal Church, in Asheville, North Carolina for an hour of prayer, reflection, and contemplation on Wednesday mornings at 11:15 to 12:15. Email Randy Siegel at  Link2Randy@gmail.com if you'd like to join us! 
Forward Day by Day
If you are a regular reader of the Forward Day by Day devotionals that are typically available in the Christ Church office and would like to continue to have access to them, please contact Glenn Queener at glenn@ccfssi.org. Glenn would like to have your name and street address, so he can send you copies of the booklets. You can also find the devotionals online here.
 
Adult Sunday Class Zooming Along
The Adult Sunday Class, led by the Rev. Bob Brown has moved to Mondays, at 11:00 am, via Zoom. If you'd like to join the group, you can find it here: https://zoom.us/j/430040512  The meeting ID is: 430 040 512  

The Adult class is reading  Stories based on a book by Will Willimon who is the Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Director of the Doctor of Ministry program at Duke University Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. 
  
For questions about where to get the book or how to connect with Zoom, please contact Bob at rwb385@gmail.com.
Wednesday Men's Study Group Meeting Remotely
The Men's Study Group that meets on Wednesdays, at 10:30 am, is meeting remotely using Zoom. They are currently studying, Spillover: Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic, by David Quammen. If you'd like to join the group , please contact Te Turner at royteturner@gmail.com .
Women's Book Study
The Women's Book Study Group is meeting remotely, via Zoom, on Thursdays, at 1:00 pm. The book they're reading is Keep It Shut: What to Say, How to Say It, and When to Say Nothing at All by Karen Ehman.  The book is available at Christian book stores and on Amazon. Please contact Mtr. Ashton at ashton@ccfssi.org if you'd like to join the group and for more information about meeting using Zoom.
 Children and Youth

 
Youth and Children's Activities


Mtr. Katie continues to minister to our children and youth in a wide variety of ways, including newsletters, emails to parents, check-ins, the Christ Church Families Facebook page and last, but not least, weekly Kidurgy worship. If you haven't had the opportunity to experience Kidurgy, click here, or on the caption above, to see the message from the past Sunday. Whether you're a child or a child at heart, you'll enjoy this rewarding presentation of God's Holy Word.

Mtr. Katie's suggested devotions for youth can be found at  d365.org . These  daily devotions are geared towards teenagers - put together by youth ministers. You can even sign up to have the devotion emailed to you daily.

If you need to get in touch with Mtr. Katie, please contact her at katie@ccfssi.org.
Graduate Recognition Sunday
2020 Graduates: Waverly Brown, Hannah Martin, Isabel Parker, Nathan Steelman, Noah Daily, Grace Manning, Leah Scott, Mary Ellen Shuman, Chris Turner, William Doxey, Taylor Ramsaur

On Sunday May 17, we will be recognizing our graduating high school seniors and college students during our 9:15 am online worship service. This year, we will be recognizing both our Christ Church high school and college graduates and the grandchildren of Christ Church members who are graduating. Those graduates are  Waverly Brown, Hannah Martin, Isabel Parker, Nathan Steelman, Noah Daily, Grace Manning,  Leah Scott, Mary Ellen Shuman, Chris Turner, William Doxey, and Taylor Ramsaur. Read more about them here.
Kreimborg Cross
This coming Sunday, May 17, the presentation of the Kreimborg Cross and Scholarship will be shown at the 9:15 am worship service. The cross is given by Tony and Sarah Kreimborg in honor and memory of their son, Evan, who faithfully served as an acolyte at Christ Church. 
Christ Church Families on Facebook
Families! Please join the Christ Church Families Facebook group to keep up with all the latest events and activities. Find us on Facebook here !

 

Mission
and Outreach


The Backpack Buddies - Getting a Little Help From Our Friends

It takes an army to keep the Backpack Buddies weekend meals program up and running and this week, we'd like to give a special shout-out to the Georgia National Guard for their help in keeping the food moving, from Second
Last week, the whole masked Purdy family put in some serious time on the Backpack Buddy line!
Harvest to our Christ Church assembly line. And, of course our thanks continue for our ever-faithful set-up crews, packers and delivery volunteers. Everyone who helps, in any way, is crucial to the operation! THANK YOU!
 
Right now, the Backpack Buddies wish list still includes proteins like Vienna sausages, Beanee Weenees, small cans of Chef Boy R Dee Pasta meals and canned chicken. If you can pick up any of these protein items the next time you're in the grocery store, we would be very grateful. All items may be dropped off on the front porch at the Christ Church Parish House.

If you would like to help the Backpack Buddies ministry with a monetary donation, it would be greatly appreciated. You can donate by check (just mail it to Christ Church, at 6329 Frederica Road St. Simons Island, GA 31522 - check memo, Backpack Buddies) or give online here (choose Backpack Program). We are now feeding nearly 300 additional children per week, so every cent will be put to good use!

For more information about the Backpack Buddies program, please contact Susan Shipman at susanshipman920@gmail.com

(In case you missed the great article in the Brunswick News about our Backpack Buddy Queen Bee* Susan Shipman and her mission against hunger, check out the article here.)

* Backpack Buddies coordinator, Susan Shipman, (seen here on the assembly line in the Parish Hall), wears many hats and one of them is a beekeeper's hat. Ask her about her bees some time!

Recognizing Our Street Beat Graduates
Street Beat is a Safe Harbor program that supports homeless teens in Glynn County. Christ Church ministers to these youth through our hunger outreach program. We are now collecting cards and donations for gift cards for three Street Beat graduates, Shakiya, Isreal and Taliyah, who will soon graduate from high school. Two of the young ladies will be joining the military and the other will be going to college. You may congratulate these young women by dropping off signed graduation cards and contributions towards gift cards in the basket on the front porch of the Christ Church Parish House, by May 25. Please contact Tony Kreimborg at sarahsburden@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Fellowship

 
We Need Your Photos (Again)!


We will be celebrating Pentecost, the day that commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem, on Sunday, May 31, 2020. As we will still be worshipping via Livestream that week, we invite you to participate in the service by sending us photos and videos of yourself and your family celebrating Pentecost, by wearing red, holding a candle or another source of light, or even standing in the wind. Perhaps you'd like to create a piece of art that illustrates the movement of the Holy Spirit. Do whatever the "Spirit" moves you to do!

If you have photos you'd like to share for Pentecost Sunday, please send them to Julie Hancock at julie@ccfssi.org, by Friday, May 22. If you have videos to share, please send them to Fr. Tom at tom@ccfssi.org by Friday, May 22.









Still Looking For Friendly Faces

We also miss seeing all your great smiles and would love to see how you're faring, as you practice social distancing. If you've got photos of yourself or your family members at home that you'd be willing to share, please send them to Julie at julie@ccfssi.org. We will, in turn, share them with all of the congregation, so that we can all "see" each other again!
Happy Birthday, Father Tom!

Today was Fr. Tom's birthday and we couldn't let it go by unnoticed. In addition to receiving personalized camp chairs from the staff for all of his family to use when they eventually go on Sabbatical, the "choir" also recorded a very special birthday song for him. (Click here to hear the song.) Happy birthday Fr. Tom!


Virtual Coffee Hour - 10:30 am 
After Sunday Worship, why don't you drop by the Christ Church Virtual Coffee Hour at 10:30 am and see who's there. Stay and chat for a bit with some of the other friendly folks you haven't seen in a while!  It's easy enough to do from your laptop, tablet or phone. Just go to  Zoom Meetings at: 


Meeting ID: 792 428 337
Password: 005760

 See you on Sunday!
Stay Informed

 
Giving Made Easy


You may use the CCF website to make pledges, donations and payments for some activities. Just select "Giving" at the top of the CCF homepage. This brings you to the pay portal. The process is fast and easy and allows you to pay by credit or debit card or by electronic bank transfer. You may change or add new payment methods at any time. Contact: Stan Kyker, CCF financial administrator at 912-638-8683.


Pastoral Care and Prayer List


Pastoral Care 

Your pastoral care team is here for you! If you have a pastoral concern, a blessing you'd like to share, want to arrange a hospital or home visit, and/or receive Holy Communion, please contact Mother Ashton Williston at 912-638-8683 or ashton@ccfssi.org.

Prayer List

To amend our prayer list or to update the church on the condition of your loved one, please email Mtr. Ashton Williston at ashton@ccfssi.org  or call the church office at 912-638-8683.

Nancy  Acree
Bob Baker
Louise Bartlett
Joan Bowling
Tory Braden
Judy Bradford
Rowland Bradford
Bob Dart Brown
Beverly Burns
Jackie Byrne
Colleen Cassidy
Zoann Covington
Jody Custer
Jackie Davis
Linda Davidson
Mary Lou Detwiler
Dave Essig
Dave Geiszler
Sheika Gramshammer
Mary Hanley
Burgess Hartsell
Larry Hartsell
Andrew Hobbs
Carol Hoffine
Lise Hofmann
Angela Holland
Jessica Hope
Gordon Jackson
Holly Lamb
Mary Landen
Bob Lazier
Bill Littleton
Dorothy Lowery
Dott Marler
Tom Martin
Kathy Marvel
Claire McCarty
Frank Owenby
Pep Peppiat
Johnny Riddle
Julia Riddle
Terry Hall Robbins


Clyde Smith
Willou Smith
David Somerville
Sam Spak
James St. Clair
Mike Swindling
Edith Tayloe
Meghan Thrift
Sarah Whitman
Jennifer Willingham
Mell Wray
Hollis Youngner
Ava
Betty
Carol
Dale
Dave
Dick
Fran
Jake
Joanne
John
Lara
Marianne
Megan
Muriel
Olivia
Pidge
Richard
Susan 
Traci
Virginia
Walter

Departed:
Gene Broadwell
Jesse Hayden Tucker