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 2007 YOUTH MISSION TRIP
Thirteen young people and three adults went to Camp Coast Care in Long Beach,
Mississippi from July 24 to July 31, 2007 to help rebuild after Hurricane
Katrina. The youth of Christ Church were well represented by Jamie Bunn, Ricky
Bunn, Brooks Byrne, Brandon Cheung, Kim Jones, Sarah Lynott, Katie McChesney,
Nick Morgan, Spencer Reckford, Tory Rennie, Ryan Ristau, Peter Sammartino, and
Lea Zglobicki. Parishioners David and Wendy Burg and the Reverend Kendra
McIntosh were the adult sponsors. Everyone worked hard doing various
construction and clean-up work – and all the efforts built homes as well as
friendships. The following are reflections written by each participant of the
Youth Mission Trip to the Mississippi Gulf Coast . . .
You can read the entire article
HERE
♦
You
can view the photos of the Mission Trip
HERE
CAREERS IN TRANSITION
The Careers in
Transition group meets on the first and third Saturdays in each month 8:30 –
11:00 am. All persons who are either in transition or exploring career
alternatives are welcome to join us.
CIT has its own yahoo
based group website. Access is limited to active participants in the Saturday
meetings. Members forward job leads, articles, post inquiries about particular
companies, consultants, etc.
The group has been
meeting since 1987 with three persons continuing to participate as part of their
own outreach ministry. Without a doubt the CIT group is the most ecumenical
undertaking of Christ Church. Our leadership includes Catholic and Jewish
individuals, all of whom are gainfully employed but return to help others.
Unlike other groups in surrounding towns, our group is open to anyone regardless
of religious affiliation.
At
the high point of the last recession the group ran 85+ at each meeting. We seem
to have hit a low point of 25 during the Summer 2006. This fall attendance has
gradually increased with as many as 8 new members at a meeting. The meetings are
informal and provide the benefits of networking, resume critique by peers and a
degree of support. We provide a membership list to attendees and know there is
a great deal of contact between meetings.
The standard format is
a quick introduction from everyone stating name and what they are searching
for. We then break into smaller groups for strategy sessions. There is the
resume review group that aims to be kind but very honest. Anyone is invited to
participate and everyone is considered an expert - because most of our members
are middle to upper management and have hired employees.
The
other 3 strategy groups tackle various topics such as, what is the biggest
problem you are having with your search, interview techniques, websites, age
discrimination, mapping a career search strategy. Each strategy group is lead
by a volunteer and the group try to supportively deal with whatever issues are
critical at the time.
They also report that
CIT was the most helpful group that they worked with. Anyone who lands has to
return to tell the others what worked for them - and in a new tradition which
has been well received - to bring doughnut holes for the group. Christ Church
supplies coffee and tea to go with the snacks.
2006 HEIFER PROJECT
This year, Christ
Church was able to donate over $25,000 to Heifer International, topping our
previous single year efforts by over $5,000. (Adding all our donations up over
the past four years, Christ Church has donated over $65,000 to Heifer!)
Our efforts this year
earned us five “Gift Ark Plaques,” which will join the others we’ve received
over years, in the hallway outside of Parish Hall. Christ Church was able to
accomplish this because so many members of our parish family came through with
their support. Highlights of the 2006 Heifer Project include:
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Christ Church was
featured in Heifer International’s nationally-acclaimed magazine “World
Ark,” as an example of a wildly successful grass-roots fundraising effort
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At the first-annual
“Llama-Palooza,” Christ Church Youth manned a day of animal crafts and
education in Parish Hall, which was filled with sights and sounds of Heifer
livestock
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The Christ Church Alternative Gift Market was up and running
during Coffee Hour staring in November and running through Christmas. Many
parishioners did important holiday shopping at our Gift market, receiving
Honor Cards for gift-giving
-
The Sunday School Classes participated in a special Heifer
Day, as we launched our effort, making llama puppets and learning about
Heifer’s mission to fight hunger by providing needy families with gifts of
livestock
Thanks to all who donated their time, their talent, and their treasure to making
this year’s campaign such a significant success.
 OUTREACH MINISTRY
The Outreach Ministry
Committee leads and facilitates direct, hands-on participation by Christ Church
parishioners in a variety of outreach projects. We are active both in the
Diocese of Newark and in the wider community. Projects are intended to promote
fellowship and communion, enhance the spiritual journeys of parishioners, and
assist in God’s work to meet the needs of others.
Volunteers are apprised
of opportunities to support this ministry through Outreach–on-the-Go features in
church Messengers and Bulletins and in fact sheets distributed during Welcome
Back Sunday. The list of areas where volunteers help includes West Orange
Community House Soup Kitchen, St Mark’s Food Pantry, Food bank of Northern NJ,
Helping Hands, church food barrel, Embrace-a-family, Heifer Project, Apostles
House, YPF Mission Trip and Rummage Sale, Food-from-the Heart Sunday, Careers in
Transition, and Newark Habitat for Humanity.
The year saw a surge in
our involvement at the Soup Kitchen in West Orange where Christ Church is now
established as a provider of hot lunches regularly on several Sundays throughout
the year. Youth volunteers have been increasingly and enthusiastically evident
in this ministry and also in our regular efforts at Habitat in Newark.
Thanks are due to all
those church members who have given their help over the year. Going forward we
seek new ideas, for example, how to expand our reach, how to associate this
ministry with projects receiving church grants, how to encourage wider
participation. Parishioners on the committee have included Heather Finan,
Sandra Johnson, Cynthia McChesney, Joan and Sam McKeown, Joan Mebane, Joe Ort,
Arnold Peinado, Debbie Ristau, Sarah Snow, Arlene Sommer, Juli Towell, Rector,
and Assistant Rector. As always new committee members are welcome.
OUTREACH ON THE GO
Can
You
pick up a few extra items at the supermarket this month?
If each of us
purchased $5 worth of the items needed by the St. Mark’s Food Pantry, we
could overflow the food barrel! Please keep the food barrel in mind next
time you are food shopping. Items particularly needed are: packets of dry
milk, cereals, protein (tuna fish, canned stews, etc.), peanut butter,
jelly, pasta sauce and canned vegetables of all types.
INTERWEAVE
Interweave is a community
learning center teaching skills for wholistic living that strengthen
wellness, deepen spirituality, and promote the common good. Serving the
Church and the community since 1980, it offers a wide variety of classes,
workshops and conferences for people of all faiths that draw on the
resources of depth psychology, spiritual wisdom, and wellness disciplines.
Housed at Calvary Church in Summit, it is also a resource group for the
Episcopal Diocese of Newark.
http://www.interweave.org
photos from Habitat for
Humanity Outreach
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