Holy Week At Christ The King

Christ the King invites you to join in our Holy Week celebrations and observances.

Palm Sunday, March 28, at 10:30 AM
Maundy Thursday, April 1, at 7:15 PM
Good Friday, April 2, Stations of the Cross 12:00 Noon
The Great Easter Vigil, and Baptism of Ezra J. Lemmon,
Saturday April 3, at 8:00 PM

Feast of the Resurrection Sunday April, 4 at 10:30 AM

Lent and Springtime

It has been a long winter, and most people you talk to around here will agree. This picture from a prior spring, reminds me that spring is coming. It is appropriate that the season of Lent coincides. Often when we talk about Lent our conversations revolve around things that we are giving up. "What have you given up for Lent?" We focus our attention on the things we know are wrong in our lives, the areas we want to improve, the habits we want to kick, or the virtues we want to attain. We sometimes come into Lent with a detailed agenda, or "to do" list. However this widely misses the point of Lent, a season for penitence, and reflection.

The purpose, of Lent is that of preparation, whether we think of it in terms of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, or the early practice of preparation for baptism. Jesus was taken into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, as preparation for his public ministry. In the early church, it was the forty day fasting and prayer for the new convert, to get him or her ready for new birth, life in the Church. Lent is preparation. Every Lent is potentially a new spring time. It is a time, when God can prepare us for the next big step in our lives. This could be the year that God completely changes the game for you. But when we come to it with our list of things we want to accomplish, sometimes it is hard for God to get a word in edge-wise. We do all the talking, all the working all the sacrificing and likely will miss what God really wants to do in our lives.

Instead of thinking of it as giving up, (a sacrifice on your part) think of it as an offering to God. Your fast, your contrition is a gift to God that he will not despise. It is not just about self discipline, it is about a new spring time--in our lives. It's about honestly and openly offering our lives to God and letting Him decide what He needs to fix in us, to fit us for our next task, the next stage of our journey. Are you ready for springtime in your life? This Lenten season offer to him your heart, your contrition. Let your fasting be a gift to Him, as a measure of your sincere desire to be a good disciple, and to allow Him to do His work in your life. Burn that agenda. Quit telling Him, and let Him tell you. Stop, and listen--Spring is coming!

What's in a Name?

As children of modernity, we often treat names very casually. Names for children are chosen for many different, and sometimes inconsequential reasons. However, in the Scriptures names are more significant; chosen to reflect the character of the person, or changed for the same reason. Jacob, the "grasper" or supplanter, was thus named, because as he was born he was grasping the heel of his older brother Esau. Later, after wrestling with God, God changed his name to Israel. He was no longer a supplanter. Jesus gave Simon, the Apostle, the name Peter, (rock) and announced that upon this "rock," he would build his Church. To this day it is not uncommon for men to change their names upon their ordination to the priesthood, or episcopacy. Names are important. They are more than just handles used to get ones attention. They identify and communicate something about a person.

The same could be said of churches. When we founded Christ Community Church, we chose that name because it communicated who we were as an independent autonomous community of faith, and our vision to be a church for our community. However in our journey toward Christ's one holy catholic and apostolic church, we are still a church for our community, but we have given up our independence. We have submitted ourselves to Apostolic authority, through our Bishop, We have conformed our doctrine and practice to the Tradition of the Church. For many years now, Christ Community Church has been an inaccurate and ambiguous description of who we are. Sunday, January 17,2010, in our annual Parish meeting, we decided to change that. We adopted the name Christ the King Anglican Church. Our loyalty to Christ is unchanged. Our government is no longer pure democracy, (community governed) but that of Christ our King, and his established authority, through the Apostles to the Bishops of his Church. "Anglican" expresses our adherence to the tradition of English Catholicism, as expressed in the 1549 Book of Common prayer, and the unity we seek in Christ's one Church. We recognize that this journey toward unity will not be complete until Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and faithful Anglicans share full communion with one another. Never the less, as a parish, we are much closer to that unity, than when we first began. Thanks be to God.

If you are in the area, please come and worship God in the ancient tradition that speaks the truth in every generation.