+ The Messenger +
June 2011
A Communication Ministry of Christ’s Church Episcopal, Duanesburg, New York
- Christ’s Church Episcopal is part of the world-wide Anglican Communion -
The Rev’d William Hinrichs, Rector(H) 518 541-3206 (C) 518 221-3425Email: WilliamRHinrichs@aol.comMrs. Debbie Fish, Warden 518 895-8461Mr. Steve Schrade, Warden, 518 875-6559The Rt. Rev’d William Love, Bishop Diocesan Debbie Fish – Editor, fishesny@nycap.rr.comThe Rev'd Cn. Robert Haskell, Canon to the Ordinary Parish Office Mail: PO Box 92, Duanesburg, NY 12056Church website:
www.christchurchduanesburg.org
Parish Hall Phone: 518 895-2383The parish is located at: 132 Duanesburg-Churches Rd, Duanesburg, NY,on the corner of Route 20 and Duanesburg Churches Road in Duanesburg, near exit 24 of I-88
Pentecost 2011
As we come to the end of the Great Fifty Days of Easter and prepare to celebrate the feast of Pentecost, I inviteyou to reflect on the Gospel reading we will hear on June 12 (John 20:19-23).Check out the church ads on the religion page of the Saturday edition of most big city newspapers and you findsome impressive sounding places of worship. There, with sleek graphics and Madison Avenue phrases, a fewselect churches boast of their assets -- their choirs, their friendliness, their powerful preaching, their singlesministries, their ample parking, their family life centers, their sensitive child care, and their compassionate spirit.Some churches, it seems, have it all.Other churches, however, appear by contrast to have nothing, absolutely nothing. Take, for example, the churchdepicted in the 20
th
chapter of John. Here, we get our first glimpse of the disciples gathered together after theresurrection, the first glimpse, in other words, of the church in its earliest days, and, all in all, it is not a very prettypicture. Near the end of his life, Jesus had carefully prepared his disciples to be a devoted and confidentfellowship of faith. They were to be a community of profound love with the gates wide open and the welcomemat always out, but here we find them barricaded in a house with the doors bolted shut. They were to be the kindof people who stride boldly into the world to bear fruit in Jesus' name, a people full of the Holy Spirit performingeven greater works than Jesus himself (John 14:12), but here we find them cowering in fear, hoping nobody willfind out where they are before they get their alibis straight. In short, we see here the church at its worst -- scared,disheartened and defensive. If this little sealed-off group of Christians were to place one of those cheery churchads in the Saturday newspaper, what could it possibly say? "The friendly church where all are welcome"? Hardly,unless one counts locked doors as a sign of hospitality. "The church with a warm heart and a bold mission"?Actually more like the church with sweaty palms and a timid spiritIndeed, John's gospel gives us a snapshot of a church with nothing - no plan, no promise, no program, no perkyyouth ministry, no powerful preaching, no parking lot, nothing. In fact, when all is said and done, this terrifiedlittle band huddled in the corner of a room with a chair braced against the door has only one thing going for it: therisen Christ. And that seems to be the main point of this story. In the final analysis, this is a story about how therisen Christ pushed open the bolted door of a church with nothing, how the risen Christ enters the fearfulchambers of every church and fills the place with his own life.
Alleluia! Christ is risen.He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
(The above comments were adapted from
Whispering the Lyrics
by Thomas G. Long, CSS Publishing Company)
VIEW FROM THE PEW
MIRACLES and THE POWER OF PRAYER
There are extensive stories in the Bible about the miracles of God in the Old as well as the New Testament.In the Old Testament God dealt with the faithful and unfaithful in His own judgement and powerful miracles. Thegreatest miracle of the New Testament were the Incarnation and the birth of Jesus and the subsequent healings andteachings in His lifetime. The most important miracle of God was the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and HisAscension.Miracles still exist today with prayer and the power of God. I know of people who have been in pain andsuffered diseases, even cancer, who have been healed by prayer and the laying on of hands in the Name of God. Inmy own family my sister, as a baby, had germs settle into her glands when my brother and sister had mumps I wasnot yet in the family). The doctor cut my sister’s neck to remove the infection from her glands and said that onlyprayers would saver her, and they did. The only evidence today is a scar on her neck. My brother was in the ArmyAir Force during World War Two. More than a few times their B17 aircraft was damaged and they returned to base“on a wing and a prayer.” The power of prayer brought him home again from the ward. As we pray to God, we alsopray through God to the Holy Spirit as it works through us. Prayer most certainly has the power to heal.I have been living in Duanesburg for five years. About thirty years ago, I lived on the mountain top inJewett. I can remember a few times having to drive home up the treacherous, winding roads in a snow storm. Allthe way home I would pray over and over, the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercyupon me.” And He did, for miraculously, I would arrive home safely.I once read an article in “The Voice”, the newspaper published by the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, NJ.Someone asked “Why bother with prayer? What good does it do?” The answer given by the priest, writer of thearticle, was: “Prayer is like water filling a sponge. Prayer immerses you in spirit, like the sponge is immersed inwater.” He went on to compare the flexibility of the soft, pliant sponge when wet and how like a dry sponge webecome without prayer. We become less resourceful, less resilient, lest open to inspiration, less buoyed by Grace.The writer of the article was the Rev. Robert Morris, a priest my husband and I used to know in New Jersey.Daily miracles enable us to reaffirm our belief in the power of God, as He guides us in living newexperiences. Usually one of the first learning experiences of a baby is discovering its own hands. A baby will gazeat its hands with a gentle frown on its brow, and will study and move and turn this new-found discovery. It moveseach finger as though counting and in an exploring manner will clasp them together in a knot of tangled fingers.Soon these tiny hands will reach out to touch things, thus extending it curiosity. Eventually this baby will learn toclasp these tiny hands in prayer. Thank God for the miracle of new birth. Babies are God’s way of saying the worldmust go on.
Praise be to God The Father, The Son Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit!
You are all in my daily prayers.In His love and peace.
Doris J.Weiler Doris J.Weiler Doris J.Weiler Doris J.Weiler
VESTRY MEETING:
Vestry meetings are the third Thursday of the Month. June’s meeting will be onThursday, June 16.
CHOIR -
Choir rehearsals are on Wednesdays. We practice from 7:00 to 8:30 pm in the Church. Formore information, talk to Malcolm.
MENS GROUP –
Several men from Christ Church, interested in forming a Christian men’s group, metat Gibby’s Diner this past Saturday to join with other Christian men of the surrounding community to havebreakfast and prayer. All men, young and older, who are interested in a community of brotherhood torenew their responsibilities to God, their role in their country and in their family, may speak to Ken Fish orBart McDougall following coffee hour.
PARISH PICNIC –
The Annual Parish Picnic is tentatively planned for Sunday, June 26 after theservice – location to be announced. Look for further details on the Parish website and in Sundaybulletins.
Saint of the Month:
JUSTIN MARTYR
PHILOSOPHER, APOLOGIST, AND MARTYR (1 JUNE 167)
Justin, born around 100 AD (both his birth and death dates are approximate)at Flavia Neapolis in Samaria of pagan Greek parents. He was brought upwith a good education in rhetoric, poetry, and history. He studied variousschools of philosophy in Alexandria and Ephesus looking for answers to hisquestions. While at Ephesus, he was impressed by the steadfastness of theChristian martyrs, and by the personality of an aged Christian man whom hemet by chance while walking on the seashore. This man spoke to him aboutJesus as the fulfillment of the promises made through the Jewish prophets.Justin was overwhelmed. "Straightway a flame was kindled in my soul," hewrites, "and a love of the prophets and those who are friends of Christpossessed me." Justin became a Christian, but he continued to wear thecloak that was the characteristic uniform of the professional teacher of philosophy. His position was that pagan philosophy, especially Platonism, is not simply wrong, but is a partialgrasp of the truth, and serves as "a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ." He engaged in debates with non-Christiansof all varieties. He opened a school of Christian philosophy and accepted students, first at Ephesus and then later atRome. There he engaged the Cynic philosopher Crescens in debate, and soon after was arrested on the charge of practicing an unauthorized religion. He was tried for refusing to renounce Christianity, and was put to death bybeheading along with six of his students, one of them a woman. He is known as the author of “The First apology,”“The Second Apology,” and, “Diaolog with Typho the Jew.”
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Christ Church Duanesburg Messenger June 2011
The June 2011 newsletter of Christ Church Duanesburg, Duanesburg, NY
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