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Christ Church

Rock Spring Parish

Serving Harford County Since 1805

Christ Church Rock Spring Parish

2100 Rock Spring Road

P.O. Box 215

Forest Hill, MD 21050

Phone: 410-838-6606

Email: ChristChrsp@gmail.com

Website: www.ChristChurchForestHill.org

Office Hours: Tues—Thurs 10am-2pm

Other Hours by Appointment

Priest-In-Charge: Fr. Kirk Kubicek

Parish Administrator: Marianne Kidd

Sexton: John Tipton

Vestry Officers: Molly Neal, Senior Warden

Leslie Amtmann, Treasurer

Dave Martell, Junior Warden

Music Team Leaders:

Marianne Kidd—Choir Director

Lyn Edmunds—Song Leader

Robert Hitz—Music Consultant

Christmas Eve at Christ Church 12/24/2020

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Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

Thanks to the hard work of the people of Christ Church Forest Hill, Rock Spring Parish, we had

a meaningful and joyful Christmas celebration of our Lord’s birth. For all of us, it will long remain the

most unusual Christmas in our lifetimes. And yet, for the first time in our parish history we had

people joining us for worship from across the country and around the world! Week by week,

between our Monday through Friday Noonday prayer and our Sunday service, we are sharing the

Good News of Jesus Christ with more people per week than we ever did prior to the restrictions that

the Pandemic has imposed upon us. And people can view our worship seven days a week any time

of day or night as best fits their schedules. God in Christ is doing new things almost every day, and

we are part of these new ways of “being Church.” And for the first time since I have been at Christ

Church, we have people from all over the country making financial contributions to sustain the

ministries of our historic congregation.

As to the Pandemic, as I am writing to you the State of Maryland has endured its fourth

con-secutive day of Three Thousand-plus cases – something that’s never been seen since the Pandemic

began. We also have a record number of hospitalizations: nearly 2,000 coronavirus patients. Until

the numbers significantly come down, we are still restricted from in-church worship as per our

Covenant agreement with all the parishes in the Diocese of Maryland. The Reverend Canon Scott

Slater will let us know when the numbers will allow those of us in Harford County to resume

admitting a limited number of people into church.

In the meantime, there are two things we can all do: 1) Regularly attend or view our

Live-Stream services weekly and Monday through Friday as a way to “Stay Church” and deepen your

experience of the living God, and 2) Take a moment right now, if you have not already, to make your

Financial Pledge to Christ Church for 2021, remembering to send you offerings to our Post Office Box

weekly or monthly as is your personal practice. [Christ Church Forest Hill, PO Box 215, Forest Hill, MD

21050] For there to be a Christ Church when we are cleared to return to in-church worship we need

the support of everyone who makes Rock Spring Parish their church home. A deep and heartfelt to

those who have already made their pledges for 2021.

Finally, on a personal note, I thank each and every one of you who contributed to the

generous Christmas Gift I was presented by our Senior Warden on Christmas Eve. It is humbling to

be your Priest-in-Charge, and it is my joy to provide Live Stream Worship six days a week. It has been

exciting to be able to pray, study the Bible and read texts about the Christian Life together with

other people Monday through Friday. It is as nourishing and supportive for me as I trust it is for all

who attend online on a regular basis. Stay Calm. Stay Connected. Stay Church. And Stay Safe!

Together we can follow all the recommended protocols to bring this Pandemic to an end: wear a

mask, practice social distancing, wash you hands. In the meantime, we can still deepen our

experience of the Living Christ in new and exciting ways. The Good News of Jesus Christ the Son of

God is still very very Good News!

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Christ Church Vestry Minutes

October 7, 2020

[Virtual meeting via Zoom]

Attendance: Fr. Kirk, Lyn Edmunds, Molly Neal, Laurie Morris, Leslie Amtmann, Marianne Kidd, Lloyd Merriam and Kate Davis.

The meeting began at 7:03 PM with contemplative prayer.

The vestry minutes from our last meeting on September 16th were approved.

Treasurer’s report – not available until next bank statements arrive. Next year’s diocesan assessment will be $741/month.

Cemetery Committee report – no activity to report, at this time.

Rector’s report – the Episcopal church guidelines remain stricter than those for the state and county. We are currently still in orange phase, where there is no indoor or outdoor singing permitted. Once we get to the yellow phase (there must be an effective vaccine, positivity rate of 3% or less, low hospitalization rate), ensembles of 4 or fewer will be allowed. Masks must still be worn, there would still be no distribution of communion from the railing, and no coffee hour. The green phase is when a vaccine is available to 70% of the population, at which point masks would be optional.

8% of churches are live-streaming and/or doing live services. It seems to be working, as it’s better to be ex-tra safe. If we start getting more people than we can hold in the church for live services, we could use app, such as Sign-Up Genius, and open sign-up the Friday before a live service.

The diocese is offering grants up to $2,000 for ideas on how we might spread the good news, during this time.

The current guidance about indoor worship during colder months is that windows should be kept open while people are inside together. This would need to be communicated to all outside groups who use the Parish Hall, as well. It was also suggested that we determine if certain types of masks are recommended. Molly will follow-up with Scott Slater of the diocese for his guidance.

First Class Mechanical will be coming to change over the church and Parish Hall from cool to heat setting and they will make sure everything is working properly with the program settings.

Sr. Warden’s report – the aerobics group started back last night. Procedures for ushers have been estab-lished and it will be added that they should open windows before service, as well as close them after every-one has left.

We concluded that deep cleaning/disinfection of pews, etc. is no longer necessary based on latest guidance that surfaces naturally become disinfected after 3 days. Marianne will ask John Tipton (sexton) to disinfect surfaces he touches before leaving and wear a mask while inside church building.

David, Ed and Molly have changed lights/ballasts that needed replacing in the Annex building.

The ECW has decided to meet in person, every 2 months. The rummage sale is still on hold, but ECW mem-bers will be organizing donated items in the Parish Hall basement, in the meantime.

We need to start thinking about time for Christmas service and whether we should have a Thanksgiving Day service or a special Noon Day prayer that day.

The next meeting will be on 10/21.

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Christ Church Vestry Minutes

October 21, 2020

[Virtual meeting via Zoom]

Attendance: Fr. Kirk, Lyn Edmunds, Laurie Morris, Leslie Amtmann, and Lloyd Merriam.

The meeting began at 7:00 PM. Fr. Kirk read a Stewardship Prayer from the Book of Common Prayer

The Treasurer’s Report was approved. There is $10,180 in the account, but $6,900 is reserved for expenses. There is $3,000 available. Our pledge income from the previous Sunday was $510, while our expenses were $1284. We are well into our reserve to pay our weekly bills.

Rector’s report – Fr. Kirk talked to First Class Mechanical regarding the best strategy for heating the church. It is best to stay at a steady 67 degrees rather than turn the thermostat up and down. Fr. Kirk will continue to emphasize giving and stewardship in his messages to the congregation in church and online. The anticipated fuel cost is about $1,000 @ month in the winter which raises some concern.

There was a meeting with the Bishop and Scott Slater this morning. They shared important information regarding COVID 19 virus and how it may affect how we plan for our Christmas services, as well as other concerns:

• There is a new requirement to fill out paperwork if Christ Church has ever sponsored a Boy Scout Troop in the past. This is related to the lawsuit against the BSA filed by 28,000 victims of sexual assault. We will follow up with members of the church to verify whether or not Christ Church has ever sponsored a troop.

• On Monday, Nov 2nd, the Cathedral is broadcasting a Season of All Souls Service where the names of victims of the COVID-19 virus will be read aloud. We are allowed to send in names.

• There are increases in COVID cases in all the contiguous states. This may be due in part to all the health care workers in our area.

• It has been discerned that 9% of infection comes from droplets rather than aerosols. Masks have been found scientifically to be the best preventative along with hand washing. As far as heating season, this means that the windows may be kept closed, and fans remain off.

• Future vaccines will go first to the medical community and then to older more vulnerable population. The vaccines will need to be transported while well chilled.

• Current lower mortality rates are due to wearing masks, younger folks getting less severe symptoms and basic herd immunity.

• We are expecting increases in the number of victims 2 weeks after Thanksgiving. It was suggested to discourage large gatherings with family members not in your household, unless spread out over appropriate social distance and wearing masks.

• We need to review our plans for Christmas services based on this information. For instance, reservations will need to be made for Christmas Eve service. How do we restrict people who may have had contact with others outside their immediate household? There will be no caroling in church, but carolers may gather outdoors before or after the service, using social distancing, for no more than one verse per carol. Be prepared to hold only Live-stream service if there is an unusually high spike in cases in Harford county.

• Continue sign in lists for all services with either e-mail or phone numbers in case someone in attendance gets sick afterwards.

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The new tentative plan for holidays is as follows: November:

Thanksgiving Day – noonday prayer online only 11/8 – Communion

11/22 – Communion 11/29 – Live stream only December:

12/13 – Communion

12/24 – Communion (5:00 pm Christmas Eve Service) 12/27 Live stream only

Fr. Kirk will e-mail the Vestry members with these recommendations for their approval.

At 8:30pm, the meeting ended with a couple more Stewardship Prayers from the Book of Common Prayer. Next meeting is scheduled for November 18th, 2020.

Blessings, Laurie Morris

Christ Church Vestry Minutes

November 18, 2020

[Virtual meeting via Zoom]

Attendance: Fr. Kirk, Lyn Edmunds, Leslie Amtmann, Molly Neal, Lois Tidey, Laurie Morris, Marianne Kidd, Lloyd Merriam, and Kate Davis.

The meeting began at 7:07 PM with contemplative prayer.

The vestry minutes from our last two meetings on October 7th and 21st were approved.

Treasurer’s report – the balance in our checking account is currently $6,776 of which $6,931 is reserved. The pledge income was less than half what we usually receive, in October (about $3,000 for the whole month). Our Warm Hearts Cool Worship loan is now 67% paid off (at 18 months into loan).

Cemetery Committee report – we have paid the bill for summer lawn cuttings. Chad LaFleur has put in a re-quest to do some metal detecting on church grounds. We agreed that the cemetery should be off limits, but the corn field and old drop-off circle at the top of the hill would be okay.

Rector’s report – update from clergy meeting is that Maryland is currently in the red phase. The positive case rate needs to be less than 10 per 100,000, but it is now 28 per 100,000. Indoor worship continues to be suspended until at least early December. We will start getting weekly updates from the diocese.

For groups that use the Parish Hall, crowd size must be limited to 10 at one time. Fr. Kirk suggested we con-tinue to have communion for priest to celebrate on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month, even though we will not have anyone attending in-person (only priest host and wine need to be setup). He will update Mar-yJane on this, so the Altar Guild is aware. The other suggestion he had was to do morning prayer format on weeks 1,3 and 5. This way, if Fr. Kirk ever needs to be off, we can have a layperson lead the morning prayer. Some feedback from vestry about recent live stream services: the sound of the piano has been a bit

muffled. Marianne will check on volume setting of the keyboard. Also, the link from the website was not working for some, so Fr. Kirk will look into that.

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wait until possible rummage sale. Groups that use the Parish Hall were told to suspend indoor meetings, until further updates. During this time, the heat has been turned down in the building to help keep costs down. Since Peace Makers group has less than 10 who meet on Tuesday, they should be fine to resume meeting based on latest guidance from diocese. We will hold off on other groups that use the indoor space, until further guidance from the diocese regarding gatherings of more than 10 people. Windows need to be kept open, even during colder months. Since the average heating cost is $800-$900/month, it would be cost prohibitive to have heat on. When AA groups can’t meet in person, the backup is to have Zoom meetings. Molly let us know that Anna Humphreys has moved to a nursing home in Pittsburgh. The ECW is now able to use the church Zoom account for virtual meetings. And the Altar Guild is welcome to use it, as well, if the need to have any meetings. The annual giving program will be collecting donations to purchase gifts for two families from Harford Family House. Donations for gifts should be made to ECW and sent to the church by 11/25, as ECW members will be doing shopping and preparing gifts to be donated by 12/4.

We discussed possible Annual Meeting plans, how to address the 3 outgoing vestry members (Lois, Marianne, and Leslie), and if it’s even feasible to recruit new vestry members during this time. Fr. Kirk will check with Scott Slater on whether we might postpone standard annual meeting and keep existing members, during the pandemic.

Fr. Kirk knows someone who is a poet and has offered to read poetry over Zoom meetings during Advent. It would be nice to have some inclusive events for our parishioners. Perhaps we could have small group meetings over Zoom as a social gathering or virtual coffee hour around an event (Christmas carols?) with a discussion afterward. We could start by reaching out and checking in with parishioners through the phone tree. Lyn has volunteered to use our church Zoom account to test out hosting a virtual coffee hour.

The plan for upcoming holidays/virtual services is as follows:

November 26th (Thanksgiving) – there will be a special Noon day prayer (live stream) December 13th – communion will be celebrated by priest (live stream)

December 24th at 5:00pm (Christmas Eve)- communion will be celebrated by priest (live stream).

After December, communion will be celebrated by the priest during the live stream service on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month, and the format for the live stream service on the 1st, 3rd and 5th Sundays of the month will be morning prayer.

The next meeting will be on 12/2 at 7:00pm.

At 9:15pm, the meeting ended with a closing prayer by John Philip Newell. Blessings,

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The following are just some of the well-deserved THANK YOU’s …..

To Fr. Kirk Kubicek for your unwavering dedication to bring the word of God into our homes and

our hearts. Your inspirational messaging of the love of God, through Jesus Christ continues to

sustain us.

To Marianne, Robert Hitz and Fr. Kirk for the beautiful and inspiring music you share with us each

week. Your shared talents fill our ears and our hearts with joy. And, to the choir for the insightful

recordings of your music and dance that enhance our worship.

To our Altar Guild, under the leadership of Mary Jane Parish, thank you all for making our altar

and church reflect the beauty and respectful devotion to our lovely worship-space week upon

week.

To our ECW, under the leadership of Colleen Murphy, thank you. This group of dedicated women

continues to lovingly collaborate ways to show love and support to our church, our congregation

and the greater community.

To our Vestry, a special group indeed! You remain dedicated to keeping connected and current

about the safety within our walls, the issues of the greater diocese, the importance of keeping

our congregation, the community and the world held up in support, love and prayer.

To Leslie Amtmann, our Treasurer, for her dedication to consistent and accurate accounting, and

so much more.

To David Martell, our Jr. Warden who painstakingly tends to the beauty and organization of our

property.

To Marianne Kidd, our Office Administrator who does so much to keep the “wheels on this bus”.

To the Piecemakers Quilting Group whose artful talents spread love and care to so many.

To the Lane Family for their faithful commitment to clearing our parking lot when the winter

weather turns to snow. And, for their faithful recognition of the military graves in our cemetery.

To Tyler and Justin Davis for clearing the ice and snow from the walkways.

To the many of you who have so generously contributed to the material and the financial

support of our various efforts to run the operations of the church, assure the fresh flowers,

support our fundraisers and outreach. We couldn’t do this without you.

Thank you and Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.

Molly Neal

A special message from the Sr. Warden….

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Over the last several years Christ Church has been a part of the Emergency Roving Shelter. The ERS is a program led by a local, multi-service group of agencies (Hope for the Homeless Alliance) who coordinate assistance for safe housing, food and emotional support for homeless individuals during the coldest three months of the year (Jan-Mar). The Alliance welcomes participation by area churches to make this a successful and robust mission.

In previous years we have prepared and served meals in partnership with our neighboring parishes, Victorious Faith and Centre Methodist. This year the pandemic has changed how the program will operate. Housing is being offered in a local hotel, meals are being delivered by Meals on Wheels, and one-on-one support and encouragement are being coordinated through a Love in Action Program*. Local churches are invited to participate by supplementing the meals with snacks/drinks/fruit. This is where we at Christ Church can help these brothers and sisters in need.

We will be partnering with Victorious Faith to commit to providing food items of snack/drink/fruit on a specified date(s) for 30 people. Our first date to provide will be, February 8, 2021.

Can you help by donating just a few items toward this goal?

Someone will be at the Christ Church office in the days leading up to our donation date. We are asking our congregation to purchase and drop off any of the following so we be a part of this worthwhile mission to help our neighbors in need. If a financial donation is your preference we will do the shopping for you.

WHAT:

WHEN:

Monday,

February 1

10:30am - 12:30pm (Leslie Amtmann)

Tuesday,

February 2

10 am - 12 pm (Lois Tidey)

Saturday,

February 6

10 am - 12 pm (Kate Davis)

Sunday,

February 7

1 pm - 3 pm (Molly Neal)

WHERE:

Drop off your donation to Christ Church on one of the above dates/times. Hand them off or deposit your donations into a labeled box that will be on the parish hall patio. We will coordinate with a delivery partner at Victorious Faith to assure delivery on Feb. 8th.

*For more information about the Love in Action Program contact Molly Neal*

Snacks:

Individual sized items

like pre-packaged snack foods such as cheese/peanut butter crackers, cereal bars, chips, pretzels, nuts, etc. Home baked goods could be 2-3 cookies/bag or 1 brownie/bag.

Drinks:

Soft drinks (cans or

plastic bottles), fruit drinks, cases of bottled water. Individual size only.

Fresh Fruit:

Bananas, grapes,

oranges/tangerines (no apples or pears). If you are purchasing fresh fruit please plan this purchase and drop off for the Saturday or Sunday before to assure the fruit’s freshness.

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www.Facebook.com/ChristChurchForestHill/

Or on our website:

www.ChristChurchForestHill.org

2nd & 4th Sundays

Live Streamed

Spiritual Communion Service

EVERY

SUNDAY

9:45 am

Morning

Prayer

Service

WEEKDAYS

MONDAY-FRIDAY

12 pm

Prayers

for the Socially

Isolated

There will be no In Person Services until further

notice. Please stay tuned for updates.

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Christ Church

P.O. Box 215

Forest Hill, MD 21050

1

The Holy Name of our Lord

Numbers 6:22-27

Psalm 8

Galatians 4:4-7

Luke 2:15-21

6

The Epiphany

Isaiah 60:1-6

Psalm 72:1-7, 10-14

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

10

The Baptism of our Lord

Genesis 1:1-5

Psalm 29

Acts 19:1-7

Mark 1:4-11

18

Confession of St. Peter the Apostle

Acts 4:8-13

Psalm 23

1 Peter 5:1-4

Matthew 16:13-19

25

Confession of St. Paul the Apostle

Acts 26:9-21

Psalm 67

Galatians 1:11-24

Matthew 10:16-22

January

Birthdays

3 Jennifer C.

5 Hank S.

9 Brendon R.

12 Fr. Larrie S.

18 Terry H.

20 Sophia B.

21 Stephen C.

22 Jacob L.

23 Bill M.

23 Tony D.

28 Sierra L.

29 Ed N.

30 Leonard P.

January Anniversaries

1 George Barnett & Danette Moss

22 Mary Jane & Leonard Parrish

Blessings Report:

December 6: $2,055 December 13: $1,460 December 20: $590 December 24: $790 December 27: $2,160

Please PRAY for those who are sick, or in any kind of need or difficulty, especially:

For the residents of Harford Family House; For peace and understanding in Baltimore;

For all the victims of recent terror attacks throughout the world, especially Brussels, Nice, Syria, and Orlando; For the refugees leaving Syria in desperation;

For those who suffer because of the extreme humanitarian crises in Central African Republic; Yemen; Horn of Africa; Guinea; Sierra Leone; Liberia; Pacific

Islands; South Sudan; Middle East; Serbia; Macedonia; Greece; Burundi; Nigeria

For all the people in the Middle East, that they can experience peace and stability in their lands For the victims of natural disasters such as Hurricanes Harvey and Irma

For the families affected by gang and cartel violence in Central America. For the communities that have experienced Mass Shootings in the United States For families struggling with the health and economic side effects of the Corona Virus

For those on our prayer list:

For Sue Tressler, Lynn Klein, Kevin & Linda, Anna Humphreys, Phil Klein, Betty Parker, Beverly Gomez, Tara Schatzel, Dan Moss, Charles Getscher, Ken Edmunds Jr, Robin, Keith Hamilton, Sharon Selke, Sharon Slaugenhoup, Warren Flatt, Lois Flatt, Caroline, Donald Heddy, Karen Fulcomer, Art Smith, Eliot, Rebecca, Louise, Carole, Becky, Ingrid Page, Lael, Jacqueline, Roland, Hollis, Mike Yates, Sue Sampson, Hazel Borkowski.

For our Missionary:

Jean M. Baumbach

For these parishioners who are unable to be with us every Sunday:

George Rigdon; Vera Dalby; Glassell & Betty Parker; Anna Humphreys; Beth Hauser; Lyndon

January Feast Days

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Sunday

9am Bible Study 9am Choir Practice 10am Eucharist

Monday

9:30am Jazzercise 7pm AA

Tuesday

10am Quilters 7pm Aerobics 8:30pm AA

Wednesday

9:30am Jazzercise

Thursday

7pm Aerobics 8:30pm AA

Friday

9:30am Jazzercise 7 pm AA

Saturday

9am AA 1 The Holy Name of our Lord 2 3 2nd Sunday Of Christmas 9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Hazel B. 4 5 6 The Epiphany 7 8 9 10 1st Sunday After the Epiphany 9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Melinda C. 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 2nd Sunday After the Epiphany

9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Molly N. 18 Confession of St. Peter the Apostle 19 20 7 pm Zoom Vestry Meeting 21 22 23 24 3rd Sunday After the Epiphany

9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Mary Jane P.

25 Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle 26 27 28 29 30 31 4th Sunday After the Epiphany

9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Kate D. Office Phone #: 410-838-6606 Email: ChristChrsp@gmail.com Office Hours: Tuesday—Thursday 10 am-2pm

Other times by Appointment

January

2021

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Sunday

9am Bible Study 9am Choir Practice 10am Eucharist

Monday

9:30am Jazzercise 7pm AA

Tuesday

10am Quilters 7pm Aerobics 8:30pm AA

Wednesday

9:30am Jazzercise

Thursday

7pm Aerobics 8:30pm AA

Friday

9:30am Jazzercise 7 pm AA

Saturday

9am AA 1 2 The Presentation of our Lord 3 4 5 9 7 5th Sunday After Epiphany 9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Debbie S. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Last Sunday After Epiphany 9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Hazel B. 15 16 17 Live Streamed Service AG - Melinda 18 19 20 21 1st Sunday In Lent 9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Melinda C. 22 23 24 St. Matthias the Apostle 25 26 27 28 2nd Sunday In Lent 9:45 am Live Streamed Service AG– Kate D. 28 29 30 31 Office Phone #: 410-838-6606 Email: ChristChrsp@gmail.com Office Hours: Tuesday—Thursday 10 am-2pm

Other times by Appointment

February

2021

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