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Dear Friends,

I hope you had the opportunity to hear Justin Lokey be interviewed in the sanctuary Sunday. Justin, his wife, Kristen, and their five children are missionaries in Africa. Their primary work is building relationships with college students, sharing the love of Jesus with young adults who have little understanding of the gospel.

This week, Justin preached at our Tuesday Noon Eucharist service about spiritual lessons he’s learned as a missionary. One of them was learning to be available to God. I was particularly challenged by this. As we settle into the routine of life, especially our suburban life, we forget that God might throw some surprises our way. Imagine Abraham, late in life, being told by God to leave his extended family and home country – not knowing his destination when he started out! Imagine Justin and Kristen, working with students at a Texas university, hearing God call them and their young family to Africa.

Most of us won’t be called to leave our homes and families to be available to God. But all of us will find ourselves stretched by God as we seek to be available to Him. Perhaps it’s sharing the love of God with a difficult co-worker who is going through a rough time. Maybe God is calling you to be available by building a friendship with a neighbor who is lonely and unloved. You might have read the other articles in The Call today and find God asking you to help children in need or volunteer in our Children’s Ministry.

I don’t know how God might want to use you, but here’s what I do know: Once you say “yes” to God and start down the path of availability, you will know joy and fulfillment that you never thought possible.

God doesn’t call us to be available to trick us into doing something we’ll hate.
God calls us because He wants us to use every gift He has given us as He extends His love and salvation to this world. Ask God to give you a heart that is available to Him – and let the adventures begin!

Join us in worship this weekend as Fr. Jason preaches a sermon entitled “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” from Luke 10.

‘See you this weekend,

Fr. Clint+
Associate Rector

Dear Friends,

Can you believe it is July 1? Where has the summer gone? My wife, Kim, told me yesterday that we only have seven weeks until our son, Jackson, starts kindergarten. I can’t believe it! Not only am I not ready for my son to start school, I’m not ready for summer to be over. I still haven’t done all I intended to this summer – especially taking time to rest and slow down.

But that’s not so unusual for me – or for you, I imagine. In our fast-paced world, it is harder and harder to slow down, rest and unwind from the crazy pace of life. The good news is this: Summer isn’t over yet! There’s still time to sit back and relax and practice the spiritual discipline of Sabbath rest. Did you know that God’s word actually commands us to rest? We weren’t made to go 24/7. In His great love for us, God knew that He would need to command rest, or it wouldn’t happen. In fact, one of my professors in grad school used to say that one of the most holy things we can do is take a nap!

In the spirit of guiding us toward rest, I’d like to point you to a couple of excellent resources that talk about the spiritual discipline of Sabbath rest. One is Sacred Rhythms by Ruth Haley Barton.  Another is Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren Winner. Finally, I would suggest Lynne Baab’s Sabbath Keeping. Pick up one of these books and allow God to teach you once again that you aren’t a machine.  You are a child of God created to rest and delight in the life He has given you!  If you need a one-line reminder, consider this: “Be holy…take a nap!”

Speaking of rest, Fr. David is resting and recovering very nicely. He is in great spirits and is very anxiously looking forward to his return soon. Knowing that he was recovering, our Anglican friends in the ACNA made this wonderfully formal and beautifully written resolution at a council meeting in Massachusetts last month. I thought you might like to see this very Anglican “get well card”:

Resolution of the 2^nd Provincial Council of the Anglican Church in North America

June 8-9, 2010

All Saints Church, Amesbury, Massachusetts

Resolved, That the Provincial Council wishes the Rev. Canon David Roseberry a speedy recovery.  O God of heavenly powers, by the might of your command you drive away from our bodies all sickness and all infirmity: Be present in your goodness with your servant David, that his weakness may be banished and his strength restored; and that, his health being renewed, he may bless your holy Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

This Sunday we will welcome one of our missionaries, Justin Lokey, home from Africa. I will interview him in our Sanctuary services to give us an update on his family and ministry. He will be in the Fellowship Hall between services. Please stop by and welcome Justin!

Finally, Sunday is July 4. Our music, as always, will be fantastic this weekend! You won’t want to miss it.  I will preach a sermon from I Peter 2 entitled “Celebrating Our Citizenship.”

‘See you this weekend,

Fr. Clint Kerley
Associate Rector

Dear friends,

I’ve been at work early every day this week, following a sea of blue shirts from the parking lot to the Fellowship Hall. Vacation Bible School kicked off Monday morning with 330 kids, 50 teen helpers, and 95 adult teachers and volunteers taking a “High Seas Expedition” to learn about God. Each day has started with songs and a Bible lesson that teaches the kids an attribute of God’s word. As a parent, it has been so much fun to have my son, Jackson, come home and talk about the fun he’s had meeting new friends, learning songs, and talking about what he’s learning about God. I can’t thank our children’s ministry staff and volunteers enough for the hard work they’ve put into this week. It is an eternal investment in the lives of our children.

Teen and Parent Helpers Make For a Fun High Seas Expedition

On the other side of campus, our student ministry is in the final days of preparation for COAST Camp. On July 26, 200 youth and adult sponsors from five churches will gather in Panama City, Florida for a week of great fun and growing in their faith in Jesus Christ. The evening worship will feature Bible teaching from Tom Richter and worship led by Josh Havens and his band, The Afters. There’s still space available if you know a 6^th – 12^th grade student who would like to attend.  Information is available at www.christchurchplano.org/coastcamp or by contacting Pam Coghlan at 214-291-5019.  Please be in prayer for the COAST Camp team as they prepare, and then for the students as they are at camp July 26-31.

And there is ministry going on around town as well as on our campus. This week, we received this letter of gratitude from a local organization that some Christ Church members helped. I hope you find this heart-warming…this is the spirit of Jesus Christ at work in our community:

[Fr.] David and Marsha [Kostus],

I hope, David, you are progressing well in your recovery from surgery.  I wanted to pass along some cheering news and tell you how grateful I am for the outpouring of support from the church membership for the people we serve at ABC, especially those who are leaving life on the streets and starting a new life focused on recovery from substance abuse and mental illness.  Now they not only have apartments from the Shelter Plus Care Program, but they also have beds, sofas, kitchen tables and chairs thanks to the generosity of Christ Church.

Mark Sternitzke and his team (David Willenborg, Rick Giardina, Mark Gribbin, Eric Flores, Ken Branch and son) deserve special words of praise and thanks.  Mark spent hours organizing the furniture drive and then he and his team spent two Saturdays in the 100 degree heat picking up furniture in their trucks and delivering it to apartments.  This involved hauling several couches, queen-sized mattresses and dressers up the stairs to second floor apartments.  They are certainly STRONG Christians (and I suspect sore and tired as well).

I know the people who received the furniture were extremely grateful and very impressed that a church would do this for them.  Mark will probably get more direct words of thanks from them later but I wanted to tell you myself how much joy it gives me to be a part of such a generous branch of Christ’s family.

Carolyn Lennox, Clinical Director
ABC Behavioral Health

The Very Rev. Dr. Justyn Terry

Finally, this weekend we will welcome special guests to our worship services. The Revs. Allen and Rachel Hill are Christ Church missionaries in Peru. Allen will be our celebrant at the 11 a.m. service.  Our guest preacher in the Sanctuary services this weekend is the Very Rev. Dr. Justyn Terry, Dean/President of Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, PA. Justyn is a gifted Bible teacher. You will want to hear him preach!

‘See you this weekend,

Fr. Clint+
Associate Rector

Dear Friends,

I love being a father! There’s nothing quite like the joy of having my son, Jackson, run up and give me a big bear hug while he’s shouting “Daddy!”  And I love that my seven-month-old, Harrison, has started to reach out his hands to me when I bend over to pick him up.

What I didn’t expect as a dad, however, is what I’d learn from my kids about my life with God. Every day I have something new to think about as I watch them.  Yesterday, I picked up Harrison from his daycare class. One of the teachers commented that all of the other teachers in school stop by to see Harrison when they’re having a bad day. Why? Because he always has a smile and a laugh for them. Something so simple makes a big difference!

When she told me that, I was proud of my son, of course.  But it also gave me pause to ask: What is it about a seven-month-old that draws adults to him? He can’t talk to give advice. He can’t console them with words of empathy and peace. Literally all he can do is smile and be himself. They simply just enjoy being in his presence.

A passage from 2 Corinthians 2 came to my mind: But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. (2 Corinthians 2:14-15, NIV).  As followers of Christ, we have the opportunity to bless people by simply being who we are. Whether we know it or not, we bring Christ with us wherever we go. And like cologne or perfume, people can sense the presence of Christ in us by our smile, our laugh, our words, our silence. And that, friends, is a blessing.

Perhaps we need to be more conscious of the blessing we can be to people – not by anything we do – but by who we are, and who Christ is in us, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Take it from my son, Harrison. People need a blessing – and we can provide it simply by being ourselves!

Have a blessed week. I’ll see you this weekend as we welcome Dr. Skip Ryan as our guest preacher in our Sanctuary services. It is a great privilege to have him here, so please make plans to hear his message to us from God’s word.

In Christ,
Fr. Clint+

Dear Friends,

As you can tell from this week’s weather, summer is officially here! In addition to rising temperatures, summer has announced itself at Christ Church with a great lineup of events that mark the new season:

Confirmed
We had our annual Confirmation service last Saturday evening. Bishop Sutton confirmed 60 students and 10 adults in a fantastic service where he challenged them to see Confirmation as an opportunity to take their relationship with Jesus Christ to a new level. Pray that our young people and adult confirmands will be empowered by the Holy Spirit to love and serve God in new ways! Here is a great photo of our Confirmation group.

Christ Church's 2010 Confirmation Class

VBS
Vacation Bible School is just around the corner! You can still join 400 children and 150 adult and teen volunteers for a “High Seas Expedition” June 21-25.  This Sunday, June 13 is the last opportunity to register your child and their friends. (Sorry, we won’t be able to accommodate walk-ins.) Adults and teens, you can also still volunteer to invest in the life and faith of children at VBS! Register online or volunteer to help.

Meet With Our Missionaries
Two of our missionary families, Allen and Rachel Hill from Peru and Justin and Kristen Lokey from Africa, will be here this summer. If you would like to host them at your small group gathering or individually hear about their efforts to share Jesus Christ in different parts of the world, please contact Susan Kerr at 214-291-5028.

Divorce Care
An unfortunate reality this summer, and throughout the year, is that families in our parish and around our community are dealing with the breakup of their family because of divorce. Our Congregational Care department has a six week Divorce Care group this summer to offer grace and healing to individuals who have faced, or are facing, divorce. The first session is Monday, June 14 at 6:30 p.m. in Room 201 of the Adult Education Building. Please contact Deacon Carol Brooks at 214-291-5024 for more information.

Finally, I would like to say a personal word of thanks for the cards, calls, and emails you have sent over the past couple of weeks since my Mom died. As many of you know, losing someone you love is a difficult path to walk, but the journey is made much easier with the love and support of brothers and sisters in the community of the church.  I’ll share a bit of what I’ve learned so far from this time in my sermon this weekend from Colossians 1:15-23.  I hope you’ll plan to be in worship with us!

Blessings,

Fr. Clint+
Associate Rector

Dear Friends,

I hope you all had an enjoyable and restful Memorial Day weekend. It’s been a short, yet busy, week around here as we prepare for a fantastic weekend ahead!

Bishop Ray Sutton to Confirm Christ Church Members This Weekend

Laying On Of Hands
This weekend, Bishop Ray Sutton will be here to confirm around 60 youth and 10 adults at our Saturday evening service (5:30 p.m., Sanctuary.) Confirmation is an ancient rite that recalls the laying on of hands by the apostles in the book of Acts.  As the bishop lays hands on the confirmands, he will pray that they will be strengthened by the Holy Spirit to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ and empowered to live a life of service to God. Along with those being confirmed, everyone in attendance will have the opportunity to reaffirm their commitment to Christ by once again restating the baptismal covenant. It will be a powerful moment of worship. I encourage you to attend!

Ministry in Guatemala
Also this weekend (11 a.m. Sunday service) we will commission a team who are leaving on a mission trip to Guatemala June 12-20.  These 13 men and women will be installing stoves and water purifiers which will greatly improve the health and well-being of Guatemalans who are often made ill by poor ventilation and bad

Guatemalans Using Life-Changing New Stove

water.  The team will also minister to children in the villages with special activities that will teach them about Jesus. Please be in prayer for them as they travel and work. Also, be in prayer for the people of Guatemala who have suffered greatly because of landslides and a sinkhole which were a result of a recent tropical storm.

Chapel Worship for College Students and Young Adults
I am excited to serve as Celebrant as our college students and young adults gather for Evening Prayer and Eucharist Sunday nights at 6 p.m. in the chapel.  This group is meeting every Sunday evening through August 1 for a time of worship and fellowship.  We’d love to see you there this Sunday and throughout the summer!

Fr. David Roseberry Grateful for Successful Back Surgery

Moving Toward Total Recovery
Finally, I was in touch with Fr. David this week, and he wanted to send you his thanks for the many cards and prayers he has received over the past few weeks. As you recall, he had his back surgery on May 13, and he is happy to report the great news that it worked!  The pain he had lived with for years is gone. He went back into the hospital on May 27 to have the wound cleaned out because his doctor was concerned that it might have become infected, but after a brief surgery, he came back with good news: no infection. So now he is simply home recovering and recuperating. The sciatic pain that has been with him for almost three years is gone. The doctor wants him to stay quiet and “housebound” through the end of July.  He takes daily walks and has a special brace that he has to wear, but he is so very thankful to be moving quickly toward total recovery. Please continue to lift David and Fran in prayer…and he is doing the same for our church family. David said, “Our God is an awesome God who ministers to the needs of His people. I know that first-hand and I am forever grateful to Him and to His people.”

Blessings,
Fr. Clint Kerley
Associate Rector