We have been together as priest and parish for a little over a year now. In many ways that past year has been anything other than normal. People oftentimes talk to me about that future coming day when things will be back to normal, when regular life will resume. I know what they mean, of course, but I just as often want to remind them that life has been going on at Christ Church despite everything going around us. The body of Christ in our little corner of Chattanooga has remained very much alive.

Our life has looked very different this past year than it has in previous years. Learning to have hybrid meetings in person and through Zoom has produced an almost equal amount of joy and sorrow for us. It has been a great comfort to see each other but a pain not to be face to face. Despite this physical distance, though, Christ Church has kept itself going. We have managed to maintain ourselves and to welcome new people into our midst because we have and we will remain hopeful. Hope is the virtue for this hour of our life together.

We will need hope if we are to be good stewards of our life together going forward. We have many reasons to be hopeful. We gather together for worship on Sunday and throughout the week. We continue to engage with our community through our Outreach Committee. We are still planning weddings. We are still preparing people for confirmation. We are still caring for each other. We are still praying for each other in our need. We are still meeting Jesus in word and sacrament.

We have every reason to be hopeful about our future. Hope is not naive optimism but a firm belief that God is with us. We should and we will plan for our future with that firm belief that God is with us. I see a bold and creative future ahead of us.

That future at Christ Church will come from your own hope and your own contribution to the life of the parish. Your support is what enables us to worship God in the beauty of holiness and to serve God in the destitute.

For our 2022 Stewardship Campaign, I would ask that you prayerfully and hopefully consider increasing your pledge.

I know better than to promise exactly what the future holds for us. I do know that it will be greater than we can imagine as we shepherd Christ Church from generation to generation.

‘Glory to God whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever.’ –Ephesians 3:20,21.

–Father Will Levanway

Ways to Pledge.

Pledge online.
1. Click here to fill out our online pledge card form.
2. After you click Save Pledge, you’ll be brought to a page where you can check Add a scheduled gift for this pledge to set up recurring auto-payments if you wish.
Mail-in Pledge. Pledge Cards will be mailed to all parishioners in the near future, to be returned by November 28th.
Call the office with a confidential pledge at (423) 266-4263