Category: General News

We hope you are making plans to attend the Pot Luck Lunch on Sunday, September 11th, after the 10:30 service!

This will be our first all-parish social event in Fox Hall since COVID began, and we look forward to seeing our Christ Church family and friends, after a long hiatus. Please bring a side dish, salad, or dessert to share, and we will provide fried chicken and lemonade. To-go containers will be available for anyone who prefers to wear a mask while socializing and wishes to take their meal home.

If you have any questions or would like to help, please contact Susan Brooks (706 )820-9290.

We had a lot to show for our two hours in the cool shade for our first Collection Saturday.

For MetMin, you brought us 144 rolls of toilet paper, plus 3 family-sized jars of peanut butter. Ben and Ginger Sanzo delivered the donations last Monday, and the folks at MetMin were thrilled to receive them, reporting that the needs in our community continue in their upward spiral.

For the Bethlehem Center, you shared 19 huge boxes of cereal plus $50 for milk money. Camp for 60 school-age kids will be in session next month, and they will arrive hungry. Thank you for helping to be sure they can start the day with breakfast. Ray Barney and Reginald Bedford delivered for us, and the folks at the Beth were delighted.

For our own walk-up pantry, we received 59 items in cans or packages–with a lot of them being rich in protein–plus 40 packs of peanut butter crackers. Before we left on Saturday, we added a few things to the shelves, and by Monday they were gone. Your generosity gives us a base supply, and we can refill the pantry with that donated food.

Donation total: 265 items plus $50 for milk. Outreach thanks you for participating!

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In June, we focus our attention on one of our two public school ministry opportunities: The Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence. CCSE has two campuses–one for elementary and the other for the expanding middle-high. Both are on Willow Street, near the 4th Avenue exit. We work with the middle-high school; ninth grade will be added this fall. The student body is 60% African American and 40% Hispanic. 

So far, we have helped meet their needs with board games for their club (for practice in strategic thinking) and snacks for students during TCAPs (state-mandated achievement tests). Dr. Seay, school principal, attended our May Outreach meeting to thank us for those gifts, telling us that our contributions make a huge positive difference in the lives of the students.

Right now, news of the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, is painfully fresh. Nineteen Hispanic children in grades two through four, and two of their teachers, are dead. This marks the 27th school shooting in America this year. You may be contemplating how you will respond to this. One way might be taking action to do something positive for a similar school.

On Saturday, June 11, we will be collecting transparent mesh backpacks. At CCSE, see-through backpacks are not only safer, but also required. Unfortunately, they wear out faster than bags made of sturdier materials and need to be replaced yearly if not sooner. Families of students at this school are largely low-income, and for some of them, backpack replacement is a financial burden. Use this link to get a RED or BLACK mesh backpack for only $14. Shopping in-person or elsewhere is fine, but be sure what you buy resembles these. School colors are RED, WHITE, and BLUE, so stick to those colors or BLACK.

The students also need reusable water bottles. They like to personalize them with markers and stickers. We will be collecting new and used plastic bottles in good condition. If you are shopping, look for BPA free products.

We’re also collecting water bottles for the local homeless community, and we’ll take some of what you bring to the Community Kitchen. Staying hydrated while living outside can be challenging, so bottles that can be filled at a water fountain or from a sink will be helpful.  Hats and caps have also been requested by members of the community.

As for our own porch pantry, we need soups, canned meats (chicken and tuna are popular), and small jars of peanut butter–right now, we are seeking items in humidity-resistant packaging, and pop-tops are helpful. Everything we put in the pantry is taken quickly. Choose something you would like to receive!

All our Outreach meetings are held first Thursdays at 4:30 pm on Zoom, and you are welcome to attend. Find the link on our parish website calendar.

LOOKING AHEAD, we are planning to focus on school uniforms in July. CCSE’s principal has given us names of about a dozen students in great need of our help. The store that sells CCSE’s uniforms (embroidered logos on polos) is having a sale through the end of June, so to act on that, we need donations now. Please give to Christ Church and designate your gift to Outreach–uniforms.

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Shopping List for June

For Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence:

• Transparent mesh backpacks like this in Black, Red, White, or Blue. Buy anywhere, but stick to those colors.
• Reusable water bottles

For the Community Kitchen:

• Reusable water bottles
• Hats and caps

For Christ Church’s Porch Pantry:

• Pop-top stew or soup
• Canned meats and beans (chicken and tuna are popular)
• Single-serving canned fruit
• Small jars of peanut butter

On Saturday, May 14, a few members of our Outreach Committee will be in the Christ Church parking lot from 11 am until 1 pm, sitting at our umbrella table. Eagerly, we will be awaiting other parishioners (you!) bearing gifts of toilet paper and nonperishable food that we will be sharing with two of our ministry partners–MetMin and The Beth–as well as our own front porch pantry.

In late March, Fr. Will met with our committee to talk about ways Christ Church can become more intentional about outreach. We want to involve more people and make a bigger difference in both our own neighborhood and our larger community. We decided to designate the second Saturday of each month as Collection Saturday. We hope to give you a chance to learn more about the organizations we have chosen to support as we focus on one or two of them at a time. Outreach will be asking our recipients what they need most. We’ll share that information with you ahead of time.

You might be wondering, “Why a Saturday? Can’t I just bring my goods with me to church on Sunday?” Well, yes you can, but the idea here is to take that one time a month to be focused on giving. And this way, we can include people who might not be coming to Christ Church in person, or who don’t attend on Sundays.

You probably know how curbside pick-up works. Think of this as curbside drop-off. We will be glad to take items from your trunk, or you can pass a bag out your window. And yes, you can give money–we specifically need that. You can make a gift to Outreach designated for Collection Saturday.

Meanwhile, have you noticed our Christ Church front porch pantry? It’s under the roof of the Canterbury Building facing Douglas Street. Thank Rebecca Smith for making that happen by remembering to bring food to keep it stocked. We need food that comes packaged to defy humidity and that’s easy to eat on-the-go or in a dorm room. Think about nutritious food in pop-top cans, jars of peanut butter–something you would be happy to find if you were hungry and strapped for cash.

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MetMin says their most-needed item this month is toilet paper. They usually ask us for high-demand items that are not currently available at the Chattanooga Food Bank. MetMin is seeking volunteers to help out in person at their new location: 4001 Rossville Boulevard. For more information, call them at 423-624-9650. 

The Beth, located at 200 W. 38th Street in Alton Park, is gearing up for their limited-enrollment summer day-camp program–six weeks, 60 kids, four days a week, two meals a day. They’ve requested giant boxes of name-brand breakfast cereals they know the kids will eat. They also asked us for milk, but we decided that giving them money to buy milk as needed would be the best option. Chances are good that we’ll be putting together a team to cook lunch for the camp one week. Tell Ray Barney if you’d like to help with that.

Christ Church has a front-porch pantry that is running low on food–evidence that we are meeting a hunger need in our own neighborhood.

We hope to see you Saturday between 11 and 1, and appreciate your support of our Outreach program.

Lent begins on the 2nd of March this year. We will have a number of opportunities to slow down in anticipation of Easter and to recenter our faith once more on Jesus Christ. Our focus at Christ Church will be creating times to work on those holy habits of prayer, Scripture, and sacrament and to dwell in Christ’s presence.

On March 1 at 6 pm we will serve pancakes in conjunction with Project Canterbury. In our tradition, the day before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday, has been a time to make our confession and to have some festive pancakes before Lent begins.

Also on March 1st, Fr. Will will be available in the church to hear confession, from 12 pm to 1 pm, and again from 5 pm to 6pm.

On March 2, Ash Wednesday, we will have a said service at noon and a sung service at 6 pm. Ashes will be distributed at both services.

Following Ash Wednesday, we will begin a new schedule of midweek services.

• On Tuesday evenings (beginning on March 8) we will have time for eucharistic adoration at 6 pm. Fr. Will will be spending time looking at the holy habits of prayer and reading Scripture following adoration. On March 22 Fr. Roy Pollina will join us to present on his book Justified by Her Children: Deeds of Courage Confronting a Tradition of Racism. Fr. Pollina’s book will be available for sale at a discount at the event.
• On Thursday mornings (beginning on March 10) we will have an early eucharist at 8 am.

Holy Week begins April 10 with Palm Sunday and concludes April 17 on Easter. Holy Week marks the high point of our liturgical year and ritual life together. If you are able please make plans to attend these important holy days including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter.

One of the clubs at Chattanooga Charter School of Excellence needs board games. The club meets bimonthly to play, and students develop skills in creating strategies and solving problems while they have fun. They had been loaned some games, but those were returned when the owner moved away. These are middle school students, so games for ages 12 and up will be appropriate.

Games need not be new. Clean out your closets and see what you find! If you have no games to offer, we will be glad to shop gently used or tax-free for you. Make a donation to Christ Church Outreach and designate it for Games.

If you have games to give, you can bring them to Christ Church: leave them in the Narthex, or drop them by the office. For other arrangements, please contact parishioner Jennifer Holdaway, School Counselor at CCSE, at jennholdaway@hotmail.com

This past Sunday’s Adult Forum welcomed Bishop Brian Cole, who led our small group along with Fr. Will in exploring what it means to be a disciple of Christ in today’s changing social climate.

As he does with each annual visit to our Adult Ed gathering, Bishop Cole engaged us in thought-provoking discussion, suggesting that COVID has brought the church not only a challenge, but also an opportunity. While East Tennessee churches have been struggling with attendance and funds, this unprecedented change to our status quo is forcing us to adapt and experiment. We’re offering more online and hybrid opportunities. We’re meeting people where they are. We’re redefining what it means to be a member of a church community.

The Bishop told us a story of a church in Lexington, years before COVID. After the June 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, this church wanted to offer a chance for those mourning to come and pray, so they offered a midweek Compline service at 9 p.m. More than 100 people showed up; most didn’t return. Rather than seeing so many one-time attendees as a sign of failure on the church’s part, the church considered its Compline a success. The church saw a need in its community, and the community was open to giving the church—and God—a chance to meet that need.

According to Bishop Cole, the church at large is called to offer “deep hospitality.” He says that insiders will care for the institution of the church while others take interest in the broader issues. There is a porous border between the people within the church and the people around the church, and our group left this discussion feeling called to step outside our historical habit of being service providers in favor of inviting others to join in. Ray Barney pointed out Fr. Will’s particular kindness to people experiencing homelessness. Paul Womack suggested that lapsed Christians may need a safe space to talk. We discussed Southside Abbey’s faithful, nontraditional community; our Outreach Committee’s pre-COVID fruit giveaways; and the fundamental ministry of feeding people.

Bishop Cole referenced St. Augustine, reminding us that church is a place for rest, a place to be loved. We’re called to invite people to show us their wounds of where the church has hurt them, to serve counter-culturally, to evangelize without conquest.

Next week, although our Bishop won’t be with us, we’ll be continuing our discussion of Catholic Evangelism. If you would like to listen, to talk, to learn, or just to start your Sunday morning with your Christ Church family, then this group may be just right for you.

The Christ Church Annual Meeting will be this Sunday, November 28th at 12 pm. We hope you will attend, either in-person or by Zoom.

The Vestry Nominees are:

• Susan Brooks
• Karla Fowkes
• Alline Ingle
• Jennifer McKinney

Zoom details:

1. Click here – https://zoom.us/j/99539518954
   Or
2. Go to Zoom.us, click “Join Meeting” & enter Meeting ID: 995 3951 8954
   Or
3. On your cell, call (312) 626-6799 and enter Meeting ID 995 3951 8954#