You Matter. You Belong Here.

What's Happening at St. C's This Week?

 

This Sunday at St. Christopher's
View this email in your browser
A Word from Fr. ChrisSundays for Children | Wednesday Bible StudyChili Cook OffComing up this Week | At the AbbeyStewardship 
Sunday's Bulletin
Last Sunday's Sermon
Parables, by Ivy Sole
A Word from Fr. Chris

Dear St. Christopher’s Family, 

This stretch toward the end of the liturgical year, we're being presented with some of my favorite parables from Luke's Gospel. There's a particular elegance in the way Jesus tells these stories that contradicts our notions about how the world works, or should work. If we approach the Gospels seeking Good News, we have to really squint to see it in some of these stories.

I often get frustrated when people try to reduce the Christian faith to something simple. This is true within the church and throughout the across the spectrum of belief. On the one hand, there are those who want to reduce the faith to a feeling and an unthinking and unquestioning acceptance of iron-clad authority, whether it be in the scriptures or in the charisma of a leader. We've seen the consequences of this in fundamentalism, and more tragically in fanatic dedication to a supreme leader.

Equally dangerous is the quest for the "Key" to understanding all of it. I enjoy a good theological debate probably more than most, and I really enjoy winning one. But studying and uncovering secret knowledge is certainly not good news for most and presents a salvation that is no nearer to them than no God at all. Most often, if we delve too deep into seeking God in obscure knowledge, we most often find instead an idol, a god fashioned in our own image, and poorly fashioned at that.

These parables, of the shepherd who leaves the Ninety-nine to find the One, the Unjust Steward, even Dives and Poor Lazarus, teach us that what Jesus presumes is the way the world works is not how we experience it every day. It calls for a faith that is neither fundamentalist nor gnostic: we must admit that we don't know it all, and we need to be ready to find out we know less than we thought we did.

Faithfully,
Fr. Chris+
Back to Top
for Children at St. Christopher's
Join our younger friends this Sunday for a fun craft and activity about Jesus and caring for our needs!
Back to Top
The Chili Cook-Off is one of the longest-standing projects St. Christopher’s Church has had with the families of our Montessori School. Sign up below to take part in this year’s renewal of a great time for families of all ages! It's important everybody sign up so we can get a sense of how much chili and how many pumpkins we'll need.
Sign Up Now!!
Back to Top
October 19-26
Sunday
10am       Eucharist
11:30        Coffee Hour
Monday-Thursday 
Church Offices Closed for Construction
 
Tuesday
10:30        Toddler and Pre-Primary Chapel
Wednesday
10:30        Study Group-CANCELLED FOR CONSTRUCTION
6:30          Choir Practice 
Thursday
10:30         Primary Chapel
Sunday
10am        Eucharist
11:30        Coffee Hour/Vestry

Back to Top
Fall Study
Wednesdays, 10:30 in the Conference Room
What is Christian Nationalism?

This is the hot topic people both within the church and looking from the outside are wondering about Christians these days. While CN tends to align with ultra-conservative politics, there is an underlying theology to this system that, however we feel about it, we need to recognize and reflect on in ourselves. The next few weeks we'll explore some of the theological ideas that are less controversial in their own right, but when mixed with politics paint a very different picture of the Kingdom of God than Jesus imagined. 

Back to Top
Back to Top
Register for Abbey Programs
Stewardship for 2025: 

Please be our partner in ministry at St. Christopher's in 2025. You can make your pledge to our annual fund using the link below, or fill out one of the pledge cards in the church. Thank you. 
Pledge Drive 2025
Back to Top
Forward Forward