Weekly Update 19 September 2025

Reflection

Tom Young

Tom Young

Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098 – 1179)

I was pleased to see on the Episcopal Church calendar that the 11th-century mystic and Benedictine abbess, Hildegard of Bingen, was commemorated this week on Wednesday September 17. Sharman and I enjoy her music, having heard her works sung live and on CD. She is one of the best-known composers of sacred monophony (single melody line with no harmony), as well as the most recorded in modern history.

Hildegard
of Bingen

But she’s much more than a sacred music composer. She was also a writer, philosopher, medical writer and practitioner, and visionary. She has been considered by a number of scholars to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany. If you haven’t heard of Hildegard, aka the Abbess of Bingen, check her out!  Wikipedia.org has a comprehensive article on her. Here’s an excerpt:

Hildegard's works include three great volumes of visionary theology; a variety of musical compositions for use in the liturgy, as well as the musical morality play Ordo Virtutum; one of the largest bodies of letters (nearly 400) to survive from the Middle Ages, addressed to correspondents ranging from popes to emperors to abbots and abbesses, and including records of many of the sermons she preached in the 1160s and 1170s; two volumes of material on natural medicine and cures; an invented language called the lingua ignota ('unknown language'); and various minor works, including a gospel commentary and two works of hagiography.

"Every creature is a glittering, glistening mirror of Divinity." ~ Hildegard of Bingen

Sunday Services

Sunday, 21 September 2025
The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Year C Proper 20

Chandler’s Square Morning Prayer
9:30 am
Chandler’s Square Retirement Community
1300 “O” Avenue, Anacortes
Presider: Shirley Barrett

Christ Church Holy Eucharist

10:30 am
Christ Church Sanctuary
1216 Seventh Street, Anacortes
The service is also available on YouTube.

Servers
Presider: The Rev. Courtney Jones
Deacon: The Rev. Vicki Johnson
Homilist: Maggie Collinge
Eucharistic Minister: Melissa Simonsen
Altar Guild: Martie Arnold, Jim Minton
Bread Ministry: Stephanie Galbraith & Dan Moore
Readers: Grace Minton, Jim Minton
Ushers: Diane Guinn, John Guinn
Organist: Lynne Berg/Mark Perschbacher
Eucharistic Visitor: June Cook
Coffee Hour Hosts: Mary Ellen & Wes Huggins

Readings
Amos 8:4-7
Psalm 113
1 Timothy 2:1-7
Luke 16:1-13
Readings may be found in the Episcopal Lectionary.

Hymns
H 390 - Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
MHSO 81 - Your Word
LEVAS 203 - There Is a Balm in Gilead
MHSO 129 - God of the Sparrow
H 596 - Judge Eternal, Throned in Splendor

Bulletin Link: 21 September 2025
YouTube Sunday Service Link

Coffee Hour
Coffee Hour follows the service. All are welcome.

Announcements

A Joyful Noise September 2025

Find all the September news at A Joyful Noise September 2025.

Prayer Shawl Ministry

Thursday, September 25
10:30-11:30am
Parish Hall Gathering Room
All are welcome.

Blessing of the Animals

All are
welcome.

Sunday, October 5
12:15 pm
Christ Church Lawn
Presider: The Rev. Courtney Jones

Please bring your beloved pet to Christ Church for a Blessing! You may also bring a photo of your pet to be blessed. There will be Blessing Certificates and, of course, Treats!

Please invite your friends and neighbors, human, furry, and feathered. All are welcome.

Questions? Please contact Shirley Barrett, shirleybarrett062@gmail.com, 360-305-1305

Red Door Tree Dedication Ceremony

Sunday, October 5
1pm
Red Door Thrift Shop, 1019 Seventh Street
We will be dedicating trees in memory of several Red Door volunteers/supporters.
All are welcome.

An Invitation: Ecumenical Hymn Sing

Sunday, October 12
2pm
Hosted at Westminster Presbyterian Church by Westminster Church and Anacortes Lutheran Church.
When you arrive you’ll have the chance to write the names of your favorite hymns on slips of paper and place them in a basket. The we’ll draw hymns! If your hymn is drawn, we’ll all sing it! We will be using a variety of hymnals from the Catholic, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian traditions. Laurie Julius-Carver of Anacortes Lutheran and Bev Bowen of Westminster will provide the music. Please join us!

Fall Book Study: The Four Vision Quests of Jesus

Join us for a thought-provoking exploration of The Four Vision Quests of Jesus by Steven Charleston, Episcopal bishop and member of the Choctaw Nation. This powerful book invites us to see Jesus’ ministry through the lens of Indigenous wisdom and spirituality, offering new insights into discipleship and faith.

We will gather on Sundays after Coffee Hour on the following dates: October 19, November 2*, November 16, and November 30. This book study will be facilitated by Melissa Simonsen and Maggie Collinge. All are welcome—whether you’ve read every page or just want to listen in on the conversation! You can buy the book from your preferred bookseller, or contact Melissa for a copy! 

*The November 2nd class will start slightly later than the others, as there is a special coffee hour on All Saints Sunday!

Weekly Prayer Services

Maggie
Collinge

Centering Prayer
Weekly on Wednesdays
1:15 - 1:45 pm
Christ Church Sanctuary
All are welcome at this short, simple service: a scripture reading, 20 minutes of silence, an intercessory prayer, and the Lord’s Prayer. 
Questions?
Please contact Maggie Collinge, 360-202-5588.

The Rev. Vicki
Johnson

Evening Prayer
Weekly on Wednesdays
6:00 - 6:30 pm
Christ Church Sanctuary
All are welcome.
September 24 Presider: The Rev. Vicki Johnson
Questions?
Please contact The Rev. Vicki Johnson, 509-302-7364.

The Rev. Eric
Johnson

Men’s Group

The Men’s Group meets weekly on Fridays.
9:00 – 10:00 am
Parish Hall Gathering Room
Questions? Please contact The Rev. Eric Johnson.
All are welcome.

The Red Door Thrift Shop

Dawn Jex

Dawn Jex, Red Door Manager

Hello Everyone,

A BIG thank you to Debbie and Claire for holding down the fort while I was on vacation last week. They did a wonderful job and we had a great time in Colorado. I'm happy to be back at work today but I can hardly believe that we are halfway through September already!

And because we are halfway through September it is time for us to move toward all things fall and Halloween! Debbie has already begun bridging boxes over from the garage and the shop looks great! For those of you in the donations center we should now switch over to storing only the BEST summer items and letting fall/winter gear come straight into the shop.

First drafts of the October calendars are ready. Please take a look and let me know if I am missing anything. There are no shop holidays in October and I think we should wear costumes on the 31st?! What say you, good volunteers? 

As we near the end of the year, it is time for us to make decisions about our grants. DID YOU KNOW that you are welcome to be a part of the committee that meets to decide who we fund and how much? Our deadline to receive applications is 10/31. Very quickly after that we meet to make our final decisions.  If you are interested to participate please contact Eric Johnson, who is the head of our grant committee. His email is: anacorteseric@gmail.com.

Another item to put on your calendar is our Tree Dedication Ceremony which will be held at 1pm on October 5th.  We will be planting and dedicating trees in memoriam of several Red Door Volunteers/Supporters. Please join us for a time to be thankful to these families for their support and to remember our loved volunteers who are no longer with us. They are actually here cutting out the cement for those trees today as I am writing this email!!!

Shift Needs:

1st Friday of October in Donations Morning Shift - Milly had offered to cover previously and then we also had Angelique and Doug cover in September. Would you three please let me know if you are willing to work in donations that morning. Please and thank you. 

Thursday Morning Cashier - 10/16, 23 and 30 needs a sub.

Cashier Assistant on Tuesday and Fridays - 11-1.

That's it for today. Things are getting really exciting around here. The addition has been painted inside, there is a door on my office and they have removed the door between our pricing area and the new addition! A little birdy told me we should be moving in to the new building mid October!!!

THANK YOU for everything you do to make this shop run so smoothly and with love and compassion for our fellow humans. I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of this team. 

Cheers,
Dawn

Christ Church’s Red Door Thrift Shop is located at 1019 Seventh Street in Anacortes.
Red Door Thrift Shop
360.202.9966

Red Door Shopping Hours:
Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday: 10am – 3pm

Red Door Donation Hours:
Monday & Wednesday: 10am – 1pm
Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday: 10am – 3pm

Profits generated at the Red Door Thrift Shop fund Christ Church’s Community Support program.
Shoppers, Volunteers, & Donations are always welcome!

Day by Day

Day by Day daily devotions may be accessed at the following link:
Day by Day Daily Devotion.

Prayer List

Shelley
Margaret
Mary
Bob & Gaylene
Diane
Rev. Rilla & family
Linda, sister-in-law of Lynne
Creamy
Myrna
Arra, aunt of Carol
Sandy
Dale
Zoanne
Linda
Tom
Karen
Leslie
Diana
Val
John
Foundation for Academic Endeavors
Pete & Charlene, O’Donnell Family, Brendan, and Sandy, family & friends of Mary