A Pastoral Message from Christ Church Clergy

Christ Church Charlotte

A Pastoral Message from Christ Church Clergy

October 24, 2024 • Christ Church Clergy

Dear Church Family,

As we approach the upcoming election, we know that many are feeling a mix of emotions – hope, anxiety, and uncertainty. In this moment, we want to remind you that our church is a home for all. Our unity is found in Christ and we are called to love one another.

We encourage you to spend time in prayer – pray for our leaders, our nation, and for each other. Pray that we may all work together for the common good. Our mission remains the same: to love God, care for each other, and serve the world in the name of Christ.

Psalm 46 reminds us that "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." In the midst of uncertainty, we stand firm on this foundation of God's love, knowing that we are held by a power far greater than anything this world can offer.

As we move through this season, let us be a church that models grace, love, and hope to the world around us. Together, let us continue to trust in God's presence and in the peace that surpasses all understanding.

In Christ's love and service,

The Clergy of Christ Church

_______

Nurture Your Wellbeing at Election Time

On Election Day and the day after (November 5 and 6), the Chapel, the Church, and the Contemplation Room will be open for silent prayer and meditation. There will be a Wednesday (November 6) Noon Holy Eucharist and Prayers for Healing in the Chapel.

Also on Wednesday, November 6, we invite you to come and break bread with your friends at the Wednesday Dinner Buffet (5:30 - 7 pm in the Blue Room) and feed your spirit at The Well, a contemplative worship experience in the Church.

Facing Our Fears

October 30, 2024

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year. As a child, I loved dressing up and going door to door for candy. (Who doesn’t?) We lived on a street with sidewalks and kind older people who were glad to remark on my Star Wars costume or the time that my brother dressed up as Maverick from Top Gun. For years, I held onto the plastic hook that was part of my pirate costume. We moved to Charlotte about the time our kids no longer needed us to go trick or treating. This means that every year, my wife and I get to sit on our porch and welcome the ghosts and the Swifties and the characters from the Marvel Universe. We hand out Fun Dip because nobody’s parents will ever let them have Fun Dip. We chat with neighbors we rarely see. And the kids love us because, did I mention that we hand out Fun Dip? You can read the Wikipedia page or a scholarly article about the origins of Halloween as easily as I can. I only want to emphasize that the haunted houses and the creepy decorations and even the masks that we wear all help us to face our fears. On All Saint’s Day, we honor the saints who’ve come before us, and that also means acknowledging the sometimes scary reality of death. Whatever we’re afraid of – a new job, a new town, a new school, the end of a relationship, or the first Christmas without a loved one – can feel a little bit like dying. “I’ll just die if I don’t have any friends at my new school.” “I can’t imagine going on without her at the Christmas dinner.” Whatever our fear or our loss, these feelings of dread are real. And that burden is lighter when it is shared. In handing out sweet treats (like Fun Dip), our wild costumes, and our neighborhood rituals, we are sharing that burden of our fears. We are facing our fear of death together. In our costumes, we can become the scary thing, or we can play the part of the impervious superhero who is never afraid of the scary thing. We put on a costume hoping to become something that remains just beyond our reach. We hand out candy and we delight in each other’s costumes and decorations as a way to share the burden of our fear. Church is the place where you can face those fears without a mask, without dressing up as anything other than yourself: a beloved child of God. We may revel in our annual Trunk or Treat celebration, but that’s only once a year! Every week, the church invites you to be known: not for your costume, but for the unique gifts that God has given to only you. We want to help you discover those gifts, share those gifts, and celebrate those gifts. We want to walk alongside you in your fear and in your loss. And, we want to have fun together! God is in your whole life. It feels like everything in church begins with, “The Lord be with you.” And he is. God is with you. Not just the perfect you (whenever you figure that out). Not just the holy you (in those moments when you get it right). Not just the happy you and not just the mindful, best version of you. The Lord be with YOU. All of you. Unmasked. No special costume required.

An Invitation to Hope and Wellbeing

October 16, 2024 • The Reverend Chip Edens

In John 5, Jesus asks a man at the pool of Bethesda, “Do you want to be made well?” It’s a simple question, yet profound. Wellbeing looks different for each of us, because we all have unique needs and desires. Where in your life do you need hope and healing? As we approach the https://christchurchcharlotte.org/wellbeing/, we reflect on the many ways we each long to be made well, both individually and as a community. This center is more than a building; it’s a space dedicated to nurturing spiritual, emotional, relational, physical, and vocational/work wellbeing for all who come. We are thrilled to invite you to this exciting journey ahead: Friday, October 18 at 7:30 pm: An Evening of Bach & Haydn: Music in a Time of Anxiety, featuring the Christ Church Choir and the Queens University Chamber Orchestra, raising awareness for https://hopeway.org/, an organization committed to mental health. Saturday, October 19 at 6:30 pm: Contemplative Worship with The Reverend Becca Stevens, followed by a reception and open house for The Center for Wellbeing & Care. A time to reflect and connect, grounded in the peace we seek. Sunday, October 20: Blessing Prayers for The Center for Wellbeing & Care at all worship services. Becca Stevens, our Faith Forum guest, will invite us into a deeper conversation on what it means to live well in body, mind, and spirit. This weekend is more than a celebration of a new space. It’s an invitation to embrace wellness – wholeness – in every part of our lives. The journey ahead is full of possibilities for transformation as we continue to support our mission of wellbeing for all. Together, united in love, let’s embark on this adventure of transforming hearts and changing lives. May we always seek to be made well and to bring wellness to others.

You are not alone.

October 9, 2024

You are not alone. We’ve never been more connected – at least that is what we are told. In a moment I can send glowing words on a screen – pixels, data, 1s and 0s – to almost anyone, almost anywhere. You are no doubt reading this right now on a screen as you wait for coffee or nurse your child or wait to hear back from the doctor. In any given moment, I can see regular updates from college classmates and read the 3 am thoughts of celebrities on social media. I can ‘like’ your dinner, your grandkids, your vacation, your reflection on the world’s news as soon as you post them on your account. On the surface, we have never been more connected. And yet, this digital connection only carries us so far. There is still this longing in our fleshly heart to be near the beating heart of another. There is still that primal need buried deep in our bones to be seen and loved by another. We still wake up in a sweat, convinced that we are the only ones on this planet of eight billion with our specific problems or worries or responsibilities. What rose up in you when you read the first sentence of this eDevotion? You are not alone. Did those words resonate? Did they land like the long hoped-for response to your heart’s cry? Do they seem too good to be true because your life experience seems like proof of the opposite? Regardless of your initial reaction, hear this truth: You are not alone. This is the root of our faith. This is the outrageous Good News of the Gospel. We are not alone – in our failures, in our despair, in our lack of faith. We are not alone when our resources run out or when those we love leave. The poet David Whyte writes, “You are not a troubled guest on this earth,/you are not an accident amidst other accidents.” What I know is that in this very moment as you read these words, God is with you. God is as close to you as your next breath. God has called you into being and is holding your cells together through the sheer power of His love for you. The God that was made man in Jesus Christ is not Jiminy Cricket who promises to make all our problems go away. No, God’s name is Presence – I Am, I will be with you, I am in your midst. You are not alone. The oldest trick of the devil is to try to get you to hide; to convince you that you are alone and that God has left you to fend for yourself. We are called to remember what Jesus – with his human heart that beat as he walked the shores of Galilee – spoke to his disciples. That same Jesus is alive in this moment and speaking to you now: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27 “I will not leave you orphaned.” – John 14:18 “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:20 You are not alone.