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Dear Friends,

Before getting to the content of my letter today, I think we all must stop and pray for our fellow Americans who have experienced the tornado in Joplin, Missouri. What devastation. With deep sorrow and anguish for them, let us pray to the God of all comfort (II Cor 1). Even now, we do not know the extent of the damage, but it is surely catastrophic in loss of life. As of this writing I cannot fathom the numbers but I simply hope that more and more people will be found and reunited with their families.

This is May, friends. The fury of the weather and the cycle of our seasons always presents these things. Most of us live at the southern end of “tornado alley” and we are accustomed to these stories of terrifying storms. I remember reading about this years ago when a tornado cut a mile-wide swath through some town in Oklahoma. On the news that evening I saw a picture of a man and his broken-apart home. He had taken a spray can of paint and written to the heavens: “God, we need to talk…”.

But God has spoken on this matter. Read Psalm 46 and hear the cry of David–one of the strongest statements of faith in the Bible. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. (vs.1) Then David describes the desolation that has occurred…and he ends with the most comforting of tributes: “Be still, and know that I am God.”

If you have friends or family in the Joplin area, please list their names in the comment section at the end of this blog. I will be sure that we pray for them. Also, I encourage you to go here if you want to make donations to help. Meanwhile, we will continue to uphold the strong people of the state of Missouri in prayer.

Now, here are some things you need to know.

Sign Me Up!
In the first hot summer of our church’s formation, I made a few hundred house calls. I’d usually wear my formal clergy attire—you know, the collar that gets me the back corner table when I go out for lunch wearing it. When I’d sit down with people in their homes I’d ask them about their experience in a church. Typical answer: nil. What about their faith commitment or background? Typical answer: light. What about their desire to work together to build a fully functioning parish in the North Dallas area? Typical answer: Sign me up!

That is the way it has been for 25 years. We are a parish that welcomes people of little or no faith background, but who have a keen desire to build a family of faith that will make a difference in the lives of our families and our communities. To this end, God has blessed this work and we all have something to celebrate on the 5th of June. Everyone who is in any way connected with Christ Church is invited to join us and give thanks for God’s great blessing over this parish family.

You have seen the advertisements about it: Sunday, June 5 at 9:30. You have read the dress code: casual. But you may not be aware that I have a special gift for every family at Christ Church. I honestly can’t tell you exactly what it is, but I can give you a hint: You will be able to enjoy it for years to come. Your kids will love it. You will be proud to share it with your friends. It will lift you in your spirit before the Lord.

And remember, comb your hair and look sharp! We will take a family photo together. The youth and children will join us. The Sanctuary will be filled to the brim. What a great day it will be. Click here to see our family photos through the years.

Confirmed
The Confirmation weekend should speak for itself. It was a tremendous blessing for us to have Archbishop Duncan visit us. He told me that ours was the largest Confirmation class he had ever worked with in North America. Those of you who attended only Sunday morning will be interested to know that the Confirmation service was deep and moving. We prayed along with the 108 people being Confirmed (about one-third of them adults).

For our 65 sixth graders, I think the ceremony will always be etched on their hearts and minds. Teeming with excitement, the students walked two by two to the altar and knelt before Archbishop Duncan as he laid his hands upon their heads and prayed the same words that have been spoken for centuries. His prayers may have sounded the same, but each one seemed to be especially prayed for each person. Archbishop Duncan told me many times that he was moved by the seeming hunger and passion of our youth. We had the incredible privilege of witnessing the commitment our students were making before the Lord and our church. Watching our young disciples take up their cross and follow the Lord was simple amazing.

Immediately following the Confirmation service was the traditional banquet honoring all the Confirmands. Fellowship Hall was a sea of tables elaborately decorated and set for a feast. Over 400 family members and friends filled the room. It was a great celebration for our families. Congratulations to our Confirmation Class of 2011! Here is a photo of them. (Click to enlarge.)

Christ Church Confirmation Class of 2011

Youth Staff Addition
During the Renew for Our Future campaign, I made you the promise to place children and youth at the forefront of our ministry. In the past few weeks we have seen some changes which are strengthening our ministry.  I have some great news along that line, but first…

I want to thank Jonathan Hunnicutt for the wonderful work he has done with our high school students. He began as an assistant in our youth ministry and formed great relationships working with our students. As his next step in ministry, he will be moving over to join Fr. Jason Bowman and the Adult Discipleship team and shore up our ministry to young adults, ages 19-25.  This is a natural way for him to stay in touch with the youth he has been working with.  It is a great new opportunity for Jonathan to build on his youth ministry experience and to carve out new discipleship opportunities for our current high school students as they move into the young adult age bracket.

Katie and Mike Boone

Meanwhile, I am very pleased to introduce Mike Boone to you as our new High School Youth Minister. Mike comes to us with a breadth of experience in discipling students and a challenge to build a robust high school ministry—an outreach to students all over the DFW metroplex. Mike will be ordained to the diaconate on June 4 and then made a priest within the year in the ACNA. He is a recent graduate of the Masters of Divinity program at Duke University. He and his wife, Katie, will join us around the third week of June and I can hardly wait for our kids to connect with Mike. He is a great guy. He loves the Lord. In the interview process, he had a lot of great ideas, but his heart and passion were centered on connecting with the students in their world and on their terms. It is my hope that he will help our youth team take off. I know this church will give him a wonderful warm Christ Church Welcome.

Both Mike and Pam Coghlan (who will concentrate on Middle School ministry) will report to Fr. Clint Kerley to reassess our youth ministry offerings, and Jonathan will be available over the summer to help with Mike’s transition. We will have a great team in these student ministers, and I am looking forward to what God can do through us with this renewed focus.

Financial Hiccup
Speaking of the Renew campaign, we do have a slight hiccup in our finances. Giving has been so strong that we have almost cut our debt in half! But we also need to enter the summer with a strong Operating Fund. To date we are about $120,000 below expenses in the Operating Fund. We have some reserves, but I am asking our families to step up in their giving to both our budget needs and our debt elimination program. I know it is a lot to ask…but these are times of great strength and ministry. Thank you in advance for your heart and commitment to these things. By the way, have you checked out our online giving option?

Orphanage Construction 80% Complete

Orphanage Construction Update
As you know, the Christ Church family has given generously throughout the years in support of the Casas Hogares Children’s Homes in the Diocese of Peru. I know you will be thrilled to see the progress that is being made on the new building for the kids in Arequipa. Read more and view a slideshow here.

Don’t Waste Your Freedom
For Memorial Day weekend, I am working on a special message entitled, “Don’t Waste Your Freedom”. I think it will be a meaningful reminder to us about the hard-fought freedom that we enjoy, both as Americans and as children of God. I hope to see you here.

In Christ,
David

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

Dear Friends,

I spoke to a man in our church today about a friend of his. The friend was having a rather difficult time. His marriage was a bit rocky. Some events had happened that set loose a chain reaction of grief, guilt and regret. There were a lot of late night conversations between these two friends. One man trying to help another through a tough spot.

This brought to mind something I have been wanting to write to the whole congregation.  I encouraged the man in our church to bring his friend to church.

Why?

There is something that happens in worship. Worship is not a human activity that is simply a program of music and words and prayer and communion. The promise of God is that He will meet us in the prayers and praises of His people. And many at Christ Church sense this.

Do you know that one of the most common things I hear from our members is that when they came for worship and sat in the pew, tears came to their eyes.  They were moved.  The music speaks to them. God uses the message of the preacher to illumine their hearts. God’s Word (the Bible) read in public is a powerful thing all by itself. The mystery and moment of communion speaks deeply to many people.

Hasn’t it spoken to you? Have you not sensed that God was present in Spirit and in Truth in the worship week by week?

My encouragement to have this hurting man and his wife come to church is not self-serving. I make this suggestion because I believe that there is an “atmospheric condition” of Grace that is sometimes palpable. Counselors and psychologists can expose wounds…suffering and hardship can lay people bare…but the healing power of Jesus Christ can make them whole. So, this week, love all in any kind of need.  Invite them to come to church.

Here are a few things you need to know this week:

New to Christ Church?
I am eager to meet all the new people who are signing up for our April 25^th Welcome Class. Most of our main staff will be there. I’ll give an overview of Christ Church and answer the many questions that our new members always have. But the biggest blessing for the Welcome Class always comes as people meet each other and begin to establish friendships and lasting relationships within the parish. About 65 people have already signed up…and many more are likely to come. Be sure it is on your calendar.

Who Does What?
I am well aware that our church family is full of many talented, gifted people who are eager to contribute to the ministry in various ways. So, I am providing this brief ministry leadership overview to help you connect to our staff. These leaders represent the wider staff, and any of them would welcome your call anytime—about serving in ministry or about any other issue.

Identity Theft
Our sermon series, The Changed Heart, is underway.  We are looking closely at Colossians 3. Take a look at it. The first four verses are like an overture for the rest of the chapter.  My contention is that the truth of what it means to be “raised” with Christ is one of the most powerful ideas I can convey to you. This week, in a message entitled “Identity Theft” I’ll outline how we have lost our identity in Christ and how we can retrieve it.  It is only as we understand who we are in Christ that we can live the life of victory and joy that the Bible promises.

Important Survey
On the weekend of April 24, I will ask you to participate in a very important survey of the spiritual life and heart of our congregation. It will be done entirely online. In the past few years, we have simplified our ministry, become more focused and stronger in three key areas. And, as you have heard me say, I continually call people to engage in the life of this church in each of these three areas: Worship. Grow. Serve. Our survey will help give us a baseline reading about the relative heart and strength of our church. But it will be best if many, many, many people participate. It will take about 20 or 30 minutes. I know you’re busy, but this will be a great investment in your church. Look for details starting next weekend.

A Book for Married Couples
I read a chapter from this book online. It looks great, and it will be on sale for the next 48 hours. The books is What Did You Expect? Redeeming the Realities of Marriage by Paul David Tripp. Based on the chapter I read, I would recommend the book to any married couple at any stage in their life together.

Bishop Ray Sutton

Confirmation on June 5

I was very happy to invite Bishop Ray Sutton of the Church of the Holy Communion in Dallas to come and do our confirmation service for our 6th grades and adults on June 5 at 5:30. p.m. Bishop Sutton and I have been connecting on a number of levels, including through the umbrella organization of the ACNA. We are blessed to have him with us for this very special event in the life of our church.

That’s it for now.  I’ll see you over the weekend.  Please invite and encourage people to come. God is doing something wonderful here…and I want you and your friends to be a part of it.

In Christ,
David+

Dear Friends,

This will be a great weekend at Christ Church. We are confirming one of our largest-ever classes of people into the Anglican Communion. Congrats to our student minister, Pam Coghlan, and to her staff of teachers and leaders who led the student confirmation class the whole year.  Thanks also to Deacon Carol Brooks for putting together a great class of adults. In all, we will confirm 86 people between the 5:30 p.m. service on Saturday and the 11 a.m. service on Sunday. Our bishop, the Rt. Rev. Philip Jones, will preside.

Confirmation is not the end of the road for anyone. It is not a destination. It is a ‘rite of passage’, so to speak, that a person makes in a public way. It is a celebration of what God has done and is doing in the faith-life of a person.

We have also completed work on the DVD called Confirmed Anglicanism and it is available for order at the Access Audio counter in the Sanctuary narthex on Sundays, or by emailing here. (I will have gift copies for the adults being confirmed this weekend.) Thanks to those who were part of the live studio audience! Great job… I hope you like the show!

Here are a few things you might want to know about:

Summer Reading List at Bookstore
Our bookstore is carrying a list of books I am reading and/or recommending for the summer. I can’t say that I advocate every book…some of the books have challenged me. But I have enjoyed them…and perhaps you will too. I must tell you that I am in a very fruitful and exciting learning time in my ministry.  I have discovered more and more of God’s grace to me, to my family, and in my ministry.  I have learned more about God’s overwhelming love and our overwhelming need for Him. These books have provoked me and challenged me to grow in these areas.

My Birthday
I celebrated my 54th birthday yesterday and was very thankful for the encouraging words from so many.  But what really touched me were the words from my children. One by text, one by phone, one sang the birthday song on a voicemail with a screaming (off tune) child in the background, and a hug from another. I got a call from my mom.  And of course, Fran showered me with great affection…and we went together to a movie—a movie about salvation. It all caused something in my heart to spring loose…in a good way.  I saw my life, my role as a husband, my fatherhood, and my ministry in a new light—a light of grace. I hope to be unpacking the subject of grace more and more in the month of June in my messages. I am especially looking forward to delivering my Father’s Day message on June 21.

Meet Stewart Lovett
I want you to meet someone. Stewart Lovett is a dear brother in Christ. He is also a huge fan and supporter of the Alpha ministry.  Since we have a new class starting up this next week (read about it here) you will want to hear from Stewart at our announcement time at the 9:15 and 11:00 services this Sunday.

Finally, ever since our church’s 24th birthday celebration two weeks ago, I have enjoyed reminiscing about our early days when Plano looked like this. This first photo was taken in 1988 when there was very little out here. That’s Deerfield subdivision on the north side of Legacy Drive! The second photo was taken in 2005. To God be the glory for the things He has done over these years!

‘See you this weekend.
David+