Other
Forms of Ministry
During
Christ Church's rich history for the last 150 years there have
been many other active lay ministries and societies through which
the congregation enriched their spiritual life and served those
in need. Some of these ministries, while important in their
time, belong to another era. From 1910 into the 1970's,
a parish order of "Deaconesses" in monastic habit spent
their lives under vows caring for the church and sacristy, teaching
Sunday School, and helping the needy. A state orphange once
stood near Christ Church, and hundreds of children received religious
instruction here for decades.
Other
more recent ministries have added much to the spiritual life of
the parish, but are now in hiatus or are being re-thought.
If the need and desire arises, these recent-but-dormant ministries
may serve as a model for the future work of the parish.
They include:
Weekly
Bible Study
Following
the "South African Model" of Scriptural reflection,
a study group met each Wednesday evening after Evening Prayer
to learn more about and meditate upon the Lectionary readings
for the following Sunday.
The
Angelus Group
From
the 1980's until recently, a devoted group of parishioners met
weekly to discuss and meditate upon writings by the great Christian
Mystics of the last two millenia. Meeting at 5:30 p.m.,
the group paused to pray the Angelus at 6:00 p.m. as the church
bells tolled, and so found their name.\.
The
Women and Children's Net
An
organization of women in the parish which responded to the special
needs of single mothers with children who lived in poverty and
were falling through the welfare "safety net,"
the Women and Children's Net looked at all resources available,
from collecting pantry and clothing items to tutoring, to help
those in need.
The
Christ Church Youth Group
Currently,
there are too few early teen and teenagers in the parish to provide
a "critical mass" for an active teen youth group.
This status may soon change. As cohesive groups of
school-aged children entered their teen years, a Youth Group led
by the clergy and seminarians provided a series of educational,
spiritual, and fun social events for young people, deepening their
faith and creating friendships to last for years to come.
We look forward to launching a Youth Group again, whenever the
ministry is needed.
Christ
Church Singles
A
gathering of single people at Christ Church of differing ages
who met for Sunday brunch and various social events, sharing both
Christian fellowship and great good fun.
The
Evangelism Committee
Another
vital parish ministry currently being re-thought, the Evangelism
Committee helped steer Christ Church into being a more open and
"user-friendly" parish. It increased advertising
by the parish significantly, sponsored a variety of workshops
on how Episcopalians can best share their faith and the Faith,
hosted "Bring-a-Friend Sundays" to encourage personal
evangelism, and fostered the creation of Mass Booklets which made
the unusual elements of the parish's elaborate worship understandable
and less initimidatiing for a new comer. To meet the serious
goal of doubling in size within the next decade, a new series
of evangelism initiatives will soon be undertaken by the parish.
